Harold Davis's Blog, page 88

The Art of Being Alone with Oneself

I fear the art of being alone with oneself has been lost. Oh, I am no saint! In the evenings I catch up with family via FaceTime, news from the US, and my email, and upload images and blog stories. But during the day on the Camino de Santiago I am alone with me, myself, and I, and my electronic devices are switched off.

Sure, in theory, it would be nice to have an intelligent companion with whom I could exchange a few words now and then. When one of us wanted to dawdle to explore or photograph we could say “catch up at the next coffee spot” or “see you tonight at the Albergo”. But mostly I think a pilgrimage on the Camino should at least partially be a time for meditation and savoring one’s own company.

Bridge Fun © Harold Davis

Many of the walkers I see around me wear headsets or ear buds and are plugged into music and the world. Some speak loudly on the phone. This is of course their right, but they are losing the chance to immerse themselves in their surroundings, and to get to know themselves better. Far more irritating are the large groups, who are constantly chattering to each other and making distracting noises. This behavior seems to cut across genders and nationalities.

Some companies, or fellowships, walking together sing Camino songs. Without understanding the language of the songs—the Camino is a veritable Rosetta stone of languages—it’s hard to be sure, but these basically seem like drinking songs, with the word “Camino” thrown in from time to time.

Today I listened to a group of men with shaved heads walking along, singing Gregorian chants a cappella.

Another way to look at this is part of my meditative discipline of being alone is for me to work to ignore the chattering of crowds! After all, travelers from all parts of the known world have been making this trek for a millennium, generally with tolerance, grace, faith, and good will. This is not a bad model for humanity to follow more generally.

Square in Melide © Harold Davis

Notes: Today I walked from Melide to Arzua. Even after a nice, hot shower I find myself stiff and footsore. The day began with roiling clouds and a stiff breeze. I was pretty sure it would rain before I got here, but my luck held, and the walk—mostly through country lanes and forest paths—was pleasant and dry.

From Palas de Rei to Melide

I woke this morning early to rain splattering against my window. Clearly the weather had deteriorated from the wonderful sunny-but-cloudy sky of the day before. I walked from the largish town of Palas de Rei on country lanes, forest trails, and beside ploughed fields to another fairly big place, Melide, through mist, rain, and damp clouds that touched the hillsides.

Curve in the Camino © Harold Davis

This day was not without some challenges, but fortunately since my suitcase had caught up with me I had the gear to keep pretty warm and dry.

Cloisters © Harold Davis

If you are interested in the Camino de Santiago, you have probably heard of, or seen, the movie The Way. The film stars Martin Sheen, whose son dies in a freak accident at the beginning of his pilgrimage. Sheen takes his son’s place, and completes the walk to Santiago de Compostela.

Free Hugs © Harold Davis

Well, I learned today that people do die while walking The Way, and some of them are remembered with memorial markers. When I looked at these markers, as far as I could see the cause of death was omitted. So my suspicion is that mostly the causes were things people brought with them, such as a health issue. Wherever you go, there you are.

Hand pump for drinking water along the Camino © Harold Davis

One marker I saw today was for someone who was described as “constantly in motion”, a man originally from Yorkshire. He died while on his fifth pilgrimage to Santiago (cause of death unspecified) with a handsome memorial on the route between Palas de Rei and Melide. I imagine he found peace, and his spirit stands, hands on hips, watching pilgrims pass on “his” stretch of the Camino de Santiago with a smile. 

The image you see below is the side of a Hórreo, a traditional granary structure that you see frequently in rural Galicia. The hórreo is usually raised off the ground with stones to keep away animals, and to help minimize moisture. The white cross I saw on this hórreo is an added, unexpected bonus!

Hórreo © Harold Davis

Better Weather on the Camino

I forgot to mention that yesterday’s story was written, and the images processed and uploaded, from the small bar across the street from my room. This was the only place with connectivity in the hamlet along the Camino that I was staying in. Furthermore, I got to plug my computer into a power outlet, and to warm my back against a radiator while the dark-eyed and buxom hostesses plied me with olives, fried doughnut things, and a clear Galician drink they described as “double fermented” that packed a wallop.

