Day 16 El Camino - Tough day

Well, my shin splints got worse today and the first blister has appeared. Walking El Camino today was the most difficult.

On the bright side, we ran into a number of friends we have already met along the way and got to catch up with them and enjoy their company to ease the pain. At one point, David pulled out his guitar and played for several hours attracting a few other pilgrims to walk along with us.

As noon was approaching, a lady we had met earlier named Nancy caught up to us. Turns out she is an American who has her own company to help people set up El Camino experiences. She had a lot of knowledge about the pilgrimage and history of it, which was interesting to listen to and helped us pass the time through the pain. We invited her to join us for lunch and she suggested a typical Gallego restaurant that served the specialty of the region, octopus. Dave and I ordered a large octopus and I must say it was delicious.

In the afternoon the clouds started rolling in and the trail became more sparse of people. I was holding up Dave with my walking much slower, but he entertained himself beat boxing (I think that's what that was). Just when I thought we wouldn't be seeing anyone else, a couple we had met a day or so ago caught up to us. Bill and Claudia are from Santa Barbara. He works as an executive director for a nonprofit and social services, and she works for the county government. They are sweet people a bit older than me who have very interesting lives and shared stories freely. Again, helped me forget about the pain and even helped me pick up the pace a bit.

We parted ways around 6PM as they had arrangements to stay in the town where we had arrived. We wanted to go another 6 km so we pressed on. We arrived to Arzua around 7 PM and quickly found a pension that had a bathtub where I could soak my aching shins!

Tomorrow could be really tough. We have two more days to cover 40km, which is less than we have covered per day, so I am hopeful we will be fine, arriving to Santiago de Compostela Wednesday afternoon.

Day 15 El Camino - Peregrinos at Casa Domingo

After a good night of sleep at the simple but nice ´´pension de arenas¨, we got up early to try and see how far we could go. We had trekked 14 miles the day before, we were going to see if we could do more today.

After a quick cappuccino, we got on the road around 9am. We both felt surprisingly good and started trekking at a pace of over 3 miles per hour.  We were passing people quite a bit and wondering when we would get tired...but we weren´t!  We ran into a number of people we had met the day before and stopped and snacked with some of them around noon.

We were making a lot of progress but getting hungry, so stopped and had a a bowl of hot garbanzo soup, which was really good. Lots of spinach, garbanzos, potatoes and other vegetables. The prices are really good as these are local people making home cooked meals for the peregrinos.

Once we hit the road again, my right shin starting to hurt....oh no...shin splits. I think I was pushing myself too much in the morning.  As the trail became a little hilly, I felt it getting worse. David´s toe was also starting to hurt. Evidently, his right foot is slightly longer than his left foot, and the toes on his right foot hit the very end of the shoe.  The weather was chilly but so far, it has only rained once, and we happened to be having a snack in an albergue when it hit...so, David put on his chocos (thanks Hope!) and he was much happier. I took some advil and we slowed down. A couple of Argentinians were just ahead going at a slower pace, so after a brief getting to know them, David broke out the guitar and strapped it on and we continued down the Camino playing old Beatles songs.

As the afternoon was carrying on, we thought we would learn our lesson from yesterday (waiting to get to a pueblo before looking for a place to stay) and setting a target of where we would want to be. I looked at my little PDF guide and noticed a tiny village 6 km away with only 1 albuergue called Casa Domingo...so we thought we could make it by 6pm and I called them and made a reservation. What happened next was nothing less than one of the most special times we have had with other people on this trip.

According to my GPS, we should have arrived to Casa Domingo, but we were still in the middle of winding paths in the countryside, surrounded by cows and wheat fields. We got a little hope when we crested a small hill, then went down around a corner and noticed a very old, stone built house with a banner on it. As we got closer, sure enough, it said ´´Casa Domingo´´. Yes!! We were ready to stop after almost a 19 mile day!

