Thursday, June 30, 2016

Beginnings: Annnnd, We're Off...

Beginnings: Annnnd, We're Off...: My da d liked to comment about things. His comments were often tied to observations. For example, when one would begin a trip, or journey...

Annnnd, We're Off...

My dad liked to comment about things. His comments were often tied to observations. For example, when one would begin a trip, or journey, or race, he was know to remark: "and they're off...like a herd of turtles." Well as I began my actual "walking" the Camino, that's how I felt. After an over-night in Astorga we started our day with a warm-up through a quaint village called Castrillo de los Polvazares. (The lady who is strutting her  stuff in the pic on the left is my roomie, Jessica. She is from San Antonio and although we just met on this trip, I must say that I was very lucky to share a room and this journey with her).
The village is OLD! You're probably picking up on a common theme here. In the U.S., when we talk about things being old, we're usually referring the 17th or 18th century. This village predates the 16th century. The only thing that you might here from that time are arrowheads... ANYWAY, as lovely as the village was, I was ready to get going!
We travelled to Foncebadon. Here we found our first real hint of a connection to what is so classically thought of as Irish. The round hut with the thatched roof is a left-over from the Celtic invasion of Spain. Now, remember when I mentioned that things in Spain, (OK, all over Europe) are OLD, well the Celts invaded Spain in the BC numbered years...see, ANCIENT! What you can't see in that picture is that I'm standing on "THE CAMINO"!  

Tracey, our Canadian group member, and I decided to start walking. The others were grabbing coffees and waters and taking advantage of the last indoor plumbing for several miles, but we couldn't wait to begin...so, we were off...As soon as we started walking, the Camino immediately begins to climb. Now, its important to tell you two things. I trained for the Camino by walking, and walking and walking. The other thing is that I walked in South Central Texas. If you've spent any time in S.C.Texas, you know that the topography is flat. There are no hills. Well, after only about 5-7 minutes, I had to apologize to Tracey for stealing all of the available oxygen. I mean I was GASPING!!! It was ridiculous. I kept walking though. As we finally neared the top, I got my breathing back under control and was fine the rest of the trip. I think my mind was playing games with my body.

We came to this spot on the Camino that I had been looking forward to for months. I think its iconic and I love the legend involved. Tradition has it that one should bring a stone from home. The stone symbolizes something that weighs you down. It could be something that affects you personally or it could be something you carry for others. Then, you take the stone to the base of the cross and leave it behind with a prayer that your "weight" be removed with the tossing-away of the stone. If you've been reading this blog for the past few posts, you might have seen one where I decided to dedicate my Camino to a dear friend and a family member who both suffer from depression. So my prayer, as I tossed my stone is that their depression cease.

There were many signs, symbols and remembrances along the Camino. We learned that some are there to honor the memory of some Peregrinos who lost their lives on the journey. Others are to honor those who walk.
 

The countryside was breathtakingly beautiful. While the road was not flat, the hills were not bad. At one point, there was a forest, (something else that we don't have in S.C. Texas), and the wind through the trees sounded like a river flowing over rocks. MAGNIFICENT! We walked on several different surfaces, paved roads, hard-pack dirt, loose shale,  



After a few more kilometers, we encountered the digs of Templar Tomas who claims to be the last descendant of the Knights Templar. Unfortunately Tomas was not available for us, he had a substitute there, but we still bought our scallop shells with the cross of St. James painted thereon. After just a few hours of walking, we made our way to our lunch spot in El Acebo, approximately 11 km after we started. We actually had all of our lunches together. It was great to have this time to rejuvenate and compare tales and experiences and to discuss the differences between British English and American English. 

For the Spanish, lunch is the largest meal of the day. We always enjoyed three courses, including a choice of protein, usually fish or chicken, (sometimes lamb or pork), and a dessert. Also, there was always wine! Also interesting to me was that the side dish served
with the protein was always potatoes. Sometimes they were French fries, sometimes mashed, boiled, roasted or baked, but they were always there.

