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Published: July 16th 2012
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With a sense of urgency and relief we left the Catholic school/Nunnery/Albergue (which i wrote previously was Monasterio de Santa Clara.... but on re reading my notebook it was Espiritu Santo) .... we headed off again into a very windy day - I was actually looking forward to walking on the Meseta which is a plain about 900 m above sea level that goes for 4-6 days of the Way... I was looking forward to NOT having hills to get up, and to perhaps increasing the days average walk aided by the flat terrain......HOWEVER I neglected to factor in THE WIND ..... honestly i have NEVER had such a hard day and walk as that one..... we left the last town - Carrion - knowing that 'there are no facilities for 17.5km ' - we had food and water so that wasnt a problem... but there was
nowhere to rest out of the wind on the way- not one wall or shelter or shed or anything .... It was SO STRONG pilgrims had their poles angled sideways to try to stay upright, gusts made people stagger, the wind just buffeted everyone and it rained and rained and blew and blew and
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I was excited when I saw this sign and I took this pic especially for Wayne... I knew he'd recognise the phrase Torres Molinos form a Monty python sketch we used to listen to years ago there WAS NO RESPITE... ANYWHERE...for 17.5km..... See little video ( at the very start of this blog entry.... a little 'film ' icon ) I took of how strong .. and NOISY the wind was...all day, the whole day, no escape, until we got to the FIRST Albergue in town Los Templarios - 27.3km in total
When we finally arrived at the rest point - it was absolutely PACKED with pilgrims and many decided to stay as it was also an Albergue..... we managed to find a seat at a shared table... i flopped down into a chair and I remember Diane saying "what do you want? a Coffee? something to eat? bocadillo? " and I was so shell shocked i literally couldnt think - i felt a bit teary really.. and had to just sit a minute while I gathered myself.... everyone around was a bit the same I think.. all talking about how BAD it was outside.....We ate something and drank coffee, used the loo - and set off again......
About 1km up the road at a 'lean to shelter' there was a film crew ... we were called over by Tony and Clare who we
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This was the first time we saw these guys doing the Camino on horseback... had previously met - Aussies from Adelaide- 'Come here, we're doing a film' ... so we wandered over and they were being interviewed , surrounded by a film crew... Diane and I were each asked 'Why are you doing the Camino' .... by the German? Dutch? presenter.....I mumbled something about the challenge of it.... but I actually found it quite confronting and affronting to be asked that question by someone who didnt even know my name ..... it seemed too.. .. intrusive and personal ..... people were laughing and chatting around me but I felt so... inward and fragile, I just wanted to get away from them all....
We set off up the road again and Diane and I each brought out our music and earbuds and that helped me quite bit over the next 10km until we reached the albergue at Terradillos de los Templarios..
As we walked the last third of the 27.3km for the day we saw 2 guys on horseback , initally spelling their horses and letting them feed on the grass around , but then they passed us and did so maybe a couple of times in the following days... we kept seeing
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the wind was just WHIPPING across the fields... see video ! their piles of manure - is it CALLED manure when its not being used on a garden?? equine droppings? poo? lets just say it was a pile of horse shit.... ( call a spade a spade 'n all ) - that we delicately tramped passed each time....the thought crossed my mind wondering whether its the horse or rider who gets the Compostela ( the certificate of completion written in Latin on reaching Santiago )
Notice how in the pics even the horses are leaning into the wind.... i have NO IDEA how the riders kept their hats on.... .. and did I mention how NOISY the wind was...all day, the whole day, no escape, until we got to the FIRST Albergue in town Los Templarios ...
We signed into Los Templarios and were allocated to a 4 bed ( 2 bunks) room .... the other bunk was taken up by an Italian guy - Daniel and an older French woman - Charlotte .... they didnt know each other either, and we discovered that for Daniel who was doing the Camino in sections as his holidays allowed - it was his first day of walking.... Baptism not by
fire but certainly by wind and water ! ... I think I slept once showering and clothes washing was out of the way.... then we had a pilgrim menu meal at the Albergue - SO glad to not have to go out back into the wind to eat...... We went online for a while at a couple of the 2 Euro for 40 mins computers which were directly under the bigscreen TV on one wall...... there was quite a bit of noise and exclaiming from the gathered pilgrims when the weather came on - it detailed there were windgusts of up to 100+ km an hour - gale warnings in 23 Spanish provinces AND T V footage of commercial jets coming in to land and being blown SIDEWAYS on the runway ..... (still landing safely)
We rested relatively well , Daniel got into the room late - I think he'd been watching the football and sinking a few Vino Tinto's - he snored through the night..... we left by 8am, after coffee and set off from Terradillos de los Templarios.. (
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see - even the horse is leaning into the wind which is the halfway point between St Jean Pied de Port where we started and Santiago) for Sahagun.......
I really felt so so tired, very sore as we walked, I wasn't in a good frame of mind, was actually HATING the Camino, couldnt see the point of doing it, will NEVER come back , would NEVER do this again ...... felt a little better after lunch and a break in Sahagun........ THEN we took a wrong turn .......
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cheryl howard
non-member comment
Wow Jacquie that sounds like it was a really hard day, what stamina and determination, and how great it must have felt to be so strong and determined to fulfill what you had set out to do.