Will the REAL Camino de Santiago please stand up?!

Despite all the articles, guide books, forums and blog posts, when I imagined my Camino, visions of easy, sunny days filled my head.

Snoring, blisters, tired legs, bad hair days, cranky moods and missing one's boyfriend, were what happened to "other people". Me and my new multi-cultural friends would skip down the trail with smiles on our faces all the time, collecting stamps in our pilgrim credentials and capturing photos - in which we always looked good!

Like this, right?

No.  Mostly like this, actually...

Hahaha!

Being a pilgrim is not easy.  Days start early. You wear the same things all the time and socks and underwear you're not wearing today, is drying on the back of your pack as you walk. You left your dignity somewhere on the Pyrenees, so it's not a problem, honestly. Bathrooms are shared and showers are quick - but they feel wonderful. Privacy is a luxury that you pay extra for, if it's even available. Conversations start with name and country of origin. "How much does your pack weigh?" will generally work it's way in there soon.

I've done nothing more challenging than pick up my pack at Saint Jean, France and spend the next 2 weeks and half million steps, getting to Burgos. Yet, I'm already planning to come back and finish the Camino de Santiago.

There is no place I'd rather have been than on the Camino de Santiago this fall. Meeting the people who made my experience unique, gratifying and oh so fun. Giving my body something to complain about, for real! Becoming stronger, less afraid of the dark and more empathetic toward others. Uncovering my weaknesses, celebrating my strengths. Tweaking my internal energy, my perspective, my tolerances.

My fear that ending my Camino after just two weeks would curb some mental growth, might be ill-founded. (Big surprise. Most of my other notions were wrong too!) I now consider the possibility that the thinking will go on, long after the walking has stopped

Camino de Santiago Day 14: Atapuerca to Burgos

The four of us left early from Atapuerca - I mean really early! I was dying to get on the trail and leave behind the memories of laying awake, being jostled in my bunk by my wriggling friend above and hearing hours tick by in my head.

By 6:20 AM we had donned or warmest gear and headlamps, then headed straight up the stony trail. It was almost 2 hours and 6km later  (considered a very slow pace for us!) before we crested the top of this hill and caught a glimpse of Burgos in the distance, under the fog below.

I was cold.  My feet,  body and head were fine but my hands felt the sting of 3°C. The light gloves I packed were useful, but not enough to stay warm. Having wee pads on the fingers meant I could swipe on my phone/camera without taking them off, which was appreciated. I ended up stowing my hiking poles on my pack and when not taking pictures, the hands found a home in my pockets.  It worked well. .. aided by a coffee break. There's nothing as effective as wrapping your hands astounds a steaming mug - even if they are tiny little mugs here!  

We took an alternative route into Burgos. Leaving the traditional Camino, nipping behind the airport, following the river into the city.  In the distance the smog associated with the industrial area (traditional Camino route) hung low and brown. 

Entering the city along the river is unbelievably pleasant.  Literally feeling like a walk in the park, rather than the end of another 22km, before lunch. No sore legs or feet here. I was feeling super impressed with myself and my physical performance on so little sleep.

Burgos is gorgeous. For several days now I had been lamenting the end of my Camino and trying to figure out what I could do to keep waddling another day or two.  Then Burgos happened. 

From the minute I clasped eyes on the city, I knew this was it.  The end of the hiking part off my journey was here.  I strongly felt the need to stop, explore, drink in the culture, the color, the energy. It was a bitter sweet realization as I have grown very fond of my companions and parting ways was going to be painful.  Tony, Sue and Chuck had become a part of every day... Every coffee, joke, tired muscle and tortured Spanish syllable. In less than 2 weeks they had embedded themselves in my life and memories, forever. Our last day was a mix of peregrino menus,  photography and walking together... much like all the other days. 

Camino de Santiago Day 13: Villafranca Montes de Oca to Atapuerca

Having been advised that the road was a bit boring, followed the highway and some pilgrims had elected to take a bus this day, I held no great expectations for today's hike. 

Besides, it was a little hard to drag myself away from that lovely hotel and mentally become a pilgrim again. 

The Camino, however, had other plans for me.  Plans to wow me and remind me I have more gratitude for the journey than even for that fancy hotel when I'm feeling the grimiest... and most in need of some space to be alone.

I thoroughly enjoyed the smell of autumn today. Leaves falling.  Crunching underfoot. Cool morning air with fog hanging in the valleys. 

All along the way today, there were signs that pilgrims had gone before us, but also that locals care enough to bring their tools and paint up a hill and create uplifting things out of logs. There were smiles all around! It's true, it takes little more than some smiley faces and a few bright colors to please pilgrims... couple that with all the other childish things that have made me grin this week and I'm beginning to wonder if the true gift of the Camino is a temporary trip back to a simpler way of life... triggering the memories of easy pleasures we held so dear as kids. Color, leaves, favorite dinner we looked forward to after earning it, picking and eating wild berries, spending all day with friends, going on adventures, laughing til we cried and running around until we're so tired we fall into bed and go out like a light.

Of course mandatory churches - every town has a cathedral - and history to go with it. 

We stayed in the most adorable little albergue. Friendly staff, great food, genuine barn feeling. .. a dorm room with 18 bunks and small holes in the ceiling/roof between the concrete tiles, wooden beams and stuff holding it together. 

It was idyllic, right up to the part where I hardly slept a wink! My sturdy bunk mate tossed and turned about every 20 seconds. She had the squeaky bed... but it didn't keep her awake.  Neither did her snoring! Perhaps even bigger of a mystery was she kept up her wriggling pace, while snoring and asleep! Amazing. About 3 AM was when I discovered why there is a notice to pilgrims on the wall, asking them not to take the blankets outside. I'd have gotten more sleep on the cold hard village road, I think. 

Camino de Santiago Day 12: Grañòn to Villafranca Montes de Oca

I've  reached that point. Where everyday in a different place has a cumulative effect and suddenly, you have no idea where you are. That kind, chatty guy you met on the trail today who inquired about last nights stay, is met with a blank gaze or an embarrassed face.  Quite frankly I have no idea where I stayed last night or where I'm going now! But in my "real life" I'm actually pretty competent, I swear!

Today I departed the albergue just as soon as I could. Clanging from the kitchen drove me out of bed before 6 AM and as delightful as camping in an ancient bell tower sounded, I was ready to be on my own, in the dark, once again. Hiking at Dallice pace, peering into the darkness for Camino signs to point me in the right direction. It gives me time to reflect, to become ok again with being engulfed by Spain and not see any of it for 90 minutes -  until another beautiful Spanish sunrise is upon my face.

To be honest, the walk today was not spectacularly awesome.  The trail followed the highway much of the day and the noise, smell and sight of it was distracting. It's saving grace was walking through little villages about every 3km.

Some villages are more welcoming to pilgrims than others.  Many celebrate the history of a pilgrims journey and support the individuals along the way, today. 

...Not that many of them had coffee for sale today!  I know, right!? How the heck does a pilgrim keep walking almost 30km without caffeination?! Slowly. Painfully.

Speaking of, I had my first pain that didn't go away with sleep today.  Some little tendon or something, in my left ankle was giving me some grief for 3 villages. It righted itself, for the most part. Still a bit tight.

With the early afternoon, came respite. I arrived at my hotel.  Yes... private room, private bathroom, peace and quiet.  I lounged in the room, sat in the bottom of the shower until I was most pruney, shaved legs, washed clothes and had Spanish tv going in the background. I indulged in not one, but two different pilgrim meals! Bliss!

The view from my room was rather pleasant too.