 El Acebo was another charming little village and, yep, it is OLD! The images on the bottom left of a rooftop demonstrate the shale that is used in some of the older buildings. Another thing that we could count on was that every village has a church. I actually found the little old ones more impressive, in some ways than the cathedrals and basilicas that we visited. By that, I mean they were obviously loved and cared for and were a personal space for the faithful. They seemed more genuine on some level.
After lunch we hit the road again with our destination being the village of Molinaseca. You're going to get tired of me saying this but, the scenery was incredible! I'm a bit of a gardener and it was so cool to see some species of plants that I recognized immediately but so many more that I had never seen before. There was one tree in particular, whose bark looked familiar but I couldn't place it. I asked one of our group what it was and they laughed and said that it looked familiar because we had been pulling the finished product of the bark out of bottles for several days now...a cork tree!


Then we found this out in a pasture...aren't the Spanish considerate of their livestock...a swimming pool...


As we got closer to Molinaseca, the road got sketchy again. And we were definitely ready to be done for the day. But what a MAGNIFICENT day it was!
We literally came out of some scrubby plants and down a little hill and were on the road to Molinaseca. I imagine that hikers who have lost their way and who after wandering for hours, finally see some semblance of civilization, feel the same joy and euphoria that we felt. Oh wait, we were those hikers who wandered for hours and finally found a semblance of civilization...never mind.

On the way into town, we found the village church. As with all of the churches that we open, we went inside to say a prayer and, in my case, to light a candle. The church was incredibly beautiful and by far the most ornate of the small village churches that we had encountered thus far.
                    




Our day ended as we walked through town to our hotel. We were tired and dirty and hungry but we all felt tremendous pride at our first day on the Camino...stay tuned.




TTFN


Lois
























Monday, June 27, 2016

Beginnings: On the Way to THE WAY...First stop: Astorga

Beginnings: On the Way to THE WAY...First stop: Astorga: We left Madrid, (well, until we went back, but I'm getting ahead of myself, again.) Anyway, we left Madrid, (still no suitcases. Th...

On the Way to THE WAY...First stop: Astorga

We left Madrid, (well, until we went back, but I'm getting ahead of myself, again.) Anyway, we left Madrid, (still no suitcases. Thankfully, our flat had a washer so we were able to clean the clothes that we each had in our carry-ons. It was actually pretty comical, we had clothes hanging from cabinet pulls, coat hooks and out of drawers), anyway, we left Madrid...via bus. We joined the other members of our Texas contingent at the central bus terminal and all boarded. It took us a few hours to get to our stop in Astorga. We actually had a pretty good time but I just don't think the Spaniards on the bus were quite ready for us, or maybe they just didn't know what to think of us. I mean we weren't obnoxious, (by Texas standards), but we did visit, and laugh and poke, and joke, and tease and, well, OK, we were definitely more animated that any other people on the bus with us. We were also assigned the seats in the back of the bus...do you think they knew? Hmmmmm

Anyway, the Spanish countryside was beautiful. Madrid itself is quite dry but not long after leaving it, we entered softly rolling hills and fields of beautiful red poppies and shrubs that looked like yellow broom plants. It was absolutely beautiful. I think we were all looking at the surrounding topography and wondering what we were going to be walking in/through/on etc. We had all read some of the descriptors, studied some of the topographical maps and researched what we could about walking along the Camino but we realized that we really didn't know for sure what we were getting ourselves into.
We finally arrived in Astorga and were met at the bus station by our tour guides. They were a father and son team, originally from the UK, (the son now lives with his wife and child in Spain). They were both named "Paul" which made things interesting at times. Anyway, we were taken to our hotel which turned out to be a former summer house for the Earl of Tepe. It was AWESOME! As a former home for members of the Spanish aristocracy, it was built for family comfort. There were sitting areas, interesting artifacts and an especially interesting bit of trivia. Napoleon actually stayed there. In fact one couple in our Texas Contingent actually stayed in the same bedroom. (Fortunately, neither Napoleon, nor his ghost were there at the time, but that was still pretty cool. At least since I'm sure that the sheets and even the mattress has been replaced several times since he left).  
This is also where we met the other five members of our "Camino group." In addition to the nine of us in the Texas Contingent, (I really need to think of a shorter descriptor for us), there was a couple from Fresno, CA, Two sisters from Australia, and one lady from Canada. At first blush, they all seemed very nice.

