Reflections on Camino 2014

I received an email from American Pilgrims on the Camino the other day ( American Pilgrams ). They are soliciting submissions for the next issue of the 'El Concho', which is their quarterly publication.

I thought it over, and since I am in major prep mode for my next phase in October, I decided that I had something to offer. Here is the submission along with the pictures. Again these experiences are from 2014 and my first phase, hiking from Sevilla to Fuente de Cantos.

===============================

My camino is along the Via De La Plata which starts in Sevilla in the south of Spain and heads north. With a full-time job, I am one of those peregrinos doing the Camino de Santiago in phases. My first phase happened in April of 2014. I’d like to share some special moments.

The first moment occurred as I left the industrialized portion of the Via leading out of Sevilla. I came to the point where the Via heads out along a miles-long graded, dirt path. The marking was more than the traditional yellow arrow “Flecha Amarillo”. It also included a yellow “X” for which way to NOT walk. With the Camino already under foot, I realized how appropriate it was for my life. Sometimes I had gone left, and sometimes I had gone right, but the decisions were made, and it was only left for me to continue ahead.

The next day I and fellow pilgrims passed alongside fruit pickers in an orange grove. Riding high in their trucks, as they slowly passed, I requested permission to take a picture. They acceded to my request, and then left us with more than a dozen oranges. Being hot and thirsty, we immediately opened an orange apiece and felt the cool juices of the fruit run over our fingers as we sipped the sweet contents. To this day, I remember no finer tasting oranges in my life.

On my last day and alone at this point, I was in the town of Fuente de Cantos (Fountain of Songs) on
Palm Sunday. In Sevilla there are hundreds of thousands of people lined up for the religious processions commemorating the Passion of the Christ. Yet here was I in a town of hundreds. In the town church as the Nazareno’s (religious clubs) dressed in their ceremonial garb, I walked up to the float, touched its cool wood exterior and gazed into the eyes of Mary and Jesus, something just not possible in Seville. Surrounded by the town’s marching brass band, by the Nazareno’s and local parade watchers, I was moved to elation for my Camino and how it brought me to this small pueblo on such a great day. 

As I write this, I am preparing for my third leg thru Castile y Leon and into Galicia. I thank God, the
fortunes, the fates and all deities out there for such a marvelous experience.

Where I Am

Softball season is wrapping up so that means it is time to train for the Camino.

The training routine is no real surprise at this point: hiking (lots of) across varying terrains for progressively longer distances; along with sessions of yoga (for spiritual peace and balance), zumba (for endurance and heartrate), pilates (for core strength), trx (for strength) and body pump (to be with Linda).

I haven't made my plane reservations yet, but I should be leaving Rochester around the 20th of Sep. I figure on four weeks of vacation to allow for a rest day, every four or five hiking days.

One of the big internal changes that happened recently happened as a result of a decision that Linda and I discussed. She has her own plans for the El Camino, but along the Camino Frances in 2017. By the end of this segment of mine, I will make it to the vicinity of the Camino Frances. I, in an earlier blog, alluded to the Camino Sanabres. I have since been thinking, to press on to the Camino Frances instead.

I checked with Linda because I would not want to intrude on her personal camino, but she also likes the idea of meeting up in 2017, somewhere around Astorga, and continuing (both her and I) along the Frances to Santiago de Compostela. ... I like this idea.

But more than that, just the discussion with Linda taught me a valuable lesson.

The Camino, my Camino, is more than a set of locations along a track ... it is the spiritual, emotional and mental journey along which I travel. Whether I make that journey along the Sanabres at this point, or along the Frances in 2017, or along the pathways that I travel in Rochester at this moment, my camino began a long time ago and continues each and every day.

It no longer matters where I am or what I am doing or when I participate, from now on ... my camino is within me ... the route is just a  physical manifestation of where my soul is located.


This sched gets me to where the Camino Sanabres branches off from the Via de La Plata.

Date	Start	Finish	Distance (KM)
(Wk 1) 24th (Sat)	Leave Rochester
25th (Sun)	Arrive Madrid	Bus to Bejar; hike to Calzada de Bejar
26th (Mon)	Calzada de Bejar	Fuenteroble de Salvatierra	20.5
27st	Fuenteroble	San Pedro de Rozados	28.0
28th	San Pedro	Salamanca	23.3
29th	Salamanca Rest Day
30th (Fri)	Salamanca	Calzada de Valdunciel	16.8
(Wk 2) 1st (Sat)	Calzada de Valdunciel	El Cubo de la Tierra  Del Vino	19.7
2nd (Sun)	El Cubo	Villanueva del Campean	13.5
3rd	Villanueva	Zamora	18.1
4th	Zamora Rest Day
5th	Zamora	Montamarta	18.5
6th (Thu)	Montamarta	Granja de Moruela	22.7

This sched takes me along the Camino Sanabres. It is very approx and I have not really given a lot of thought to the Camino Sanabres. I put it here more to help me crystallize the second half of this leg.

