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Published: April 20th 2012
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Ola! The last place I left off telling you wans the little ancient church with all the prayers/messages inside if I remember rightly.... well that was about the 11th April...... so I am going to skip a few days to talk about the more recent last 3 - because I didnt journal it and need to write down before I forget!..... .. we walked on day 12 from azofra to a small place called Granon.... many many people have a book written by John Brierley which is a map/guidebook/Camino Bible really .. it IS very helpful but dies tend to divide the days walks into very set structures so it is a good idea to NOT stop at the end of his map every day but continue 35km onto the next map, thereby avoiding full Albergues ... not that that is an issue this time of year but I imagine it would be in summer.... SO - we went to Granon and stayed in a Catholic Church that was run by such a lovely man and his wife.... It HAD been a tough days walk through wind, rain , hail and snow ( though never heavy) and when you have taken
off boots (which is generally done before entering Alb.s because of the muddy mess they would make inside )- the most lovely thing to hear is ´Sit, Sit........ would you like water? a Tea?..... I am really appreciating the small gestures of kindness that come from people.. and this guy was so lovely... well anyway we settled in to there - with SOME differnces - he didnt want our credencials to stamp.... and there was NO set fee.... Donativo ... you give what you can..... you TAKE what you need from 'the pot' .. how lovely eh.... all the funds given go to running the place..... there is a communal meal shared every morning and evening.....we had about 17 at the table..... some unusual form of blessing was said at the beginning of the meal which started with a thumping on the table - sort of like the beat of ´We will ROCK You¨´... you know the one???a nd then some words were said in Spanish..and sweeping arms included all at the table - then we ate...... it was so communal and sweet and welcoming.... and THEN we went to bed...... nursing our many km walkeed aching bodies on the
thin thin mattresses.... under the church roof where we heard EVERY hour and half hour chime.....It MAY have been ( I hope) the longest night of my life...In the morning as we struggled to our feet from sleeping bags Diane said 'Í think we need a day off ' I hugged her and said ´Bless you´ ( the churchy surrounds infused my speech I think)..... and down we went to a communal breakfast of toast and coffee before heading off into another freezing misty day...... we stayed the following night in a Casa Rural run by a lovely Dutch guy that had done the Camino previously.... it was SUCH luxury to have two beds only in the room, with SHEETS! and a QUILT....... the Camino is teachng me more than ever gratitude for some of the simpler things in life....While we were there thAT night we made the fortuitous decision ( because it was something the lovely Casa Rural man could do) to send our back packs on the next day to aa Alburgue (San Rafael) in Ages..... this would make it another 30 km walk ( Yes I KNOW - what happened to the day off?) .... but after
the nights sleep in relative luxury - we were up for it! So.... we had no backpacks that day and honestly it felt a bit likle flying along......... which teaches me a big lesson about carrying an extra 10kg on my body ! ( mental note)... but it was so fortuitous a decision because the headwind was HORRENDOUS........ we walked the 30km , and that was including 3 hills of up to 1100m........ but it was very pleasing and encouraging and confidence building to feel how doing that distance is now much easier...... of course we were tired by the end of the day.... in fact as we came over the last hill (it was wet and wild and windy remember) to see the town we were headed to (Ages) there was a little labyrinth that i walked in/ on and then ULULATED ! with a call perFected by years of Womad attendances... I felt like calling out ´ BEHOLD... WE ARE WALKING WOMEN!!)lol .......we then skipped in to the village ( well... trotted happily) and stayed in another very lovely priv Albergue called San Rafael.... The woman who ran it also cooked in a most lovely way all sorts
of tasty things that were differing a little from the usual pilgrim menu yet still only 10 Euro...... when she checked us in she noticed that it would be my birthday the following day ..... when I came in for breakfast she turned off the dining area lights and brought in a croissant with a candle lit and sang happy Birthday to me in Spanish!! ....... such a lovely gift......... when we left we all hugged goodbye, with the traditional ´Buen Camino ´etc..... I thanked her for cooking from her heart and she got all moist eyed and huggy again :-) really, such a lovely experience ..........Just as in life, on the Camino people appear and connections are made.... then you never see them again and its....ok.....enriching, and ok. Some of course we swap addresses and have further interactions...but not all.......and its still all good! ................... SADLY about 15km down the road and a few hours walk away I realised I still had a room key in my pocket!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I still have it will have to post it back whenver I FIND a post ofice.... I DONT KNOW what one loks like here lol .... TABACOS places sell stamps -
that is the lismit of my mailing knowledge thus far! So anyway along we went.... down the road to BURGOS where it was decided - by Diane - she can be SO bossy ;-) we would spend 2 nights in a motel with spa.... and have the day off after to look around Burgos....... It took at least 10km to walk through Burgos to where our Hotel Abadia Camino deSantiago is , so that made it ANOTHER 30 km day ... we checked in , filled the bath , lay in it, turned on the jets, but no we didnt - cos they didnt work! but no matter the soak in a hot tub was lovely anyway! Diane was very kind and went out all alone to fulfill my birthday wish of not having to go out for dinner..... she hunted and gathered cheeses, fruits, fresh breads and 2 bottles of wine (one for each night - we arent yet complete sots!) .....while I stayed in the spa and did our clothes washing!!! lol lol It is hung around the hotel room now much like a scene from crocodile dundee.....It was a lovely birthday walk/meal/day that I will always remember..........
The NEXT day - ie today!our day off- we spent mostly at the amazing Burgos Cathedral, and I´m not even going to try to include pics here from that as it is going to take a whole album to show you and can be done later when accessing my own comp that allows more than 1 pic at a time uploads....... I MUST get off comp now and give Diane some time here.......its been 2 hrs and my bum is numb! lol Thank you to all for lovely messages but there and on FB for Birthday wishes and encouragement to us both..... it´s such fun checking in to the blog and FB (obviously NOT as frequently as we´d like - Wayne - if I had my time again I´d leave behind the titanium mug and water heater! for coffees etc and BRING THE MAC AIR !! ah the wisdom of hindsight ) to see comments etc .... bye for now, Diane is about to wrestle me out of the computer chair !XXX
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David and Verity
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Happy Belly button Day Jacqui
Hope you are having a great time and building those lungs up for some wonderful singing.