After checking into our individual rooms, we decided to go exploring Astorga. WOW, what a cool place. The city has been inhabited since like 800 BC...(no, I'm not kidding, it was OLD. Ok, so there were no buildings or anything from that time but google it, they've found evidence of inhabitants from back then, seriously, google it, you'll see!) Anyway, it's a walled city. The wall dated to sometime in the thirteenth century, I think. I'm telling you, the place is OLD! and it's COOL! One of the first things that we saw were Camino signs. Now, you know how I'm normally totally cool and sophisticated and worldly and not easily impressed...(yes, I know, I'm actually the opposite of all of those things...)well, I saw those signs and was just giddy with excitement and anticipation!!! Seriously, GIDDY!

So, it was about lunch time so we went in search of two things, well three if you include the wine. Anyway, lunch was on the list, as was shopping for clothes to supplement what we had with us since we didn't exactly have hiking shorts/pants/shirts in our carry-ons. Well, being lunch time, it was also "siesta" time for the shop owners. Seriously, the only things open were restaurants and bars. Well, shopping could wait, we were hungry, (and did I mention...wine?) We explored a bit and found this really cool plaza. The building to the left is the town hall. There are two figures on either side of the bell that hangs near the top center and every thirty minutes, they clang the bell. Its  FABULOUS!
We ate lunch at a little outdoor café in the plaza and decided to have beer instead of wine with our lunches. You know, one does need to sample all of the local wares and not limit oneself, don't you agree? After lunch, we walked around different areas of the village and after a couple of hours, found a shop that supplied a few things that we needed and a grocery store to handle the supplemental toiletries etc.

After a very nice hosted dinner back at our lodgings, we decided to explore a bit more before calling it a night. The next day our walking began...stay tuned


 TTFN,

 
Lois




Saturday, June 25, 2016

So, Madrid...

I really enjoyed most of what Madrid had to offer. Like most large cities, I found Madrid to be remarkably walkable and pretty easily navigable. Here's some  trivia for you...The photo on the right depicts a bear attempting to get berries from the Madroño tree. This combination is the symbol for Madrid. By the way, just for your information, the berries from the tree make a delicious liquor.
Armed with our "Fodor's Spain" and our GPS-enabled cell phones, we found ourselves exploring in ever-widening circles. We walked all-over the "historic" district. We arrived at our flat at mid-morning so after a quick shower and change, we were off. We explored the area in and around Plaza Mayor where we decided to have lunch at one of the alfresco dining areas. Some group was sponsoring some races for groups of children so it was entertaining for us during our lunch. We decided that "when in Spain..." was a good idea and headed back to our flat for a quick siesta.


Thanks to Fodor's, we discovered that the Prado museum offered free entry every evening from about 6:00 to 8:00, (or was it 7:00 to 9:00?). Anyway, we decided to go exploring and headed toward the Prado. Along the way, we found this "living wall." It really was spectacular and covered the entire side of a building. The botanical gardens are next to the
Prado and while we didn't take the time to do a full tour there of, what we could see from the outside was incredible!
The Prado itself is massive. There is no way you can do it justice in the short span of two hours. We saw works from the 15th and 16th centuries. The paintings were breathtaking. The colors were so vibrant and details so sharp, it is unreal that some of them are nearly 600 years old. The sculptures  were so elegant. The stone was as smooth as glass and I am always in such awe of the artists' abilities. I simply don't have the words to do these masterpieces justice.

After leaving the Prado, we decided to take a different route back toward our flat. Along the way, we passed some of the most stunning architecture one could imagine. Fountains and statuary are everywhere! Some depict mythological gods, others honor Spanish heroes. Each is different and each is astonishing. The buildings themselves are works of art. Honestly, walking through the streets was like walking through the pages of some type of Architectural Digest Magazine. We learned that the magnificent facades did not necessarily indicate that the workings inside were particularly special. The city hall, shown below was one of the most magnificent buildings we saw. (I compare it with the simple buildings that the cities near our home and am left wanting for us.)

