When you are a Voice major, within the field we talk about snot like its normal. I hear (and see from Facebook) that new parents talk about baby poop in great detail all the time. On the El Camino we talk about blisters like its a daily weather report. Blisters suck because they hurt obviously, but they also alter the way you walk and can cause you to make something-else hurt more. We talk about where we have them, how big they are, we name them, and we discuss their treatment at length. On the blogs I read before I left I learned a Camino trick is to thread a needle through them, drain overnight, and slap some compeed on them. Once here, I did the with my first one on my right foot. When I went to the pharmacy the pharmacist told me to never pop them. So I didn't pop the one on my left foot. A bit of an experiment. You can't pull compeed off otherwise you will pull off your skin with the blister. Well after a week they hadn't fallen off and they melt to your socks everyday and you have to unstick them from your foot as you take your socks off at the end of the day. Gross. Well almost a week later, 1 compeed fell off from the blister I didn't pop. The blister that started off at dime size is deflated but is now the size of 2 quarters and needs a huge bandaid. The right foot compeed has not fallen off and I am nervous it is now just a part of my foot. However it doesn't hurt at all. So now with my new pinky blisters I decided that the pilgrim technique is superior to the trained pharmacist. Blisters blow.
Anywho, that is a daily hurdle for a pilgrim. 2 days ago we walked to Burgos from Agès. After our street party, we had a bit of a late start. It was mostly my fault, I was very slowly. We let the boys leave without us as they are very time conscious. As we weren't rushed, we had a lovely breakfast in the next door cafe. You walk down into this wooden cavelike room with a wonderful assortment of pastries, freshly squeezed oj, and of course their holy espresso machine. It was a small little mom and pop place. We ate breakfast and admired all of the nicnacs that covered the cafe. We slowly realized that a large amount of them were well phallic shaped. It was so funny. They were rather creative and we couldn't stop cracking up throughout the meal. We finally hit the road and were joined by Luke, the Dutch guy who was part of the original Camino bobsled team. Him and Bea with their long legs soon were out of sight. I enjoyed the peaceful morning. The path started with a quick ascent spotted with silvery looking trees on a terrain of rocks just big enough to hit your blisters when you least expected it. The top view was beautiful of course, yet was interrupted by the sounds of gun fire. A military zone was sectioned off with barbed wire alongside the whole path. The descent was steep and hurt my knees. The pain is less shocking now. I've just become used to it. I caught up with the Dutch crew and we walked along country roads while swapping silly stories. We stopped in a town for a coffee and the continued on. I fell behind and the route became hideous. Bea's guidebook called today an Urban slog. The country roads became a road off a highway and then a sidewalk along gray industrial buildings. I just wanted it to be over. We finally made it to Burgos. I got a case of the hangries and Bea knows me well enough to direct me to a bakery. We all got pizza and ended up getting this life changing cream puff thing. We sat on a bench,our faces coated in powdered sugar, and were mocked and judged the passer bys. People legit spoke to us in spanish as they gawked at us. There really is a fine line between a pilgrim and looking homeless. We made it to the center city and were welcomed by the huge cathedral. It was incredible. We made out way to the albergue and claimed our beds, showered, and started a fiesta. We hit the town, started at a kebab shop, headed to a shady Irish pub, and the found a bar with €1 pints. We all bought rounds and drank in the street. Happily, we had already decided we were going to take day off in Burgos the following day.
We slept in till 7am and ate a very slow breakfast at a cafe. We used wifi and caught up with the world. We went to the church and were awestruck. It was so incredible. There were so many little chapels that were all so different from each other. Then we walked around the town, window shopped, and met with our German friends to split the taxi to hantanas. We were a group of 5. Through my injuries, I have taken 2 taxis. One of them was a big van that could fit 6. I figured we would be able to find one like that. We went to the bus depot to find the taxi queue. We told the guy where we wanted to go, he said he can only fit 4 people at €50. Well, that is waaaay out of our price range, so we looked into a bus. There is a bus that goes to Hantanas once a week and unfortunately, it was not that day. So we looked at our options. We ended up going to a town 6k further. The bus wasn't for another 2 hours so we went to a shop, bought food for din, and beer for the wait. We all napped on the way. The town was awesome. Timing is everything. We got there around 6:30pm, the first two albergues were full. Bea ran ahead and found a Refugio (bare bone albergue), jumped in front of some cyclists that were heading in and snagged the last 5 beds for us. We had done some shopping in Burgos and were planning to make dinner at the albergue. Unfortunately, ours did not have a kitchen. So we decided to be sly and sneak into another albergue to use their kitchen. We went to 1 and they didn't have a kitchen either. On our way to another, we were swept in to an art exhibition. The door was open with a welcome pilgrim sign,so we went in. it was a tiny old house with didgeridoo music playing throughout. I immediately felt very zen. The walls were deep blues and purples with obvious rustics wood accents that must have come from the original structure. The floor was lopsided. On the walls there were pictures with inspirational sayings. We passed through to the dining room and were welcomed with a table laden with cakes, olives, tea, and water. While I was looking around one of the girls we were traveling with asked if we could use the kitchen. We thought it was an albergue upstairs. The lady explained that it is actually their house that they have opened up for the exposition. She said that they have let pilgrims use their facilities in the past but it was too late tonight. She went to check with her partner and came back to apologize that it wouldn't work tonight. Then her partner, an older man with crazy gray hair with a long dread in the back, came out and said it was fine. I couldn't believe their generosity! We made dinner quickly and enjoyed our feast in the dining room. They cleared the table and helped with silverware and cookware and left us alone. It was so nice! We never have decided to cook before and our albergue almost always has a kitchen. I don't believe in a religion, but I do believe in the magic of timing. It was so inspiring to see their selfless generosity. It was so nice to share a meal that we prepared are a real table. They had 2 little kittens jumping around, and we played with them after dinner. During the whole meal, other pilgrims were passing through to admire the exposition. They would come into our room and take pictures and video of us. We were accidental installation art. This will be one of my favorite moments of the Camino for sure. Also I obviously was envious of their super hippie artistic life. Bea and I want a house just like theirs. I think we should open an albergue. The whole experience warmed my heart and proved the beauty of human kindness. After dinner we stopped at a Bar and enjoyed some red wine and then Walked around the little citadel town as the sunset. Timing leaves me in awe. So many random things led to that experience. We decided not to walk, to go grocery shopping for the first time in 2 weeks, the bus we wanted didn't run, all the albergues with a kitchen were full.
Stay tuned. Bea should post another tonight!
katie this was a beautiful post! I love random acts of kindness.
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