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Perfect bubbly airport send-off at 6am!! Lovely Emma, Kitty and Alice… Lucky me!

Camino de Santiago - 8 days to go!

On 16th March, I shall be embarking on a 500 mile walk. It is an ancient pilgrimage route, the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, which starts in the French Pyrenees, crosses into Spain, and ends in Santiago many marathons later.

I shall be following in the footsteps of my late husband, as a fulfilment of a mutual wish.

Of the many challenges that I shall face on this walk, there is one with which you may be able to assist me. I am raising money for the two local cancer charities who helped us both beyond the measure of words. Gordon himself raised nearly £18,000 for these cancer charities when he did his Camino. I promised him that I would try to beat him!

Every little bit helps and even the smallest donation will be greatly appreciated!
Here is the link : http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/GordonDavidsonMemorialFund

I look forward to the end of April when I shall be able to return to my sedentary life!

Simplicity of Walking

My first real blog post from the Camino itself! Quite a daunting task (first blog) when faced with it. Considering it’s now Day 3 and all I’ve had to do is walk, you might consider it strange when I say that I just haven’t had any time to write anything yet!

Despite the simplicity of the task (of walking), there is a lot to do and consider! From taking care of my feet and body, to some practical orienteering and readjustments. It is undoubtedly a sudden change of direction and pace.

For those who don’t know, I have been operating on super overdrive, since Gordon’s death. A crazy work schedule, that would tire most people out, just by reading it. Lack of sleep, due to continued insomnia, is definitely not helping. But, apart from perhaps the odd bout of clumsiness or sudden fatigue, the super overdrive is pretty much “situation normal”!

The Camino has been a major focus for me since I booked my flights last October, as a point at which I could finally allow myself time to consider the enormity of what has been happening in my life for the past couple of years. It has felt like I’ve been literally “Fast Tracked” in profound love and life.

So here I am in Pamplona in the afternoon, lying in my sleeping bag, on a top bunk in the albergue, with my legs right-angled up against the wall (a parting tip from my friend Rosenna, as the thing to do with swollen feet!). This is my first wifi of the trip and I’m making the most of it.

So far I have avoided any severe blisters, mainly by applying Compede silicone plasters at the first signs of discomfort. I am now wearing five of them! They are magic! I’ve given away a couple and have already restocked. I can’t imagine hiking life pre-Compede!

The sheer impact of walking on one’s feet all day is a great surprise to me. Apart from anything else, the balls of my feet feel heavily bruised, and I feel as if I’ve been kneecapped! I’m very thankful for the fact I was so ruthless with what I brought in my backpack, weighing every single item and comparing the gram differentials like a loony!

Osi, a lovely lady from Panama, in the bunk below me, has already been taken to the hospital (attached to this albergue!) to treat a pulled muscle in her hip area.
I have given her half my supply of codeine-enhanced paracetamol. All helps to lighten the load!

I am aware that my blog posts are in danger of being far too long, so I’ll stop here and go to explore Pamplona and its eateries!

I’ll leave you with a selection of images along my way so far.

걷는 것의 단순함
 
순례여행에서 나의 첫 번째 블로그 포스팅이다. 처음 접하는 일이라 상당히 힘든 작업이다. 이제 3일 째인데 온종일 하는 일이라고는 걷는 것 밖에 없다. 그동안 내가 글을 쓸 수 있는 시간이 조금도 없었다고 하면 아마 이상하게 생각할 것이다.

 
걷는 것이 비록 단순한 일이지만, 내 발과 몸을 보호하는 것부터 지도 보는 법과 위치 찾기 등 해야 할 많은 일들이 있고 생각해야 할 것들도 많다. 독도법은 급작스런 방향과 속도의 전환을 위해 필요하다.

잘 모르는 분들을 위해서 말하자면, 나는 고든을 보내고 나서 정말 엄청나게 바쁘게 지냈다. 정신없는 업무 스케쥴은 사람을 녹초가 되게 했다. 게다가 계속된 불면증으로 인한 수면 부족이 전혀 도움이 되지 않는다. 그러나 어색하고 갑작스런 한바탕 홍역을 치르고 나니 이제 강력 드라이브는 아주 정상적인 상황이 되었다.

지난 10월에 비행기표를 예약하고 나서 순례는 나의 핵심 관심사였다. 그것은 결국 내 생에 있어서 지난 이삼 년 동안 일어났던 엄청난 사건에 대해 생각하는 시간을 허락했다. 그것은 마치 글자 그대로 내가 심원한 사랑과 생에 대한 ‘지름길’에 있었던 것처럼 느껴졌다.

난 지금 여기 핌팔료냐에 있는 알베르게 여관방 제일 꼭대기 칸 침대에서 오른 발을 벽에 걸치고 침낭 속에 누워 있다. 친구 로젠나와 칸막이를 사이에 두고 부어오른 발을 위해 할 수 있는 일이다. 이 것이 여행 중 나의 첫 와이파이이며 나는 이를 최대한 활용하고 있다.

맨 처음 불편함이 느껴졌을 때 콤패드 실리콘 일회용 반창고를 사용하여 지금까지 발에 물집은 생기지 않았다. 나는 지금 그걸 다섯 개나 발랐다. 신기하다! 이미 두 개는 써서 버리고 다시 채워 넣었다. 콤패드가 없던 시절의 하이킹은 상상도 할 수 없다.