It was cold overnight, with a hard frost on the ground when I woke. After yesterday’s rain and hail, I was hoping for better weather on the Camino de Santiago. As it turned out, it was crisp but sunny with high, scudding clouds—perfect weather for walking.

The stone cross in the photo below is a cruceiro, examples of which are found all over the Galician countryside. Cruceiros are intended to ward off evil spirits of the dead, and protect travelers, although apparently drinking the double-fermented beverage I mentioned is also thought to help with this task, particularly if the drink is preceded by a brief prayer.

Cruceiro © Harold Davis

The yellow flowers in my next image are cultivated Rapeseed, from which Canola oil is pressed. (They really should change the name of this plant.) But Yellow! You can see what a wondrous day it has been!

Rapeseed Field © Harold Davis

Under Gray and Lowering Clouds

This morning I hoisted my camera backpack, and headed out into gray weather with lowering clouds. During the course of this day I was to experience torrential rain, steady hail, and occasional shafts of brilliant sunshine.

Before I get into today’s adventures I want to show a few images from Portmarin, where I spent the night. Whatever the politics of rebuilding this submerged city were are hard to know from this distance (it happened in the 1960s), but it truly seems too bad that this historic town was destroyed.

Here is the rebuilt fortified church, and some of the crossings of the River Mino, the river that was damned to submerge the town.

Rebuilt Romanesque Fortress Church © Harold Davis

Crossing the River Mino © Harold Davis

Besides the volatile weather, it was a remarkable walk today, with pine forests, an ancient ruined citadel that predates the Roman conquest of Iberia, and finally a country room with lace curtains!

Pine Forest © Harold Davis

Castromaior Citadel © Harold Davis

Lace Curtains © Harold Davis

Walking in the Gardens of Galicia

Today I walked from Morgade to Portomarin, a somewhat bigger town. Portomarin seems like an interesting place. It was completely rebuilt, brick by brick, in the 1960s, when the original townsite was flooded to make a reservoir in the Mino River. Supposedly, when the water is low towards the end of the summer, you can see the tops of the original buildings breaking the surface in the lake that laps the town’s shoreline. You’d never know the town is essentially modern. From the castle-like church to the main street’s arched arcades it looks ancient. Anyhow.

To get here I walked on paths and country roads through stands of forest, fields in flower, and beautiful, romantic vistas. The weather was intermittent sun and rain, with a period of really steady, windy, and cold downpour. It is beautiful indeed to walk in the gardens of Galicia in the spring!

Galician Fields in Bloom © Harold Davis

The Camino de Santiago is well patrolled by horse-mounted members of the Guardia Civil, not that I would have any safety concerns. Every so often there is a buffet for pilgrims, free, with hot coffee and treats, with optional payment if you care to donate.

Buffet for Pilgrims © Harold Davis

This is all too much like paradise, and my pilgrimage isn’t even completed. The only flies in my ointment: I still don’t have the suitcase that Iberia Airlines lost (by local account, Iberia is very good at losing things), and there is quite a bit of mud along the Camino this time of year. As we used to say in my long-distance backpacking days, Lord Muckmire has stretched his magical hands from Mordor and touched the path, but good!

Notes: My suitcase just arrived. Yay! I was taking a shower when there was a loud series of knocks on my room door. Slinging a towel over my naked body, I opened the door to find the landlady rolling the suitcase. Nice to have warm clothing and my tripod again. Iberia Airlines may be good at losing things—in fairness, they were also good at finding me and delivering my suitcase in an obscure location along the Camino. Good bye flies in the ointment, I am content.

First Day on the Camino

Yesterday was my first day hiking on the Camino de Santiago. I walked roughly twelve kilometers from Sarria to Morgade, a small hamlet.

Twelve kilometers is about seven miles, and it doesn’t sound like much. But I feel it!

It was really pleasant walking, with paths, country roads, high scuttling clouds, and intermittent chill and sunshine. The photo below of the Camino meeting a country lane gives the idea.

