Category: A Very Short Story

The walk from Beldorado to Villafranco was very boring and very flat. So at Villafranca myself, Jerry and about 20 other pilgrims decided to take the bus to Burgos. After all, this is not an endurance test, nor a race. It is not fun either thus far. What with 4 days of deluges of biblical proportions that even Noah would shy away from interspersed with blistering heat, wet clothes and shoes caked in muddy clay, this has not been a walk in the park. Next week promises to be cooler. We will see.

So in that boring vein I decided to repeat a post from August.

Someone asked me once what was the pilgrim life was like.  Well…..

Pilgrims can be anybody. They come from all walks of life. Judges, retired Naval Officers, mad French mathematicians, flying Dutchmen, crazy Germans and others.  Pilgrims show up en masse at Pilgrim starting places like Vezelay France or St Jean Pied de Port. Now Pilgrims are not allowed to swear,not allowed to have money, although most of them arrive via first class air or high speed trains. No,no, no. Pilgrims can only suffer.

And because Pilgrims have no money, they have no alarm clocks with them. No matter as most Pilgrim hostels are beside churches. And churches have church bells that go off at 6 am every morning. Precise. It is god,s clock so they have to be. The first time I experienced this it was frightening. You see, I had broken the second and third major Pilgrim rule in that I was having fun the night before at a singsong with some wine. You see, Pilgrims are not allowed to have fun (2nd rule) nor are they allowed to drink (3rd rule). No, Pilgrims are only allowed to suffer. So you can imagine how distraught I was when those bells went off. I jumped out of bed and thought my head  was exploding when those bells went off. Alas it was only the bells and not my head. Then again a severe red wine hangover would fit right in with the Pilgrim,s code of conduct….major pain.

At that moment all of the Pilgrims have one thing on their mind…toilet. And you probably thought those walking sticks were for walking. No,no, no. They are for fending off the other pilgrims while running to the toilet in order to be the first one in there.

Then tbe Pilgrim goes and has breakfast. Gruel actually because the 4 th rule of a Pilgrim is that you cannot enjoy food. You have to suffer so our gruel has the texture and look of metamucil, or…..well, you get the disgusting picture. After gruel and cold stale coffee the Pilgrim has a choice. He can start his daily walking grind or he / she can attend Pilgrim classes. There is: “How to be a Pilgrim 101;” Lessons in Self Flagellation; “ “ The Pilgrim,s Handshake” and of course one of my favourites in “ How to meet and greet other Pilgrims – the secret code word.” And for this one time only I am going to tell you what it is: ” Bon Compostelle.” But if you forget it you can always say: “ Pass the Pasta.” That will work as well. Which reminds me of the Pilgrim cook book – an absolute must for the proper, discerning Pilgrim – “100 ways to cook pasta” also known as, and I love this part, “ Pasta and the Pilgrim,s Life.” I know, I know, a real classic best seller.

So what does a Pilgrim wear. Anything really. Modern or traditional. The traditional Pilgrims have those earth tone coloured robes made of homespun wool. Itchy as hell…ooops sorry for swearing…They have these long hemp belts for a tight or loose fitting fit. Now you never want to be behind one of these pilgrims as they tend to roll up the hems to their waist as they are goiing up a steep hill such that…like a true Scott…their bare asses are stairing right back at you. Not a pretty site. Oh, and those long hemp belts? Well, one tine I saw one of these Pilgrims cut a small piece of hemp and then roll it up in paper and smoke it. Bad, sacriligious, blasphemy and a cardinal rule of the Pilgrim.  You must….you must pass it around.

 

Thats all for today.

Burgos tomorrow. The birthplace of El
Cid.

 

 

 

Left early enough. Loved Santo Domingo. Awe inspiring church, cloisters and monasteries. Stonework is amazing. Seems like they use a mixture of grey or taupe coloured granite and sandstone. It is beautiful. I have said this many times that whether you are a believer or not, Christianity has given civilization a multitude of awesome architecture, impressive art,music and literature. I am a believer and when I see this I am bewildered.