 사람의 발에 심각한 영향을 주는 걷기는 내게 놀라운 경험이다. 무엇보다도 복숭아뼈가 많이 부어 오르고 종지뼈가 깨진 것처럼 느껴졌다. 나는 미친 사람처럼 하나하나 무게를 달아가며 챙겨 넣었던 물건들에게 깊은 고마움을 느낀다. 

내 침상 아래에 있는 미국 여인 펄은 엉덩이 근육이 늘어나 벌써 알베르게 여관에 붙어있는 병원으로 후송되었다. 나는 그녀에게 내가 갖고 있던 코데인 함량이 높은 진통제 파라세타몰을 반 이상을 주어버렸다. 이 모두가 짐을 가볍게 하는데 도움이 된다.

내 블로깅은 갈 길이 멀어 험난하다는 것을 안다. 그래서 여기서 멈추고 팜팜로냐 거리의 식당가를 둘러보아야겠다.

지금까지 나의 여정에서 찍은 사진 몇 장을 골라 여기 남긴다

.

Miracles on Day One

True to form, I set my alarm for 07:07 as a safeguard for not oversleeping, but I was awake long before this.

After getting ready, I sat down to read over the guidebook notes which I had photographed onto my phone before leaving Edinburgh.

I was dismayed to realise, that not only had I failed to copy the first page about how to leave the city, but that the notes were also written in code! What on earth is “KSO”, which is an instruction in almost every sentence?!

It was still dark when I began walking and it remained dark for the first hour.

I was very thankful for the helpful yellow arrows and blue shells marking the way. These Camino way markers are totally invaluable, and I felt this even more after discovering the ineffectual nature of my guidebook.

Something which I recognised from the last time, was this peculiar sensation of following some secret code. As you walk alongside the local people going about their daily business, looking for these clues, there is a sense of simultaneous alternative realities.

The new crescent moon was marginally less acute than yesterday, but was still comfortingly present in the dark sky.

I took mental stock of my physical state.

Just two days ago I had made an emergency appointment in Edinburgh with the wonderful osteopath Sara Watkin, because I had bad pains in my back which made it difficult to breathe. I had found it difficult to even lie in bed, let alone turn over.

Sara is intuitive, as well as knowledgable and thorough. She is also a qualified GP and is interested in the physical ailments of dancers and musicians.

My back pains, though still somewhat present, were but a distant memory and I felt very grateful for her attention.

Since my Camino half a year ago, I have never fully recovered from plantar fasciitis, which is painful around my heel area. It is a tightness which usually affects only the first few steps of the day, but has eased faster and faster each day over the months.

Strangely enough, during my wander around Santiago last night, it had reappeared noticeably while walking. I wondered how much of this was psychsomatic.

I was relieved to realise that today, other than the usual first steps of the morning, it was no longer apparent.

As the day dawned I noticed more of the trees and revelled in the chorus of birds. I wished I had more than just a basic knowledge of trees and plants.

What I recognised from my previous trip here, was an abundance of eucalyptus trees. Also oak, chestnut, bamboo and palm trees. I loved seeing the incongruity of palm trees and evergreens growing side by side.

An oak grove in Ventosa was breathtaking.

Fruit trees were in abundance too. I saw many fig, orange, lemon, kiwi, pepper, olive trees, as well as several domestic vines.

The weather was beautiful and the perfect temperature to walk in. Probably in the region of 23 degrees.

My first breakfast stop of the day was after 2 hours 40 minutes, though I would definitely have preferred earlier!

I stopped whenever there was a cafe, which altogether made for 3 stops before stopping for the day. Already by the end, I started recognising familiar faces. The only person I spoke with for any length of time was a veteran pilgrim from Madrid called Pedro. This was his seventh Camino!

I went as far as I could in Negreiro to stop at an albergue for the day, before the next stop which was a further 10kms. This was the municipal albergue and I was greeted by a friendly man who announced that the lady who ran it would be back at 3pm, which was an hour away.

He then said that he was sure he knew me. After some searching questions, I discovered that we had met in Ullapool in the highlands of Scotland! I learned that he had been working in the Ceilidh Place bar and that I had given him a ticket to come and hear the SCO some years ago!

We marvelled at the sheer coincidence of meeting here like this, but somehow I was not altogether surprised.

We continued to chat and I discovered that he was from Glasgow, that we had a few friends in common and that he was about to move to Portugal to join a community who volunteered to dig up eucalyptus trees and replace them with indigenous varieties.

While chatting, the topic of pilgrim passports came up. When I recounted my story of the office being closed in Santiago, he looked alarmed. When he discovered I didn’t have a passport (credencial), he pointed out that I wouldn’t therefore be eligible to stay at any albergues, let alone this one.

It was my turn to be alarmed.

We considered the possibilities. I could say I’d lost it, and found original photos on my phone of me holding my compostela back in April.

Derek (as I discovered he was called) offered to bring me his passport and compostela for me to hold in a photo posing with them as my own.

But ultimately I knew that the only way for me was just to explain the truth.

Derek then went off to shower, wishing me luck with the lady of the albergue and saying that what I needed was a miracle!

As I sat waiting for the albergue lady to appear, Pedro the veteran pilgrim from Madrid passed by, saying that he was heading back into town to eat.

As he headed off, I suddenly thought to ask him if he could enquire in town about where I might find a pilgrim passport, so I called after him.

Imagine my utter disbelief when he said he could do better than that, he could just give me one himself! He then produced a blank pilgrim passport from his pocket for me to fill in my details!

This was clearly the miracle that Derek had said I needed!

I declared him a saint there and then. His name went from being Pedro to “San Pedro hace miraglos” (Saint Peter who performs miracles)