A change of adjectives

 Day 2 - and I’m changing my adjectives

It’s almost 11:00 pm and I should be resting, but I can tell that sleep won’t come quickly so I’ll write a few things down, but in a much shorter format than yesterday. 

Yesterday (Day 1) I used a couple of adjectives to try and describe the Primitivo, and I said I might change them later. It’s now Day 2 and it is already “later”.  

Yesterday I used the word  “strenuous”.  That was 21 km, 30,000 steps, 672 m descent, and 490 m ascent.  Strenuous 

Today I will choose the word “brutal”.  Sneaky, but brutal. “Sneaky” because it was only 18 km. The first 6.5 were fairly flat. 

The last 11.5 - not so flat. 27,000 steps today.  397 m descent, 460 m ascent. It didn’t seem like a lot when I was looking at the book last night and comparing it to Day 1. 

I was wrong. The ascents kept going up and up. Steep ascents. And just when you thought you had it made, you’d turn a corner and the steep ascent became steeper. 

It’s sneaky. It doesn’t look brutal but it is

If you are going to play around in the mountains you’ll have to learn that ascents and descents are a way of life

The descents - steep descents. And just when you thought you had it made, you’d turn a corner and the steep descent became steeper. 

To my 69 yr old legs and mind it was brutal. I’m enjoying the challenge but I have to say it was brutal. 

When we arrived at the albergue at 4:30 we were both wiped out. 23 yr old Emily rebounded a lot quicker than I did, but we were exhausted. 

So tomorrow is a short day. Probably still brutal, but only 12 km. 

On the bright side, we had a great evening with new Camino friends around the table. 

Ensalada mixta - the first course 

But tonight we won’t dwell on the bright side. 

Brutal. That’s what I want to dwell on tonight. 

Camino Primitivo- reflections of Day 1

 Camino Primitivo- Day 1 Reflections

It’s early morning of Day 2 and I’m in bed trying hard not to wake up the other 7 people in the room so I thought this a good time to do some reflection while Day 1 is fresh in my mind 

It looks like the Primitivo is going to be everything everyone says it will be. Adjectives that come to mind are “beautiful” and “strenuous”.  As I listen to others talk, “beautiful” may later be replaced with “stunning” and “strenuous” replaced with “overwhelming”.  We shall see.

Looking at the elevation profiles and comparing them with the elevation profiles of the French Camino, my conclusion is that overall the Primitivo is more strenuous on a day to day basis,  but there is no day on the Primitivo that is as difficult as Day 1 (crossing the Pyrenees) on the French.  We shall see.

Yesterday was strenuous but no where near overwhelming!  There were some long uphills!  And they were several long downhills - steep downhills. Personally I’d rather labor uphill all day than walk down for an hour.  15 - 18 % grades are taxing to the system. They produce blisters and nail damage. So far so good. As for the rest of the trail? We shall see.  

How’s Emily doing?  As you know, she’s not very big. But she has no problem keeping ahead of grandfather on Day 1. We have decided that both of our goals is to carry backpacks the entire way, but we are evaluating that on a day to day basis. So far so good.  But… We shall see.

In the line up at the Catedral yesterday morning a middle age Spanish woman came up to Emily, touched her Camino credenciales, and without a word just stood and looked at her with the saddest eyes. It looked like she was thinking, “you poor child. You have no idea what lies ahead of you”. (By the way, that’s true of life is it not?  We journey on, with no idea what the future holds, but … we shall see”)

So, yesterday was rain (40% of our way) and sunshine the rest. 

Yesterday was walking and talking together - solo una niña y su abuelo -  and enjoying great new friends each time we stopped. Shout out to Yoke and Adinda from Holland as well as others who joined us at the table last night. 

Yesterday was the discovery of a spectacular albergue at the 20 km mark. The Villa Palatin is a great spot to end Day 1! The service provided by Pablo (crazy Pablo) was above and beyond expectations. The facility provided by the owners is modern and beautiful. The meal (voted the worlds best capacho in the first ever world capacho contest - yes, that’s a thing) was truly world class, and much more than two people could eat. 

And one more thing - a confession of sorts- before we close these reflections.  This is my fourth Camino, and one might assume that I would be past making rookie mistakes. One would be wrong. Yesterday when I arrived at the Villa Palatin, I discovered not one but two “URGENT” emails from La Hospedería, where we stayed last night. It seems that this pro has left a bag full of clothes behind.   I have several excuses on hand for occasions such as this, but I’m sure Lorraine is going to say “that’s what happens when you go to Europe without your wife.”

That’s it for now. I will try to write something each day. But … we shall see! 

The day after … and the day before

 The day after - and the day before

Just a short post today. At 6:15 this morning we finally arrived in Oviedo after 44 hours of awake time. Fortunately the hostel where we are staying agreed to let us in at 8:30 this morning. Originally they had said since it was “special circumstances” they would let us in at 10:00. Before that “es imposible”. So after a light breakfast of cafe con leche y tostada we crawled into bed.  

Both of us slept soundly (very soundly) until 1:30, after which we spent the day strolling around Oviedo. 

Tonight (soon) we will pop back outside, grab the evening meal and get back to bed early. 

Tomorrow, since we have reservations about 20 km away, we won’t need to rush out of here early.  

Up at 8:30, have “desayuno”, go to the Catedral at 10:00 to get the first “sello” (stamp) in our “credenciales” (pilgrims passport), walk past the Decathlon store to get our walking sticks and be on our way around 11:00

Thanks for following our journey. This “Camino de una niña y su abuelo” really is a special time! 

I couldn’t be happier

 Una nieta y su abuelo

Eight years ago Lorraine and I were walking our first Camino. 

On Sept 14 in a sleepy little hamlet called Itera De la Vega we met a man named Marlin. Over the next four weeks we walked and ate often with Marlin, and became good friends. 

Marlin was struggling with a couple health issues and some days the Camino was hard on him. But there was something that kept him going; something that wouldn’t let him quit. On Saturday, Oct 4 he was going to meet his daughter and granddaughter, and they were going to walk the last 5 days with him. 

I could swear his breathing was better day by day. His legs didn’t hurt quite as much as they did before. He could manage the Camino stresses because on Saturday his daughter and granddaughter would meet him in Sarria and together they would walk the final stretch. It was magical watching Marlin prepare for that day. 

And now, eight years later, here I am. It’s the middle of the night, I haven’t been to bed in 44 hours, I’m on an ALSA bus somewhere between Madrid and Oviedo Spain. I’m tired and maybe a little cranky. And I couldn’t be happier. 

We missed our day time bus because someone in Montreal bumped our plane with a service vehicle, putting it out of service for several hours. (The fourth time this summer according to our flight attendant.). Last night at 3:33 AM the flight attendants woke us up and fed us a full chicken dinner.  Yes. You read that right. 3:33 am - a full chicken dinner. But I couldn’t be happier. 

We slept on an airport floor for a while today. 69 year old me sound asleep on a cement floor. And I couldn’t be happier. 

I’m getting ready to throw on a backpack every day for the next few weeks. I plan on walking the Camino Primitivo - the original Camino and many suggest the most strenuous. It’s 320 km from Oviedo to Santiago de Compostela and that 320 km consists of 30,000 feet of elevation gain and 30,000 feet of elevation loss. To put it into perspective, our plane was 30000 feet of altitude last night.  That means we will be walking very close to 6 miles up and back down. And I couldn’t be happier. 

Why the happiness?  

Perhaps you’ve guessed by now. Sitting across the aisle on this bus is my oldest granddaughter Emily. She sat beside me on the. plane last night. She slept near me on the concrete floor. She’s tired and maybe a little cranky, but that’s ok 

Because it’s the middle of the night on an ALSA bus somewhere between Madrid and Oviedo. We haven’t been to sleep for 44 hours, but on Monday we’re going to walk the Camino … together. 

An old man and a young woman 

A child and her grandfather. 

Un abuelo y su nieta major. 

Together. Juntos. 

And just like Marlon, I could t be happier. My cup is full. 

Buen Camino Emily. Buen camino indeed.