Homeward Bound

Everyone was up early, today was moving day, and we would all be saying our goodbyes in just a few hours. After breakfast, we tidied up a bit and put a washing on so the owner wouldn't have to do that when she got back.

Anne was the first to leave, I was very sad to say goodbye to her, apart from being beautiful, intelligent and engaging, she is also one of the loveliest people I have ever met and I am so glad to have met her on the camino VDLP, and to have spent this week with her.

She left me in charge of the key, which was a huge responsibility, especially for someone with anxiety issues! Apparently, if I lost it, every key in all the apartment blocks using the main entrance would have to be changed, at a cost of thousands (possibly 10's of thousands) of euros. Key insurance is a big thing here and I didn't have any!

Anita and Rob left to get their train to Nuremberg, I was sad to see them go but I would be seeing them again in July when they come to Scotland. Mirjam had come early to say goodbye to everyone and when Anita and Rob left, it was just us. We spent the rest of the morning tidying up and sorting the washing, and chatting until it was time to go for lunch. Mirjam is a foodie so lunch was always going to be good, and reader it was. We went to a small restaurant that, to be honest didn't look like much, however the food was terrific. Since it was a gloriously sunny day (typical last day weather) she took me around an area when the apartment blocks had all been painted in bright colourful street art. It was amazing and so unlike anything at home. We walked and walked and chatted, and I can't speak for Mirjam, but I had the most wonderful time.

Anne had been in touch to say that the apartment owner would be back around 4pm so I didn't have to leave the key in a safe place and in fact we arrived just 5 minutes after her. I gave her the key, thanked her for her hospitality, grabbed my case and then walked with Mirjam to Ostkreuz Station. We said goodbye on the platform, I was brief because I had to get on the train and because I was terribly sad to be saying goodbye to Mirjam. I am very fond of her, and I was aware that this was probably our last goodbye, and that I might never see her again, but I also had a sense of profound gratitude that I had met her that day in the albergue in Calzada de Valdunciel. To me, she will always be nighean mo chridhe - the daughter of my heart.

Within 30 minutes the train had arrived at the airport - public transport in Berlin is about a million times better than in Scotland. In no time at all I had checked in my case and I went to go through security, it took a lot longer, about 30 minutes - big queues and my bag was checked for drugs because I had a banana in it. Once through I went to find a seat to wait until the boarding gate was announced. I had a couple of hours to wait but I was happy enough to be early, a consequence of Brexit is that it takes longer to transit through a European airport.

At one point I went to the departures board to see if my gate had been announced. I noticed a woman who seemed distressed, she was speaking to a staff member who obviously couldn't understand her. She saw me looking up at the board and came over and said something in Spanish at 200pmh. In my best camino Spanish I asked her to speak slower as my Spanish was "very little". I worked out that she couldn't tell what Gate she was to go to or when.
The departures board alternated between German and English, and she spoke neither. So having checked her ticket I found her flight and was able to tell her in Spanish that the gate would be announced in 10 minutes. I decided to wait with her and when I came up on the board I was able to tell her in Spanish that it was Gate A32. She was understandably grateful, I was just really pleased with myself, that I had remembered enough Spanish to be able to help! Testimony, I think to the hard work of Ken Bleakley trying to teach me Spanish for over a year! My gate was also announced and so I made my way there.

We were well past the gate closure time before they even started boarding, but the plane wasn't full and it didn't take long. I had one surprise on the plane though. I had only been sitting on the plane for about 5 minutes when my nephew Ross boarded, he looked as surprised as me. He was in Berlin for his stag do, I am conducting the wedding next month. He said he thought he saw me earlier in the week at Alexander Platz but had thought, it couldn't be me in Berlin. Small world.

In a couple of hours I would be home with Babs. It was hard to believe that a year ago to the day I had landed in Sevilla to begin my great camino adventure. On a camino, you meet all kinds of people from all over the world, some good, some not so good. Many peregrinos promise to keep in touch and I guess that some do, though from conversations with other pilgrims I think many don't.

When I met Meg, Kathleen, Anita, Julia, Anne, and Mirjam, I felt a bond with them that I cannot really explain, we were just in sync with one another on the camino. The question was always going to be would that survive beyond the shared experience of walking a camino together? Berlin was a resounding YES to that question. We have kept in touch, and we have met again, and we will meet again as Anita is coming to stay with us for a few days in Scotland, and I am going to the USA to see Meg and Kathleen. If they and any of the others find their way to Scotland, they will always have a welcome in my home, as surely as they have a welcome in my heart.

For me their friendship, and this Berlin experience have been a reminder that if you travel with an open heart, the camino gives you what you need. Above all I have been reminded of a truth reinforced by my camino and post camino journey:

“To journey without being changed is to be a nomad. To change without journeying is to be a chameleon. To journey and be transformed by the journey is to be a pilgrim.”
(Mark Nepo in The Exquisite Risk)

Meg, Kathleen, Anita, Julia, Anne, Mirjam and I were, and remain, pilgrims together.Read more