Waiting for the stars to appear

My dear friend and El Camino coach forewarned me, Gerald, that the first week I’d be too physically exhausted to do any self introspection.  Man was he right, as other than wondering if Goofy was a dog or human, my mind has pretty much been mush.  But sorry, I’ve pushed ahead without giving you some background.  So let me try again.  

Today marked my seventh day on El Camino.  Hard to believe that it was that long since Gerald and Eliane generously drove me to St Jean Pied de Port (FR), the start of El Camino Frances, an 800 km walk to Santiago de Campostela.  Am hoping this walk will take me five weeks.  With my first week out of the way, I have another 655 kms (406 miles) to cover over the next four.  

Speaking to others who’ve done this walk, they’ve all said same as Gerald; the walk can be broken into thirds. The first third is physical exhaustion, second mental, and last is where the spiritual enlightening happens, or runners high. Either way, I’m definitely still within the first third, with my body getting accustomed to daily walks of around 20 to 25 kms per day.   My seeing “the stars” still has some way to go.  Regardless of any spiritual awakening, the sights thus far have been beyond my wildest expectations. 

My first three days were consumed by walking over the Pyrenees mountains on what is called “Napolean’s route” (same route he took to invade Spain). Covering the snow covered Pyrenees, crossing over from France into Spain, and looking down from where even eagles don’t fly, was everything I could have hoped for.  Finishing into Roncesvalles, a Spanish medieval town with a 13th century monastery was utterly surreal.  

Over these first few days I was fortunate to develop a friendship with the nine of us who were staying at the same Albergue.  We called ourselves the Orisson Nine; two Canadian, a British professor of climatology, two “dudesl from Santa Cruz CA, a lovely Kiwi couple, an Aussie pensioner, a young Argentinian priest, and me. While we’ve all separated over the day, waking at our own pace, we always seem to catch up.  We look for one another each evening.  

We then walked towards Pamplona, walking on Roman roads. Walking across a Roman bridge, whose stones were laid over 2,000 years ago, was mind numbing for anyone from the America’s or Australia.     

Then the last few days we started to leave Basque Country into the rich Spanish valleys of Rioja, which is known for its great wine and cava (champagne).  Dinners have never fallen short of great wine, albeit as we ventured deeper towards Rioja, the quality of the wine improved noticeably.  One highlight was stopping at a stop where wine was handed out by the monks to Peregrino’s for over 400 years.  Today this tradition is carried out by the local winery. Instead of water, you get wine.  Salud!

As promised, I have been keeping all those names sent to me as I crossed important El Camino landmarks. But on the 12th April I kept my father’s memory close, as it marked his one year since passing.  And tomorrow, the 15th, will keep my father in law, John McLenaghan’s, as it marks the fourth year since his passing. 

So while I’ve only finished my first week, or just under 150 kms and two countries, my body is still getting accustomed to this life of daily walk.  And if Gerald is correct, my next phase will be mental exhaustion. So I have to wait for my staring into my stars. Until such time, I walk on and enjoy the scenery, the food, the wine, and the human interaction with other Peregrino’s and locals.  Buen camino!

Hope the photos in this link bring the beauty to justice. 

https://youtu.be/sdlFJuwAunI