How´s the Guitar???
As you all know, I brought a sodding guitar with me! Am I crazy? Of course I am. Since walking my pilgrimage, I have been called ´crazy´, ´impressive´ and ´mad´, but also ´brave´ by the guy in the image on the right, whose name is David, from Bristol, and was running a lovely little first aid van, and offering all the pilgrims that were walking past refreshments such as ´English tea´ and coffee. He´s from the Society of Pilgrim Friars, of which he is now the only one left (which pulled a few of my heart strings, as he was such a lovely guy, and was doing much for the pilgrims who needed a break along the way!
I don´t plan to start playing until I´ve found some more inspiration, and some peaceful surroundings with which I can compose!
So where am I now???
Well, yesterday I began my journey at St Jean Pied de Port at around 07:30 St. Jean to Roncesvalles, arriving at 16:00. I´d let excess baggage (such as my fake sunglasses! and French dictionary) at the Albergue I stayed at. I crossed the Spanish border with the guitar strapped to my bag (making my bag weigh probably around 12kg, as opposed to 9.7kg)! This was a very difficult stage of the journey, as I climbed 1450m for about 21km and then descended a further 400m for the next 4kms.
Today, I write you from Huarte. But I must tell you, that I cheated a little! I walked to Akretta, which was about 28.2km between 06:30 and 14:30 from Roncesvalles, but with it being so late in the afternoon, I got worried about reaching the Albergue in Villava (a further 13km walk) any time before 20:00 (when dinner is served)! So a lady that was working at the hotel there, kindly offered me a lift to Huarte (which means I skipped about 14km of walking). This is meant to be a Pilgrimage... a walk. Am I kicking myself about it? A little, yes, but the lady said that she was coming back to the area that she dropped me off, for a festival, and she invited me to watch the festival with her and her kids. What was my reason for accepting the lift? Well...
Last night, I was calculating my daily distance allowance, in order to reach Santiago de Compostela for 24th June (the evening before the big feast day on Sunday 25th). Following the recommended route I can make it (just about) with no rest days. This wasn´t my original plan of course! I planned to take a rest day in Burgos and one in León! No way can I do that now! But along the route, is apparently a very beautiful Church called Eunate, which has the most amazing music - and most of you will know that Music plays a very big part of my life. Plus, I lug around this guitar to write some music. A place such as this would be an inspiration to stay at. However (and it´s a big however), it´s also not in a good place to spend the night if I followed the guide´s daily routine. I will either walk too little the day after tomorrow, or I will walk twice what I should from Akrreta! So I made the decision to grab the lift, and ensure that I reach somewhere with a Pharmacy so that I can purchase knee supports and other various tidbits!
Signs
God places signs for me to choose the right path. Everywhere I walk, I need to follow that bright yellow arrow, or pilgrim´s shell (I´ll post an image another time) in order to be taking the right way. At no other time in my life, have I been so reliant on a sign. I believe so strongly in signs - that these are things God gifts me with in order to make a choice in the direction of my life. Particularly on this Camino, I feel an immense joy, knowing that I´ve seen a sign and that a) it means I´ve walked the right way, and b) it means I know where I´m heading in the near future. I believe that God wanted me to meet the woman who gave me a lift, and go to a festival with her and her kids. I hope to encounter many more signs on this very extraordinary and special journey... signs that will help me make the best decisions for my life in the near future!
A personal journey - El Camino
I don´t wish to update my blog as often as I hoped now. I´ve learned VERY quickly on this pilgrimage, that it´s a sacred and peaceful time - a time in which I will become closer to God through prayer, thought, reflection, and appreciation for everyone and everything in my life. Yesterday for example, I was eager to update my blog. Today however, I feel that even in my second day in, updating a blog with all my inner most thoughts and feelings just doesn´t sit well... not whilst I am on ´El Camino´. I will leave all that between God and myself. Neither do I want to feel that I should constantly be communicating with those outside of my pilgrimage. This is my me time with God. And I want to break away from communicating with the outside world. For now, it´s just God, the Holy Trinity, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and those that walk alongside me on my pilgrimage. So, really sorry everyone! I thought that communicating with you all would be a great thing to do, but actually, I want to take myself away from that as much as possible for the next 30 days! Therefore, I´ll aim to update this blog on or after a week´s time!
Once I have returned to the UK, I will be most happy to update my blog with practical advice for the other pilgrims about to embark on this journey (errr... don´t bring any musical instrument unless you really need to!!!) such as... what´s in the backpack?! and what gear you really do need on you!
Bye for now!
Check back in about a week´s time when I´ll post up some of the best images I´ve taken so far! God Bless! And if you are religious, please pray for me (and my exhausted knees!)! Otherwise, please keep me in your thoughts for a buen camino!!!
