oh canada

Camino Don is home once again.

Yesterday he swore he'd never ever go back to Spain, let alone walk the camino again. Today he's planning to walk in the fall.

santiago, come and gone

Hi All!

My Dad arrived in Santiago, and the end of his walk, yesterday morning at 11am. No sooner did he arrive than he booked himself a spot on the night train to Madrid. He's ready to come home and counting the minutes...and probably eating flan to pass the time. If all goes according to plan he'll be home Tuesday afternoon.

Every time he comes back he swears he's not going to walk it again...until the next time.

Hasta luego camino.

itchy feet

I have been walking for the last couple of days in the part of Spain known as Galicia. Here the hills have become mountains and the going is more difficult. Some of the views have been totally wonderful.

I'm now in the city of Ourense (population 96 000 so they actually have an internet cafe)... Beautiful refugio here. We were greeted with food and wine when we arrived! (Trust me, this is not the usual.) I have only 110 km and 4 days to go. These are proving to be the trip's most difficult days because my feet are itching to be done.

Don

squeakin' knees, the man marches on

Don's daughter here again.



Can you imagine walking all day and resting your weary bones here? ...And this is one of the more luxurious ones.



I spoke with my Dad today. He sounded well and not too worn down by the screaming knees – aparently Ibuprofin is working some magic. He's around 775km into his walk now and will cross into Galicia from Castilla Leon sometime tomorrow.


The Via de la Plata Possee (pictured here) disbanded some time ago. Two members had obligations to return to at home, one chose to walk at a slower pace, and Camino Don marched on. As in life, so in the camino. You cross paths, share experiences and move on in diferent directions or at diferent speeds.

About 5 days ago, our hero fell in step with yet another German man (there seem to be more Germans in Spain than Spaniards) and has been walking with him ever since. Wilhelm walks the camino every year and truly cannot remember what number trip he's on now. That's alotta years and probably more kilometers than I'll DRIVE in this lifetime.

Here are some pictures from my Dad's trip that I received yesterday in the mail.

Don here in Salamanca , half way

April 6, Thursday
Arrived in Salamanca yesterday which is halfway or 518 km and 19 days. Am taking a day of rest and to catch up on some chores. This is my second day of rest. I seem to be improving in strength but my knees are putting up a big argument and may have the final word. Time will tell. Will start again tomarrow and hope no rain.
<one piece of equipment that is overlooked is my back pack. Four trips and 2700 km. Pack is from EMS. Think of how many times it is taken on and off each day.
<hope to keep walking

in spain, learning german

Don's daughter here....

So far Camino Don hasn't found internet access in the dusty little towns he's been staying in. Chances are that until now he'd have been too tired to write anyway. (Jetlag, long days of walking lost in the mud without a decent guide book, a biological/psychological imperative to keep moving despite exhaustion and screaming knees....the usual for my Dad.)

The tide seems to have turned though. My Dad actually took a day off to rest! (I'm so proud of him.) In doing so, he fell in step with three other pilgrims also making the trek up to Santiago from Seville. Not only do they have better maps by which to find the path, but they walk shorter, less exhausting days – 25km instead of 45km. With this new walking schedule, my Dad's evening cerveza doesn't put him right to sleep so he can actually enjoy a couple of glasses! And he has company with which to enjoy/comiserate/explore this adventure.

In addition to my Dad, this little camino possee consists of a French woman, a Dutch man and a German man. Consequently, my Dad is finding ample opportunity to practice his German and he says he is making some headway with it. Too bad Spaniards don't speak German.

He's now walked 444km and figures he'll be at the halway point sometime in the next day and a half. Today he walked through a valley surrounded by brilliant snow covered mountains. Sunshine...friends...rest...no more mud...things are looking up.

Hopefully he'll find a computer one of these days so he can recount his great adventures himself.

Hasta pronto!

who am I? what is the camino?

For those few people who don't know me, I'm one of the characters in the image in the upper left corner. Hope you can tell which is which. It is part of a series of silhouette statues located on the top of a mountain called Alto de Perdon about 10 km west of Pamplona. This is part of the over 1000 year old pilgrim's route across Spain known as the Camino de Santiago. The Camino Francés spans 780 km from the French border to the city of Santiago. I won't go into the history of the Camino. It is a history of war and conquest as is most of human history.

In 1998 I retired from a career in teaching. In Sept. 2003 my daughter convinced me to walk the Camino and she walked the first 10 days with me to get me on the way. Be careful, walking the Camino, it can be habit forming. I walked it again in June 04 and in May 05. During the last walk I met a 72 year old man who had walked it 11 times in the last decade. People walking several times is not unusual. About 750 thousand people start on the Camino Francés every year. This route is well serviced by pilgrim hostels, probably the longest stretch between towns with hostels is 17 km.

I will try it again this March 06. The route I hope to complete runs
from Granada (The Camino Mozarabe) to Mérida and
then from Mérida to Santiago (Via de la Plata). The route runs to the
northwest and then north to Santiago.

Please help support me in this effort by donating to the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation.