Sadness & Disappointment...

My walk is over...
I rested two and a half days and took the bus to Burgos. There I met some lovely, older French men, Jean & Francois, who invited me to walk with them across the meseta....

We were making good time...but my knee was aching a bit...at some point, I took a wrong step... and that was that. Shooting pain! Francois carried my pac,. as well as his own, to the next town, Hornillos. I said goodbye to them while I tried to hide my tears...

Today I am at a train station to get to Bilbao, where I will catch a flight back to London so I can see a doctor...

I´m extremely bummed about this. It´s so frustrating to feel good and strong....I could already feel my stamina increasing...and then to encounter a physical limitation overwhich I have no power....Well, Bruce said he know exactly how I feel!!!

So - once I´m back in London...I will make a few more blog entries to fill you in on some of the other details I´ve had no time to share...I have a second chapter to "young catholic priests"....!!!

This experience has me thinking about " failure" too...so I will have to sort those thoughts out and jot them down...More later...

Adios...

Taking a break!

WEll,
I´ve been walking for a week now...that´s 100 kms!!! Already MORE than I ever thought possible! There´s a chance I may have to stop as my knees are worse and worse...it the down hill that is causing the damage...well, that and, it may come as news to all of you that I am knock kneed which is why I walk with my feet turned out ( not because I fancy myself a balerina!)

So - I knocked off early yesterday and spent the night in a little town called Lorca. ( population maybe 200..maybe) I napped for 4 hours - which is, in itself, a vacation for me! When I woke up there was an older gentleman in my room. ( the albergues are at least 4 per room...if not 65 or 90!) He turned out to be French, so later in the evening he bought my tea and we talked about life and The Road.

There is a lovely thing happening along the way....everyone is the same. Rarely does anyone talk about their jobs, and definately NOT politics...unless it is to say that the whole world should be more like the Camino. Life is simple: you eat, sleep, walk, sweat, ache and watch the sky to determine tomorrow´s weather. As Joe, my French friend said..." On the Camino there is no more veneer that gives us the illusion of being different from each other. Everyone sweats the same, the road is hard and you are happy to see other pilgrims."

This morning I got up and took the bus to Lorgrono ( a fairly big city in La Rojia, the next state? region?...It´s weird to be in a city now...I am resting today in the hopes that my knees will calm down. I can´hardly wait to take a BATH!!! Also, I have a weird rash around my ankles...I´m thinking heat rash... so I´m giving that a little TLC today as well.

If my body allows me...in a few days I will come to the meseta...which is an open plained, no-man´s land, much like the prairies. Many are dreading it....but I have already been excited by the wheat fields....Yes, I guess I really am a prairie girl at heart.

Oh - and I´m travelling alone now....at least for a while, until I meet new folks along the way. Our little group fell of one, by one...some heading out on their own, some falling behind. In taking the bus I have put myself 2 days ahead of that gang...so I may see some of them again....I ran into a woman on the bus that I had met the first day!

OH - and on the bus! I met a young priest...early 30´s maybe. God bless him, but he had a hard time not looking at my chest! He invited me to come and rest at his albergue in some tiny little town, where he has been the priest for 2 years. I passed as I wanted to skip a chunk of the walking in that area....and I didn´t want to be a temptation....though I think I´m giving myself far too much credit! Good idea for a show though, maybe.....

I visit with all of you in my dreams, seriously. It´s like my mind is running through every person who´s had an impact on my life. Weird and lovely!

More later....

R

Nothing as Planned

AHHHHH!!!!!

I have walked 63kms in four days! I have crossed the Pyranees on foot!!!This is crazy and wonderful!

All began a day early as there was no room at the hostal in Biarritz. I jumped a train straight for St. Jean. There I met a group of gals...all doing this one their own. We hooked up and have been travelling together. Masako is 21, from Japan. Anastasia is from Toronto ( 29) and Kath, 34, is from England.

We did not have the energy to go from St. Jean to Roncesvalles in one day.( 27 km through the mountains)...so we slept in the forrest in Spain. The next day we walked on the Burgette and stayed in a Casa rural...a PALACE for 17 euros each...we had an apartment to ourselves and cooked a big dinner.

Next day we walked to Zubiri and payed 5 euros to stay in the gym of an old school...cold showers and no toilet paper. I can´t remember the name of the town we´re in tonight...another 5 euros for another palace. Some people know how to treat pilgrims...others don´t.

Our meetings with others entail talking about blister, aches, pains and how long to the next town...and have you been poohing at all? All very basic. We´re eating well...but taking a bit too long.

I have found that going down hill is more difficult than climbing. I have strained my right knee and am limping badly...Tomorrow we will walk 4.5kms to Pamplona and take a day to hang out and rest. Hopefully my knee will calm down.

On the road today we met a man in his 60´s who has done the Camino 41 times!!!
Two of the gals who were up ahead got flashed by a fat man who jumped from the bushes.
I had an old man in one of the towns take my walking stick ( I had found it in the forrest the first night and was quite pleased with it). He traded me for the one he had....I tried to explain I was happy with mine and then he snapped mine in half! I was shocked....but he managed to get me to understand that because it was old, dry wood that there was danger of me bracind myself with it and having it snap and stab me in the stomache. Now I have a lovely one that he stripped and sanded and sent me on my way with...

My Spanish isn´t great, but I¨m getting by. We´ve met a few who also speak French and it helps.

Missing all of you!
INternet access is sparse....so have patience.

R

Getting into the NERD of things...

Look at me blogging two days in a row!

My credential arrived, along with two little badges for my back-pac. They have clam shells on them ( one of the symbols of this crazy walk) and Canadian flags so that people know I'm a "friendly" pilgrim.

Today I visited the Church of St. James on Piccadilly Rd...and for God's sake, I ran into a guy named Glen Ludlow. Only a few of you will know that he was once married to Roberta Mauer-Philips back in the "Shadow Days". I haven't seen the guy in over 10 years....so it's amazing I knew his face, let alone remembered his name!!!

Tomorrow morning I'm up bright and early to catch my plane to Biarritz, in the south of France. I will spend the night there and then catch a train to St.Jean Pied du Port. So long as all goes smoothly, I will begin Day 1 on Friday, June 18th. A 1200m climb into the Pyranees to get me to Roncesvales in Spain. I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M DOING THIS!!! I woke up with a crick in my neck which does not bode well for hiking with a big back-pac....I suspect that this little "crick" will be the least of my aches and pains in no time at all....

I also ran into someone I THINK I went to high school with at the bus stop this morning. Didn't talk to him, as I believe he was a grade above me...and you know how weird it can be to cross that line. It has me wondering about crossing paths though....Wonder if I'll run into anyone else along the way....?

London, England

I arrived in London at 5am on June 13th. Already I know that my back pac is too heavy, as the walk from Sloan Square Tube station to Christian Malcolm's flat was a little more than I could handle! For now I am focussing my attentions on getting over my jet lag. Watched my first ever football match at a BBQ ( England vs France). The fans here are worse than hockey fans! Tonight Chistian and I will go and see Harry Potter.

Still waiting for my Credential to arrive. ( that's the Pilgirm's passport I need to stay at the refugios along the Road to Santiago) If it doesn't arrive by tomorrow...I will have to try to get one at the Cathedral in St. Jean Pied du Port...by passing myself off as a Christian, I guess....

R