August 13, 2008 - Orio, Spain
I think that means "what a difficult first step"!
Yesterday was certainly a baptism of fire - I ended up walking not 27.5km but almost 40 kms, much of it up extremely steep hillsides, after mistaking the track and following signs which I later discovered were related to mountaineering rather than to the Camino!
The first part of the morning went beautifully - we left the albergue at 6.30am and walked up to the church of Our Lady of Guadalupe - unfortunately it was closed, but I spent some time sitting and reflecting on the journey ahead, looking down across the coastline and into the Pyrenees. The weather then was cool but with shafts of sunlight - ideal walking weather. I had started walking with an Irishman, Tony, who is studying Spanish. He was actually educated (in Dublin) by the Christian Brothers but knew nothing of the story of Edmund. He had come back to the church as an adult and we spent some time reflecting on the the face of the Church today - I tried to explain (very badly) some of what I heard from the Richard Rohr tapes on left brain and right brain spirituality- as I understand it, that the first thousand years of the church were right brain (at home with mystery, with poetry, with the sensual) and it is since then that we have become so left brain - trying to rationalise, explain and organise what cannot be fixed and categorised. I think it´s why I feel at home with ritual, bells and smells - and I am enjoying Spain with its icons and shrines, little niches with statues and flowers. If only my left brain had been more active on this occasion however!
I was walking on my own and saw a sign which basically offered a track ' pelerins (pilgrims) alpiniste' or 'les autres'. Because the guide had emphasised that the Camino at this point is sodifficult, I assumed that I had to take the most difficult track - and so it was. Climbing a very narrow path, almost vertical at times, with a rucksack on my back, was quite a challenge. But it lead to the most wonderful views at the top and I walked for some kilometres literally rejoicing in the mountains. I found a classical music station on the small radio I had found in the UK - it was like walking with my own movie soundtrack! UNTIL I realised that I had not seen any of the other pilgrims for some time, nor any yellow arrows (the indicators of theCamino route) and the track had no resemblance to anything on any of my maps or guidebooks. At this point, it began to rain - and the mist descended (I guess I had walked into the clouds!).
I wasn´t worried (because the worst that could happen is that it would take me some time to retrace my steps) but it was quite strange wandering around barely able to see because of the mist. Then an old man stepped out of the mist (the first person I had seen for at least an hour and a half) - he kept waving his hands around and indicating that I had to go down the mountain, that this was not the Camino - eventually, he insisted on taking me down. We were then joined by two other mountain walkers, one of whom spoke a very little French. There was a lot of discussion during which the word ´loco´(mad) seemed to occur quite frequently), and then the three of them took me down the mountain. It was pouring with rain, the path was very narrow and slippery, difficult to negotiate - it took another hour, but they stayed with me until I was on the right road. They wanted to know whether I was on holiday so I tried to explain about Mark and ended up showing them his picture - we all agreed that he was very handsome, so handsome he could have been Spanish! Lots of tears all round and now I will light a candle for them in Santiago!
After that, it was simply a very long road. It poured with rain all the way, the radio stopped working (because of the rain), and there was a lot of climbing again. Much time for reflection! It wasn´t until 6.00pm that I reached the albergue in San Sebastian and by that time, after 12 hours of walking, I had developed a problem with my left foot - just very painful to put any weight on it. It must have been obvious to all onlookers because as I walked towards the albergue in San Sebastian, a street clown immediately stopped his act and rushed to walk alongside me, hunched over and exaggerating the hobbling, drawing gales of laughter from the crowd! And I must have looked a sight since I was bent over, leaning heavily on my walking stick, and, with the green rain poncho pulled over my rucksack, appeared severely hunchbacked!
One interesting thing that happened though - Is at on a bench at the start of the hill to San Sebastian opposite a house which had a sign advertising organic food for sale. A young man with long hair came down the driveway and offered me a cup of coffee. I could see a number of people in the house so accepted. When I went in, there was a wonderfully welcoming atmosphere - and it was like stepping back intothe best of the 60s. There were women of various ages with very long hair tied back, wearing long skirts and shirts which seemed homemade and had been dyed withwith natural dyes. The men also had long hair, tied back, and wore loosely open cotton shirts. There was a lot of gentle laughter in the house which was filled with the most wonderful smells of baking bread. To cut a long story short, they are a religious community based on the life of the early Christians. They refer to Jesus as Yeshua and basically try to live according to the descriptions of the early Church in the book of Acts. Now I can hear Savvas muttering´sect, cult, loonies´etc etc - but they were really beautiful people -and in the mood I was in at the time (cold, wet, tired etc etc), I could have signed up on the spot!! They gave me a loaf of bread for the road (they run an organic food shop in San Sebastian) and an invitation to stay at any time. Was thinking about it afterwards, how my immediate response had been of distrust - and yet all they were doing was offering the kind of hospitality and welcome that we talk about in the official church. They´re called the Twelve Tribes and apparently started in America in the late 60´s.
The albergue last night was the gym of a local school so is only open during July and August. 50 beds in the room, mixed as usual, but luxury because there were lids on the toilets (albeit these toilets are obviously used by 6 year olds!) and there were separate showers for males and females - two each. Females did have to walk past the male showers though!
Was quite worried about my foot, but the hospetelier insisted that I bathe it in vinegar and salt, one of the French pilgrims gave me an arnica cream to put on it and I´ve taken things very carefully today. ´Very carefully´, by the way, means that I walked 16 kilometres before lunch this morning rather than walking the planned 26 kilometres. I also had the common sense to walk the first five kilometres of the road with more experienced walkers, so that I knew the correct direction to follow, rather than heading off up into the mountains again. Yvette and Gilbert are a retired couple who are keen walkers of the Camino - a few years ago, Gilbert walked from his home in Paris to Santiago de Compostela. They were a charming couple - although, unfortunately, Gilbert has a stomach problem and had a habit of letting out very loud juicy farts as we walked along - his poor wife didn´t know whether to apologise on his behalf or pretend that nothing had happened! My foot was giving me a lot of trouble so I asked them to go on, so that I could hobble at my own pace.
Highlight of the day was stopping at a small spring in the woodlands which was apparently a stopping place for pilgrims over hundreds of years. I stripped off my shoes and socks and bathed my foot. Whether it was the water or the timing or the painkiller that a German pilgrim had insisted on giving me, I don´t know - but it has been much much easier since.
Iam astonished that most of the people I´m meeting have already walked the Camino and feel drawn to walk it again. It´s not usual to walk theCamino del Norte as your first Camino though, simply because it is so difficult. I´ve also splashed out and am staying at an albergue in Orio which is run privately - this means that I am able to wash some clothes. It was raining most of the morning, but the sky has been clear this afternoon - promise of a better day tomorrow.
Haven´t yet been able to read comments - but will do so as soon as I post this entry and some more photographs. Orio is a beautiful mediaeval town with extremely steep streets leading down to the water.
At this stage, (which is ridiculous because it´s only early days!), I´m thinking constantly about the garden. This part of Spain seems to have changed very little - tiny fields and strips of land cultivated with corn, tomatoes, potatoes, greens - there are chickens running freely, cows, goats and sheep. I think (as I said, this is ridiculous at this stage of theCamino), one major impact will be a greater commitment to that relationship with the land.
