Back to Spain!

Going home was definitely the right thing to do. Even though the doctors had said there was no need for me to come home, I really just felt I had to go. I was able to spend a lot of time with the staff at the facility, and with Joe, of course, and we’ve made some changes that will greatly reduce the risk of future falls. Aside from the bruises, Joe is fine and in good spirits. He knows this will be a much shorter trip and was not upset.

Ending my Camino early was of course sad, but not really a big deal. As all my Camino friends have said, the Camino is not going anywhere, and it’ll be there when I’m ready to head back. The much bigger deal was having to cancel my plans to meet up with David and Charlie. That was just tremendously sad. And so, I started to think… Why not head back and meet up with them? Joe is fine, his situation is much improved, and how many times do you get to travel in Spain with your son and grandson?

So I did it, bought a ticket. With three days advance notice, there wasn’t much in the way of choices. Middle seat, 35 minutes connection in O’Hare. I figured that if I didn’t make the connection, they would have to find a way to get me there.

But everything worked miraculously well, and by 9 AM I was in the hotel with the receptionist calling to wake up the sleepy guys. We had a quick breakfast and headed off to the Prado. I took a Spanish art history class in Madrid in 1970 when I was a junior in college, and we met once a week with our tutor in the museum. I still remember where all my favorite paintings are (they have moved some of the Goya’s). The Velazquez rooms are still spectacular, and I always have to make a stop at the display of paintings from San Baudelio de Berlanga, the frescoes that started my love of Romanesque, and which the professor used to introduce us to the Camino. (Clare and I visited the church with a quick detour off the Lana a few years ago). Pictures are prohibited in the chapel re-creation , but the guard let me take a picture of the rendition of how the church probably looked back in the day. Lots of good memories in that little chapel—from junior year abroad to Lana 2023!

Charlie is working through jet lag, so after the Prado he took a little nap. That gave me the time to get back into the the pilgrim routine and wash my clothes! I am thankful that no one in this hotel gives me a second look when I come bouncing in in my hiking pants and ex officio shirt.

After the nap, we had sandwiches at Rodilla (still going strong from the 1970s) and took a long walk—Sol, Gran Vía, Fuencarral, Colón, and over to our old apartment on General Diaz Porlier. We ended with a cold drink on the terrace of Palacio de Cibeles—old post office turned into the Ayuntamiento/town hall.Read more