On our final day in Madrid, before taking the bus to Astorga, we met up with the rest of our "Texas Contingent" and introduced them to alfresco dining, Madrid style. Then we returned to our neighborhood wine bar, (where possibly one too many bottles was consumed)...then we called it a night.

By the way, still no luggage...thankfully, our flat had a washer so we could wash and hang some essentials.

Next installment: our Camino officially begins!

ttfn

Lois




Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Sometimes it's about Getting There...

If you read my last post, a couple of weeks ago, you might recall that I was taking a trip to Spain to walk the last part of the Camino de Santiago de Compostella. Well, I did. Now, I'm back...I'm going to share some parts of my journey with you over the next few posts. I hope you enjoy reading about it as much as I enjoyed living it.

Emerson wrote: "Life is a journey, not a destination." I've always loved that line. Although Emerson had no idea how prophetic his words were as they pertain to modern modes of travel, I find them completely relevant. You see, we began our journey in the air. Specifically, we flew from Austin, to Dallas, to Miami, then to Madrid. Sounds simple enough right? Well, when we purchased our tickets in January, we chose to fly straight through from Austin to Miami then change planes for a flight to Madrid. Unfortunately, we didn't know that the airline we chose changes its schedule every three months and the flight we had chosen no longer existed. Oh well, no worries, we were eager and excited to get to Madrid and the "round-about" way the airlines had us going was still going to arrive at the same time so, what did it matter?

Well, as it turns out...it did matter some. You see, when we arrived at our gate at DFW, we were told that the flight was delayed due to 5 seats on the plane needing repair...WHAT? What the heck? Had some horrific turbulence, combined with an over-exuberant seat-back-kicking toddler loosened a few screws? Too much dried gum in the seat-back pouch? Were Cletus and Bubba somewhere in the bowels of the maintenance department trying to find the nut that fit the 11/16 bolt,only to find 13/16 and 8mm instead? How the heck did 5 seats get broken? The short answer is...no idea. The initial indication was that the delay would be about an hour and a half and since we were to have a four hour lay over in Miami, we thought it really didn't matter when we spent our time...AND it gave me a chance to have a Salt Lick Bar-B-Que sandwich for breakfast...WINNER!

Without all of the details, we finally got on the plane and were Miami bound. The problem was that after burning up our 4 hour delay in Dallas rather than in Miami, we were justifiably concerned about whether we'd make our connection to Madrid. We shared our concern with our flight attendant, who indicated that she felt confident that they could get us on the flight. Our luggage, however...well...uh......

 As we deplaned in Miami, we found a man at the top of the jet-way, holding a card with our names on it. After we identified ourselves, he told us to get on his cart, so we did...now picture this: four seater golf cart with no roof, mid-Eastern driver, me in the front passenger seat and my long-time friends, Dick and Laura on the back two seats, (did I tell you that those seats face back?). Now imagine hearing an announcer declare: "and...they're off!" We LAUNCHED and headed through the droves of fellow travelers. We zipped around families sailed though breaks in lines of people and took a couple of corners on, what felt like, two wheels. At one point, we nearly lost Dick and Laura. However, when we skidded to a stop and realized they were still with us, we were off again. By the time we reached the correct gate, the three of us were laughing so hard, you would have thought we had just finished an "E-ticket" ride at Disneyland!

Thankfully, we made our flight to Madrid. Unfortunately, our bags didn't. The good news was that we all had one pair of walking shoes, all of our meds, a change of clothes and great senses of humor.

With a promise from the airline that they'd deliver our bags when they came in the next day, we were off to check into the flat that we'd rented for our two days in Madrid. The flat was in a great location, so we decided to go explore our new neighborhood. Below are some of the sights we found on that first day, enjoy...



                                    
Church across the street from our flat                                                               Street Seen...great little neighborhoods



                                                                                                                                         Mural
Gotta go for this evening...still trying to figure out the time zone thing...pillow is calling.

ttfn

Lois