Date	Start	Finish	Distance (KM)
7th (Fri)	Granja de Moruela	Tabara	25.3
(Wk 3) 8th (Sat)	Tabara	Santa Croya de Tera	22.5
9th	Santa Croya	Villar de Farfon	21.5
10th	Villar de Farfon	Asturianos	30
11th	Asturianos	Puebla de Sanabria	17
12th	Puebla de Sanabria	Padornelo	28.5
13th	Padornelo	Lubian	21
14th	Lubian	A Gudina	30
(Wk 4) 15th (Sat)	A Gudina	Verin	40
16th (Sun)	Make up day
17th (Mon)	Travel to Madrid
18th	Fly to Rochester

At the end of this phase, one of the important things that I would like is to spend a day in Madrid, in particular to see Picasso's "Guernica" at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. It is possible that I will do this on the front end rather than the back end.

Picking a Route

Via De La Plata

The Via De La Plata actually runs from Sevilla to Astorga (purple route). In Astorga, the Via De La Plata joins up with the Camino Frances, which I will not be following.
The turn to the left after Zamora (and thru Tabara) is known as the Camino Sanabres, which I will be following.

============

My Planned Route to Cross Castile y Leon

Here is my tentative plan for the third leg of my Camino De Santiago. This gets me across the region of Castile y Leon and into the region of Galicia, which is where Santiago De Compostela is located. The distance is approx 220 mi. About where the path goes west is where I will leave the Via De La Plata and start the Camino Sanabres.

Calzada De Bejar, Castile y Leon To Verin, Galicia

================

Looking Ahead to the Future

This map is the region of Galicia. I plan to end this leg at Verin (on the Camino Sanabres) which is just over the border with Castile y Leon. Leg 4 in 2017 will take me from Verin to Santiago, and possibly on to 'The End of the World' at Finisterre on the Atlantic coast.

Caminos In Galicia (Sanabres - Gudina to Santiago - not marked)

So to sum up, here are the choices:
1) Follow the Via to Astorga (near Leon) and join up with the Camino Frances. (Nope, not doing this.)
2) Follow the Via to Granja de Moreruela (in Castile y Leon, not shown on map), turn west and switch to the Camino Sanabres. Follow the Sanabres to A Gudina, and go southwest to Verin, This is where we will call it quits for this leg.

On Leg 4, I will return to Verin and then turn northwest to Ourense and onto Santiago De Compostela.

The Preparations are Underway

Leg 1: Seville to Fuente De Cantos (2014)

Leg 2: Fuente De Cantos to Bejar (2015)

So here we are prepping for my third trip to Spain to continue on the Via De La Plata to Santiago De Compostela.

My attitude is different this time:
- Leg 1 (2014): Started the hike nervous and apprehensive about such a major undertaking ... unsure of myself and my abilities. Ended the hike with the knowledge that I could do it, despite some setbacks, and that I was capable of more within myself.
- Leg 2 (2015): Started this leg of the camino knowing that I was capable and wanted to explore my limits. Ended the camino leg with self-assuredness that I could be more than I had been.
- Leg 3 (Coming up): Relaxed and looking for adventure and more self-discovery.

Looking for a theme song to set the mood.

Possibilities:

"I'm Alive" by ELO	I'm alive - and the world shines for me today. I'm alive - suddenly I am here today. Seems like forever (and a day);    thought I could never (feel this way). Is this really me? I'm alive, I'm alive. I'm alive - and the dawn breaks across the sky. I'm alive - and the sun rises up so high. Lost in another world (far away);    never another word (till today). But what can I say? I'm alive, I'm alive. Suddenly came the dawn (from the night). Suddenly I was born (into light). How can it be real? I'm alive, I'm alive.
'Somewhere Only We Know' by Lily Allen	I walked across an empty land. I knew the pathway like the back of my hand. I felt the earth beneath my feet;    Sat by the river and it made me complete. Oh simple thing, where have you gone? I'm getting tired and I need someone to rely on. I came across a fallen tree;    I felt the branches of it looking at me. Is this the place we used to love? Is this the place that I've been dreaming of? Oh simple thing, where have you gone? I'm getting old and I need something to rely on. And if you have a minute, why don't we go    Talk about it somewhere only we know? This could be the end of everything,    So why don't we go somewhere only we know? So tell me when you're gonna let me in; I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin.
'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole	Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high,     And the dreams that you dreamed of     Once in a lullaby. Somewhere over the rainbow, blue birds fly     And the dreams that you dreamed of ...     Dreams really do come true. Someday I'll wish upon a star;    Wake up where the clouds are far behind me,    Where trouble melts like lemon drops    High above the chimney top ...    That's where you'll find me. Oh, somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly    And the dream that you dare to ...    Oh why, oh why can't I?