As we entered, we started noticing the owners had taken great care in preserving the original blocks, but decorated the outside walls with old tools from the fields (hoes, pitchforks, etc.). We entered the front door to find what might have been an old barn area with 25 foot ceilings, all uneven stones, several open fireplaces lit and a large U shaped table that could sit maybe 30 people. We felt we had entered someones home.

A very warm smile emerged on the face of Gonzalo, the owner, as he came in the room and welcomed us. We were the only ones there and he asked if I had called. After confirming, he said our room was in another building he would drive us there...which I thought was odd, but oh well.

He explained that they had built the private rooms into an old Mill House where he used to work as a child. We found out later it was built in 1904 by his grandfather. It would take me several paragraphs to describe how cool this place was, but in a nutshell, they had preserved all of the Mill workings including having a glass floor so we could see the River running below the house. Later that evening Gonzalo's father came and showed us and some of our new friends exactly how the mill works. Yes, I said works. They actually have it still functioning. It was amazing to see and hear the stories of how people used to bring him there wheat, corn and oats and he would grind them for them and  give them back in the bag. Check out the picture below to see him explaining to us how it all works.

For people who appreciate antiques, the old mill was full of original furniture that had been restored. The original beams held the roof together. They have fixed this place up in an amazing way. Our rooms were immaculate and very comfortable yet still retained a lot of character and charm from the old Mill days. We made a movie to show you later.

Not only was the Millhouse cool but that evening some other guests from the main Casa Domingo came down to the living room area where there were couches and a fireplace, and David and I were there already, David playing guitar. They immediately invited us to have a drink with them and encouraged David to share some songs. After getting to know one another a bit, David did sing some of his songs and it turned into a very special evening. One of the older gentleman in particular we bonded with, Jose. He is a semi retired entrepreneur from Madrid who was simply fascinating, yet so intrigued by our father /son relationship...and he and David really hit it off well (David's Spanish is coming along nicely). I can't even begin to go into all the details, but we talked for hours and tears were shed and warm long hugs were given at the end of the evening. I made a video 

of him giving David some advice and a blessing of sort. Fortunately we will be seeing him again soon. He invited us to a special birthday party he is celebrating in Santiago de Compostela this coming Wednesday. We definitely plan to attend. 

The day ended magically. We fell asleep in our very comfortable beds in a 100+ year-old millhouse in the countryside of Spain, with new friends and great memories from The Camino. 

Day 14 El Camino - Sarria to Portomarin

After an excellent night of sleep on the "tren hotel", we arrived to Sarria Spain at 8:30 am. We followed other backpackers to the Albuerge de la Magdalena where we received our "Peregrino" credentials. Just before embarking on the trail we stopped at a local bar to get breakfast. We ended up talking to our waiter Paul, who is from England but decided to move to Spain after going on The Camino. He talked about how he felt he had been living his life for others, but now was seeking another way. He got busy and we didn't get a chance to speak more and were on our way along El Camino De Santiago!

The path is a combination of small dirt roads, paved paths, and some actual trails through the woods. Yellow arrows painted on trees, posts and walls show the way.

Within the first mile we caught up to an older gentleman named Luis. We spent the next few hours walking with him and learning about his life. In his late 60's, he explained that he had never had a cell phone until El Camino. His son calls him on it throughout the day, but he doesn't know how to make calls on it. During a snack break he showed me that he does actually have teeth...and pulled out some dentures from his fanny pack. He was  super animated and fun to hear all his Spanish expressions. I made a short video of him to remember him by!

David and I have been trying to only speak Spanish to each other while in Spain, but especially while on El Camino. He is doing great!

We ate lunch with another father and son duo from Italy....the 29 year old son was trying to "find direction" for his life. He was a funny guy that was really friendly with everyone.

The last few hours of the 14 miles we walked (with 30lb. backpacks and changing 1,000 feet in elevation) mostly alone, overtaking a few small groups of people. Everyone always chats a bit when passing someone...minimally saying "buen camino".

