Day 18 – Deja vu Pilgrim!

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I woke up cautiously this morning.

I gingerly got out of bed, and realised that I could still walk. Yesterday's mammoth stretch of 41kms hadn't taken a toll after all. I think the secret was that I'd done some yoga last night before I went to bed, then did some again this morning.

For the first time since Santo Domingo, about 10 days ago, I didn't put on any bandages or creams this morning. I put some Sellick 15 on my feet, to stop friction, but basically I was about to set off today without painkillers, without knee supports, without antibiotic lotions, wihout bandages.

I had some brekkie in a little coffee shop on the outskirts of Sahagun, and then headed out onto the Meseta.

I felt good. No pain. Easy stride.

Today was a special day for me. Let me explain: two years ago, my wife and I drove from Burgos to Leon. We took the motorway, and at times it ran very close to the Camino. I remember looking out at these pilgrims crossing this vast expanse of nothingness,and marvelling.

I knew then that I wanted to walk the Camino.

This stretch is defined by a row of trees beside the path, and that's what I remember – this row of trees, and these pilgrims walking to Santiago.

I also remember that in a car, it was a long way between Leon and Burgos. What was compelling these people to WALK it?

Today I had a choice. I could have walked by the motorway, or I could have taken a more scenic, and easier route. I chose the motorway route.

And a weird thing happened. At one section where the Camino path got close to the motorway, I looked up and saw my car. The same car I'd driven in two years ago. Same make, same model, same colour. (Citroen C5, dark grey.)

I had this extraordinary sense of deva vu.

And I knew then that I had been destined to walk this Way. For whatever reason, I still don't know.

(Short day today – 18 kms. Shortest day I've had so far. Didn't stop early for reasons of pain – no pain. Just found a nice place, and thought I'd stop.)

 

9 thoughts on “Day 18 – Deja vu Pilgrim!”

  1. Hey mate! Finally got into your blog. Seems that although I finished my first half of Camino today ( as planned) I will keep mentally walking with you guys via your bog:-) Really like it. We met few times on Camino, we never spent too much time in talking… Sometimes you don’t need talk to each other and mutual understanding, tuning on same frequency goes well anyhow. Thank you Bill, my friend, to have a chance to meet you on Camino! Boris from Slovakia

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    • Hey Boris – lovely to hear from you mate! I hope your daughter liked all those videos you were collecting. One of my big regrets is that I didn’t spend last night with you and Ben at that albergue. I wished I had, and got to know you both a little more. But I sincerely hope our paths cross again soon. Please keep in touch – bill@bjfilms.com.au. At my moments of greatest despair, you always seemed to pop up with a big smile. It always made me feel better! Take care, bill.

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  2. My cousin is getting ready to start walking the route in mid-May and we both are following your blog. I’m admiring your painterly photographic eye and your double coffees. Thanks for your good works.

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      • Bill. I am the cuz, and Robert, like you, is a professional photographer. Meeting with him tomorrow night to make sure I know how to get the best from my iPhone 5 camera.

        In answer to your earlier request, Jill is posting under boomerinbloom.wordpress.com and I under the generic steve2013dotnet.wordpress.com. Jill’s moniker reflects that at 58 she is a Boomer and that she is continuing to bloom brighter and brighter. Actually she turns 58 on summer soltice while on the Camino.

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        • Steve, Robert will tell you that the iPhone 5 has a fine camera, but you might consider taking a dedicated camera – even a small cheap point&shoot – which will give you more options than the iPhone camera.

          Things for it:
          it’s small, and lightweight, and connects directly to iPhoto etc. and the photographic quality is pretty good for a camera in a phone.

          Things against it:
          it has a small sensor.
          It doesn’t have a lens with an optical zoom (only digital)
          It’s not a very wide angle lens
          It chews battery

          Bill

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          • Thanks Bill. I have a coolpix X6400 that I am planning to take, but I assume that I can not load that into my iPhone to use for blogging purposes. Have considered getting an iPad, but have not concluded that yet. Meeting with Robert tonight for some up close instruction. Buen Camino

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          • I’m using an iPad. I load the SD card straight into it, via an Apple adapter. I’d suggest an iPad mini but there’s a new model coming out shortly…

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          • With Apple, it is hard to have the latest as they just keep upgrading them. I just got an iPhone 5 because my 4 would not work in Europe, and a 5S is coming out shortly. If I am to take an ipad on this journey, then again, it will be upstaged before long. That is the way with Apple products. One of the great things in Europe is that architecture has a long shelf life. They don’t seem to have the need to tear down and rebuild every 20 or 30 years. No so in the US. As always, thanks for the insights and information. Now I have to learn how to put pictures in the middle of a blog, where they make the most sense. So far, wordpress puts them where it wants them. Part of the process right now might not be getting the answers, but finding the questions.

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