Monday Morning Musings

Posted on June 10, 2019 under Monday Morning Musings with 2 comments

All arrows point to Santiago de Compostela

 

Some final, random thoughts from my travels in Europe.

After 38 days on the road, my European adventure has come to a close. I have been messaging friends from different parts of the world since my return and predictably, there’s a bit of a letdown after such a unique experience such as the Camino. When you’ve walked together for days, slept together in crowded alburgues, administered care to a complete stranger’s blisters, dined together at communal meals and raised a glass or two at the end of a long day, you forge a common bond of fellowship.

It’s not all that surprising but the people I met on the Camino are ordinary folks but with extraordinary stories as you will find out when I publish my book. Just about everybody I met had come to Spain to do the walk with a specific purpose. Many were dealing with personal issues and needed time and space to collect their thoughts and sort things out. Some were recovering from serious illnesses and were celebrating a second chance at life. For others, it was a chance to walk with close friends. There were married couples, twin sisters, a mom, dad and their two young children, best buds and every other imaginable combination. The vast majority were walking alone but when you’re on the Camino, you’re never really alone.

This does not imply that the Camino is crowded although the last 100K IS very busy with many tourists who choose to do just the last few stages of the walk. There were many days, especially in the early morning darkness, where I didn’t meet a single walker for three hours. The beauty of the Camino is that you can be alone or be with others. It’s how you feel on any given day that determines whether you want tranquility or company. And even when you’re alone, there is nature all around you, speaking to you in soft whispers, if you take the time to listen.

Music is such an important and integral part of my life that it comes as no surprise that I enjoyed many beautiful musical moments on the Camino. Singing and playing guitar at the “hippie farm” in Montan was a hoot. There were many times on the trail that somebody ahead of me would be singing at the top of their lungs. On one of the days that I chose as a day of contemplation (no interviews or chatting on the trail), I was meandering along when I heard a man ahead of me singing the theme song from Romeo and Juliet. He was an older gentleman (my age!) from South Korea and his walking partner that day, a guy in his twenties from Spain. Such is the Camino that you see people of all ages and all countries meeting up randomly and walking awhile together.

As I passed them, I complimented the beautiful singing. I spontaneously broke into a verse of “Farewell to Nova Scotia” and then moved on.

Doing laundry one evening in the crowded main plaza in Pamplona, I sat outside a laundromat, sipping red wine and watching a performance by a troupe of flamenco dancers. Wine, laundry and flamenco dancers. You wouldn’t normally expect to find those three words in the same sentence!

I also witnessed for the first time, a performance of Fado music in Coimbra, Portugal. It was in an intimate setting with 30 people in attendance. The music was terrific and the two male soloists were exceptional.

I also caught a piano concert in Pamplona. The pianist was brilliant and the acoustics in the concert hall, world class. At the end of a piece, when the pianist took his fingers off the keys, the notes lingered in the air like a hummingbird at a feeder.

My walking mate for the final two days of the Camino was a lovely young lady from France. Virginie and I knew enough of each other’s mother tongue to communicate quite nicely. The day before reaching Santiago de Compostela, I started singing “We Are the Champions” and that became our anthem as we proudly marched into the city on May 28^th.

The moment that still leaves me a bit misty eyed was the day I was walking with two young women from Poland, an incredible 43 year old Argentinian man and one of my best friends on the Camino, Jan from Heidelberg, Germany. (Their stories will be in my book) We were walking five abreast with much fellowship and laughter. The air was rarely still but at one point, I felt that a few verses of “The Happy Wanderer” were appropriate. When I finished, my Polish friends sang a rollicking tune from back home. This was followed by an Argentinian song and Jan finished up with a German classic.

Someone suggested that we try a song that we all knew so I started singing Happy Birthday. Everyone chimed in. It was only when we finished that we noticed that Jan was a bit emotional. It just so happened that it was his birthday that very day and it coincided with his father’s death a few years earlier. There was a group hug and many tears. The Camino has a way of doing that.

I chatted briefly on the weekend with a new friend from South Korea. Her personal story will appear in my book. I met her at about the halfway mark of the Camino and she was having serious pain issues in one of her legs. I watched her hobbling one day and was doubtful that she would make it all the way. Make it she did and I was there when she arrived in Santiago de Compostela. Like so many walkers, she worked through her discomfort because the destination was important to her.  We shared a warm embrace and a cold drink.

I asked her how she was feeling, now that she was back in South Korea, facing long days and much pressure at her place of work. “When I arrived in Korea a few days ago, it was not easy to accept that something I enjoyed so much was over. I couldn’t even sleep and I cried all night.”

On more than one occasion in this space, I have referred to the Camino as a traveling United Nations. You meet people from every walk of life and every country in the world. You eat, sleep and walk together. You share your life story with complete strangers. There is a high level of trust and camaraderie.

I’ll leave you with a quote from the late Anthony Bourdain regarding travel:

“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully you leave something good behind.”

If you want to experience one of life’s greatest adventures, take a hike.

Buen Camino!

Have a great week.