We arrived to Portomarin around 5pm. Several albuergues were already full, so we checked into a "pension", where we have a private room. Our feet are very sore, but no blisters!  I soaked in the tub for almost an hour...SO tired.

Dave and I are having some good talks throughout this entire trip. El Camino is giving us a chance to process some of those even more. He's a good guy and a fine young man.

Fun little end of day: watched two Spanish teams play in the European Champions final!

Hasta mañana!!

Day 13 Night train from Barcelona

Quick little adventure last night: we are trying to use all public transportation options on this trip except taxis, so we caught a public bus from Barcelona airport to our hosts apartment. Minor problem-bus driver didn't recognize street address and host was not answering phone...so, fortunately, I had created a pin on Google maps where the apartment was and with the GPS on, were able to follow the moving blue dot on the phone and guess where to get off. We were just a block away! YAY for offline maps and GPS!!

After a wonderful night of sleep with our Ukrainian host and her 3 kids, we spent the day on rented bikes exploring Pratt de Llobregat, a small community just south of Barcelona. We were able to drive along the periphery of the Barcelona international airport and discovered a really cool place to sit and watch airplanes land.

We caught a train in to Barcelona where I killed a few hours in an internet cafe while David played guitar at a park nearby. We spotted a large group of young people, some with guitars and all singing praise and worship songs in Spanish so we joined in!

I have to pause now to say a big thank you to my brother Paul, who recommended we take an overnight train.
We will post a movie we took at some point, but we are on it now...and OH MY this is definitely my favorite way to travel! The countryside flying by, take a stroll down to cafe car and order a sandwich to then eat in the dining room car...all at 120 mph. Go back then to your private room, complete with bathroom and shower, and watch a movie, play guitar or read a book. THIS IS COOL. We have two bunks so will hit the sack in a bit.  We left at 8pm and will arrive at our destination around 830am.

Close to 22:00 now, so...going to hit the sack. Grateful for another awesome day with Dave!

Day 12 Onward to Spain!

Our last day in Italy was very laid-back. We were to catch our train at 3 PM, so we decided to hang around the Beach area drinking Italian coffee and David playing guitar. It was very relaxing. The train ride to Genoa was uneventful and took only about an hour and a half. From there we caught a bus to the Genoa airport and are now awaiting our flight to Barcelona.

Given that there is not a lot of activity today, I thought I would take this opportunity to comment on some of the interesting things we have noticed as travelers in foreign countries.

1. People appreciate when you try and speak their language...they don't appreciate it when you just start talking English to them as if they are supposed to know it.

2. Unfortunately, there is some negative bias towards Americans. We have had several people ask us if we were Americans, almost with a smirk, and when I say I am from Spain their expression changes and they smile broadly.

3. The pace is life is slower...when you get seated at a restaurant, it is not uncommon to be there till closing.

4. Tourists are, in general, loud and obnoxious.

5. Smiling is universal!

Dave and I did that top of our head... So don't read into it too much.

Well, the plane is about to board to Barcelona so I will sign off for today. Looking forward to more adventures tomorrow. God bless.

Day 11 Hiking in Cinque Terre

We have spent so much time on this blog sharing details of what we did on the trip, that I often forget to let you know that we have had some really long and good conversations about life. For David, it is a time of transition, of choosing/discerning what he pursues with all of his heart. For me, it is a time of introspection. For both of us, it is a great time to clear our minds and open our hearts and learn more about each other.

Today was especially good for those conversations as we hiked over 8 miles of very steep terrain, going from Monterosso to Vernazza, and from there to Corniglia.

During the first hike we asked directions from two female hikers. Courtney and Paige were their names, from Oregon. Courtney had just graduated college like David and was celebrating with her sister Paige who was living in Poland this past year as an English teacher.

We spent the next five hours discussing everything from college to choosing a career, to God, to family dynamics and living abroad. Good stuff!

We then caught a train to two other towns and officially completed visiting all five towns that form this national Park called Cinque Terre.

Day can be summed up with great views, good food, cool conversations, new friends and stronger legs!