but The fool on the hill Sees the sun going down And the eyes in his head See the world spinning around

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June 13 - Los Arcos to Viana



We woke up @ about 6am and met Mark and Debbie outside our hostel @ 6:30. At this point my feet are In fairly bad shape - Tanya has re-lanced my baby toes - and I have taped them for today's walk. They are warning me not to move - we decided to taxi on our backpacks today to save some of the pounding on our feet - I carry a waist pack to hold valuables, sun tan lotion and water - I indicate to Mark and Debbie that they should keep their pace and forge on and that we would meet them in Viana but they would not hear of it.



The walk will only be about 19km today but again with very little shade and some short but very steep ascents and descents and of course on "wonderful natural paths". Stunning everything - we will soon enter the famous wine producing region of La Rioja - can't wait.



Mark and Debbie slowed their pace and introduced us to some games they used to play with their two sons to help pass the time. We had some good laughs guessing each other's animal, vegetable or mineral hidden subject in twenty guesses.



Between the game and easy banter they pulled us through this stage. My feet came along reluctantly for the ride.



We arrived in Vienna and stayed in a nice quaint hostel. Mark and Debbie went out to buy their honeymoon dinner - a romantic meal to be held in their room later that night. We agreed to meet later for a bottle of wine before their bedroom picnic.



Tanya and I unpacked, showered and found a great organic bar ( as mentioned before all bars are also restaurants). The decor was right out of the sixties. I had an organic lentil soup and Tanya had the whole wheat pasta in tomato sauce and herbs accompanied of course with the fresh baked bread of the day. Tanya had a sangria and I a beer - I could get used to this.



While finishing off my beer I had an epiphany - I was not going to be able to complete this walk - my dream for the last 6 years was to walk the entire Camino - 800 km plus - at the pace I am walking I will be lucky to complete 1/2. I was hoping to start off slow and build up to 25 km a day. In fact my daily km output is decreasing. It was never in my thoughts that I would not be able to complete it.



I have rarely attempted anything in life outside of business related matters that I thought I could not complete - I have always played life on the safe side - this realization has hit me hard - I am glad I have had Tanya's and Danielle's (via email) shoulders to cry on. They have helped me realize that maybe this is a part of what "my" Camino is about - acceptance of personal failure and that this is ok - this Camino is messing with me. I now have some decisions to make - walk as much as I can in the time I have and return to complete at a later date, take another month now and complete the entire walk or accept my limitations and skip the middle section and complete the required km to get my Compostella. I want to make this decision once Tanya leaves and I start to walk alone.



We meet with Mark and Debbie at the bar in front of our Hostel - the bar is on the street and has a couch that Mark and I are happy to use. We get and consume a great bottle of wine, some sea salted in shell peanuts and tell some stories and laugh - my upcoming decision fades to black - for now.



Mark and Debbie retire to their room - Tanya and I return to our sixties bar - order too much food - salad (pictured) and various tapas - blood sausage and rice, local spicy sausage and a seafood dish - the locals walk by shaking their heads - we don't care washing it all down with another few glasses of the local wine.



Piss off of the day - dreams crushed by two baby toes - do we even need these digits any more - come on evolution Get with it



Blessing of the day - family, friends and a good red wine



Tip of the day - learn to read between the lines - if I had of known what I know now I would have trained really hard ( ok maybe not - but I would have booked more time and reduced my daily km goals )



Funny event of the day - sitting on a couch and at a table in the middle of an active street - waiting to yell "car" as we did when we played hockey 9as kids - the couch and table would be a lot harder to move out of the car's way.

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Comments

[Conita]

AMAZING!
Your doing amazing.. DONT BE SO HARD on yourself, this by far is the most impressive thing a lot of people have ever even heard of someone doing.. and your doing it! So what you didnt walk the full Camino.. YOU DID Walk it though!!! Only you in your gut knows what the right thing to do is! If this is your dream.. you live it out how YOU imagined it :) Goodluck and keep wrapping those baby toes.. Think of the toes on a ballerina.. and all the pain they encounter... Ice your feet lots and keep on taking your mountain candy! WERE ALL SO PROUD OF YOU BOTH like you couldnt imagine! XOX LOVE YOU GUYS Conita James & Keido Man!

[Sal & Al]

But the fool on the hill...
Aww Keith, you made me cry! Listen up fella, you are following your dream, and nobody said a dream had to be all or nothing! So, put your shoes up on the table with no soles on them, show them your feet, kill 'em with kindness and your wit, and I'm sure you will manage to get all your stamps with your charm (and maybe without walking the entire way)!! And as Ralph Waldo Emmerson said, "Life is a journey, not a destination" You are having a once in a lifetime journey Keith, so go with it, eat, drink wine, enjoy the people, and come home richer for it. And we are richer for following your experience without taking a step :) Sal and Al xoxoxo