Meeting of the Ways © Harold Davis

As I expected, there were many fellow pilgrims on the trail. Mostly, they were Spanish, but some were from England, Sweden, and elsewhere. I’ve yet to meet any other Americans, but I have learned to say “Buen Camino” to everyone I meet on the way (it’s the ritual greeting specific to pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago).

Santiago de Barbadelo © Harold Davis

Besides the pastoral countryside, I passed through a number of hamlets, some of which were stocked with convenient expresso machines, and old historic buildings, like the Romanesque church from the twelfth century shown above.

At each of these stops whether for coffee or a church, the idea is to get my Credencial del Peregrino stamped, as proof that I have passed this way. You need two stamps a day to get your pilgrimage certificate in Santiago. Some locals take their stamping duties very seriously, and stamp, sign, and date my Credencial. Others are more like, here’s the stamp and a pad, go for it! I actually enjoy the process of getting my thingee stamped (I did this also on the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage trail in Japan and of course it makes a great souvenir and memory jogger).

Notes: In case you are wondering, my suitcase still hasn’t caught up to me. I miss my tripod, and I could use some clean underwear and socks (this may be TMI). Also, my legs have been cold on the trail, and I could use some warmer clothes. But otherwise, less is more, and I am not really very unhappy about this. Onward pilgrim!

This story wasn’t posted yesterday because the wi-fi connectivity wasn’t up to it. Today I have arrived in Portmarin, a bit more of a town, and am able to connect to the world.

Beginning my Compostela

Today I arrived to begin my pilgrimage walking to Santiago de Compostela. I am to start tomorrow morning from Sarria. As you can see in the image, the River Sarria running through the middle of town is peaceful, but my traveler’s adventures were not entirely so, as I’ll explain below.

River Sarria © Harold Davis

In the early morning, the bus picked up our group at the Mas de Garrigue after a wonderful week’s stay. It seemed like forever—and no time at all!

Leaving the group at the Toulouse airport, I headed for Santiago de Compostela via Madrid. Unfortunately, Iberia Airlines wouldn’t check my suitcase through and said I had to retrieve it in Madrid and recheck it (a service would be bringing the bag each night to where I would be staying).

So of course my plane from Toulouse to Madrid ran late, then my bag got lost somewhere in the Madrid airport. I ended up having to race the entire length of the huge Madrid Terminal 4, the last one on the plane just as the doors were closing. Of course, my awol suitcase, whereabouts unknown, didn’t make it with me.

Well, a little bit of hardship is probably a good way to begin a pilgrimage. It kind of seems fitting to be stripped to my essentials as I begin, though I do miss my tripod, which was packed in my suitcase. I am hoping my suitcase will catch up with me sometime in the next two or three days at one of the places I am staying along the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage trail. I gave Iberia the details, and they promised to find me.

On the fairly long drive from Santiago backwards to Sarria at first the road crossed and recrossed the trail. Then things thinned out, and the vastness of the walk I am undertaking became apparent to me (I think I had discounted the distances when I thought about this from home). It took a while even by car to get here.

In Sarria, I had a nice dinner at a pub around the corner from my hotel, and bought a second pair of socks for my hardworking feet, an inexpensive raincoat just in case, and a clam shell (the pilgrimage symbol) to decorate my camera backpack.

Geometry

This is the ancient and magnificent Pont Valentre in Cahors, France and its reflections in the Lot River on a clear day with still water.

Geometry © Harold Davis

Dandelion in Calvignac

Wherever I am, I cannot resist a nice dandelion! This one was in Calvignac, in the southwest of France.

Dandelion in Calvignac B © Harold Davis

Dandelion in Calvignac A © Harold Davis

Morning at the Mas de Garrigue

Waking up at the Mas de Garrigue, out my window I saw the soft light of morning on the wisteria vine on the tower. Every detail here is close to perfection, what a wonderful place to be privileged to spend some time!

Morning at the Mas de Garrigue © Harold Davis