good morning everyone,
it is 8 am, michael and i are in salamanca now. we have walked 120 miles now. it feels like so long ago that i last talked with you here, but really i guess it´s not. it´s just that i have seen so much in these days.
this way on the camino for southern to northern spain is very hard. very very hard. it is hot hot hot and empty. that means that you definately can´t carry enough water. well, i have, but i don´t like it. water is really heavy, so instead of having a backpack with 18 pounds holding all the water i need for the day, mine has been 22 or 23 with barely enough water. we never even think about eating until we arrive in our next albergue.
this way is also extraordinary. first, there are roman ruins laying all about. some in piles and some still standing. i even sdaw one pillar that was used to hold an upper porch of a more modern (1800's) home. some have inscriptions that you can read, dates. i saw one that was dated 143 and another 127. there was one very large and famous arch called arco de caparra. we saw it just at sunrise, it was a brillant red. i have to touch them all. i can´t get over the fact that 2000 years ago someone carved this rock and now i can put my hands on this some piece. i think of the people living and walking on the same stones and i am in awe.
this way also has beautiful landscape. at first rolling hills dotted with small holm oak and cork trees. under them are sheep and cows looking for a little shade. there has been a nice breeze, temperatures i think is the high 80´s the sky is bright blue, the fields golden tan. the last fews days we have walked in fields of grain and sunflowers, but the grains and sunflowers have been harvested and so they too are empty. we have crossed one mountain range. and even there it was dry. i have seen postcards where these fields are filled with wildflowers. it´s a choice a pilgrim has- walk in the rain and see flowers or walk in the sun and avoid falling into an arroyo.
there have been four days where we walked more than 6 hours without a village. michael and i have walked alone every day. we are really lucky. we walk at the same pace, laugh at the same things, and love to stop to take photos. he takes 3 to every one of mine. but because of that i see things that i could easily miss. we both oversleep almost every day. we are the last to leave the albergues but arrive at the next albergue shortly after the early people because they often wander about in the dark trying to find the way.. the sun rises after 8 and we both hate walking in the dark.
our family of pilgrims consists of fabio and anna from padua, italy, two brothers from donegal ireland, a german couple, and michael and i. we spend lots of time with fabio and anna. they have the best energy and are simply lovely. i am finding a bit of italian and anna is very helpful to me. the irish brothers are in there 60´s maybe and they haven´t been together for 40 years. they are having a great time. they are going on to sanitago also, so hopefully i will continue to spend evenings with them. anna, fabio and michael are leaving in 4 days. i will really miss them.
here is the bad news. there is an infestation of bed bugs. in the last two towns the pilgrim albergues are closed because of them. the albergue in salamanca will be closed for two months. one evening there was a poor girl from australia who came to the albergue with bites all over her arms and legs. she couldn´t go inside. she had to sit outside while the woman who ran the albergue sprayed everything in her pack. still, she slept outside in her little tent. now when we arrive, there is someone who looks us over for bites. it is as if the bedbugs are making a pilgrimage to santiago. i imagine them with there little shells, clueless to the havoc they are causing. for me, i will wait and see and maybe stay in hotels...
its time to go for coffee now and a walk around town. í think of yu all during these last long walks, and especially love the photos i have gotten of oscar, jude and arthur. and there voices.
love,
mary
it is 8 am, michael and i are in salamanca now. we have walked 120 miles now. it feels like so long ago that i last talked with you here, but really i guess it´s not. it´s just that i have seen so much in these days.
this way on the camino for southern to northern spain is very hard. very very hard. it is hot hot hot and empty. that means that you definately can´t carry enough water. well, i have, but i don´t like it. water is really heavy, so instead of having a backpack with 18 pounds holding all the water i need for the day, mine has been 22 or 23 with barely enough water. we never even think about eating until we arrive in our next albergue.
this way is also extraordinary. first, there are roman ruins laying all about. some in piles and some still standing. i even sdaw one pillar that was used to hold an upper porch of a more modern (1800's) home. some have inscriptions that you can read, dates. i saw one that was dated 143 and another 127. there was one very large and famous arch called arco de caparra. we saw it just at sunrise, it was a brillant red. i have to touch them all. i can´t get over the fact that 2000 years ago someone carved this rock and now i can put my hands on this some piece. i think of the people living and walking on the same stones and i am in awe.
this way also has beautiful landscape. at first rolling hills dotted with small holm oak and cork trees. under them are sheep and cows looking for a little shade. there has been a nice breeze, temperatures i think is the high 80´s the sky is bright blue, the fields golden tan. the last fews days we have walked in fields of grain and sunflowers, but the grains and sunflowers have been harvested and so they too are empty. we have crossed one mountain range. and even there it was dry. i have seen postcards where these fields are filled with wildflowers. it´s a choice a pilgrim has- walk in the rain and see flowers or walk in the sun and avoid falling into an arroyo.
there have been four days where we walked more than 6 hours without a village. michael and i have walked alone every day. we are really lucky. we walk at the same pace, laugh at the same things, and love to stop to take photos. he takes 3 to every one of mine. but because of that i see things that i could easily miss. we both oversleep almost every day. we are the last to leave the albergues but arrive at the next albergue shortly after the early people because they often wander about in the dark trying to find the way.. the sun rises after 8 and we both hate walking in the dark.
our family of pilgrims consists of fabio and anna from padua, italy, two brothers from donegal ireland, a german couple, and michael and i. we spend lots of time with fabio and anna. they have the best energy and are simply lovely. i am finding a bit of italian and anna is very helpful to me. the irish brothers are in there 60´s maybe and they haven´t been together for 40 years. they are having a great time. they are going on to sanitago also, so hopefully i will continue to spend evenings with them. anna, fabio and michael are leaving in 4 days. i will really miss them.
here is the bad news. there is an infestation of bed bugs. in the last two towns the pilgrim albergues are closed because of them. the albergue in salamanca will be closed for two months. one evening there was a poor girl from australia who came to the albergue with bites all over her arms and legs. she couldn´t go inside. she had to sit outside while the woman who ran the albergue sprayed everything in her pack. still, she slept outside in her little tent. now when we arrive, there is someone who looks us over for bites. it is as if the bedbugs are making a pilgrimage to santiago. i imagine them with there little shells, clueless to the havoc they are causing. for me, i will wait and see and maybe stay in hotels...
its time to go for coffee now and a walk around town. í think of yu all during these last long walks, and especially love the photos i have gotten of oscar, jude and arthur. and there voices.
love,
mary
1 comment:
Sounds like a Blast. Thinking of you. By the way angels do exist. MM
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