But modernity is here side by side with the old. They compliment each other. Domingo is old but it is a modern city too. One feels a sense of contentment walking the narrow streets. Love it.

Meet my new friends from Brazil enjoying a paella lunch washed down with Sangria. Paella is a rice based dish. Add shrimp (big) chunks of whatever and voila…delicious.

.

Oh and  siesta time is near. Everything shuts down for a few hours before reopening a few hours later. Then out to have a meal, wine perhaps or a beer. The Spanish have their evening meal late,usually starting around 7pm. Highly civilized. Golly how I love this country.

One can sense a major change coming as the horizons get bigger, landscapes broader, drier with rolling hills. Harvest is in hence a dull,yellow and dustier look and feel to the ground.

Belorado is but a small farming village of no real repute except for its respite from the daily slog. 20 clicks done today. Enough. Albergues beckon.

Did 24 klicks today. Started out cool and that was great for the first few hours. Normally civil twighlight at the beginning with about 30 minutes before sunrise. You can see ok but buildings and streets are still in the shadows. City lights soon come off and the day begins.

Weird that the start of this walking began with a long climb. About a kilometer uphill. The landscape then flattened out into lush green rolling vinyards as far as the eye can see. The grapes seem to be like concords but they’re probably not.

A glass of wine here costs 1 euro 50. Gosh I love this country. The day progressed across undulating landscape with barren, brown coloured Mesas. The sky is broad but cloudy with the sun obscured by haziness. Thank goodness as the temp is about 30 C today but we cannot really feel its full brunt as there is a constant breeze blowing. It is heavenly. A real gift for us.

Group of Canadians wiped out on their bicycles. Jerry helped the woman with no thxs to us. They just carried on. Why???

Speaking of people, most of the pilgrims keep to themselves. No socializing at night particularly the Americans, Canadians, and Scandinavians. Elderly like me and Jerry socialize well enough and talk to everyone we meet. The older people respond and chat, while the younger ones just stick to their ipads and iphones. Sad. That is the state of the younger generations. No social skills at all. Luckily not all of them.

Pedro and Marisa from Argentina.

Katarina from Switzerland.. our two french sweethearts. French Bulldogs cause they just keep going and going.

Martina and Nolina from Bourges France. Of course some lighter moments too.

The last 5 kilometers were brutal. 32 C. Wind died and very hot. We made it though. I had to cool off. Our current Albergue.

Pool was only 2 feet deep and very cold. I did not care.

Read ya tomorrow.

 

Why dear lord, tell me why that every town, village and hamlet here is built on a high hill. At the end of the day when your legs are burning, sweat is pouring out of every single pore of your body, you are dying for a cold one you have to navigate up a very steep hill to get to your quarters.

”Why dear lord, why?”

” Because I can” I thought I heard an inner voice say to me. “Remenber John my son, I am lord and you’re not.”

I left it at that.

Viana last night was very cool. They have a custom here called “Kintos” where they have a celebration with the young men and women of the village of coming of “drinking age.” Can you believe it? What a country. I just had to see this….and I did… and I had to participate:

Hola!

We started the day in…more rain. Have to move on though so we cranked through 22 k but decided to stop because every thing is wet and that is not good. Jerry and I stopped at a park just outside of Logrono,a major city in this part of Spain, to change our clothes for drier ones but to no avail because our drier clothes are damp. Press on:

We arrived at our Albergue around 1330. Tired but Jerry and I went to a cafe for a cold one and chatted with two women from the Netherlands. One was named Marijke, the same name as my late wife. That was weird but she and her walking partner were very nice. Glass of wine cost 1 euro 50 cent – about 2.75 Cdn. Wow. What a country.

Marijke is on the right. From Den Haug.

read ya tomorrow and……..HOLA!