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Nicole CrookNicole Crook
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  • MatkaajaCamino Frances
    Päivä 48

    The Way of St James

    29. lokakuuta 2022, Espanja ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    Arriving in the home of the bones of St. James (or technically the "rediscovered" bones - I mean lucky set of bones to get a whole cathedral dedicated to them and just a few pilgrims visiting over a thousand years or more), I was all worn out. Probably because I slept like ... the previous night or had too many "vino tintos" waiting most of the day for the bus, but sure, we'll put it down to the emotional exhaustion at the end of a pilgrimage.

    After a good night's sleep I had two goals, to see historical Santiago and buy some new non-pilgrim clothes. I headed off with my usual optimism, leaving my now fairly stinky rain jacket at the hotel.

    After walking a block it started to drizzle and by the time I reached the cathedral I owned a new umbrella. I took the obligatory "thank god I'm finished" photo in front of the cathedral as shared with you all earlier and at least I wasn't using the phrase inappropriately.

    I was aiming for the pilgrim's mass but was a little early and wandered the narrow ancient streets full of souvenir shops and the ever present pastries.

    I then headed into mass to be quickly reminded, with somewhere between 500-1000 pilgrims a day still arriving in Santiago and only three masses, that made for a very crowded church. After the first ten minutes I came to the conclusion (especially with not a stained glass window in sight - what were they thinking) that my two prior Catholic masses in this lifetime where probably enough and I should give my squished spot at the back to someone more appreciative or at least more indoctrinated. There was a chance my "unprayerlike" thoughts about the achievements of the Catholic church mightn't be adding much power to the pilgrim's blessings, and those pilgrims at least deserve their blessings. I exited quietly by the side door and noted the queue of people still trying to get in. Ticked off the good deed for the day as well.

    My writings today require a special shout out the the Spanish Halloween decorators club. I think they are winning the contest, probably in rebellion against the Inquisition and all the murdered witches. Galacia itself was previously (before the Romans and Christianity and the Moors and Islam) a Celtic culture. Yesterday was Spanish school's Halloween dress up day which was equally impressive.

    Tomorrow I'm heading off to spend a week on the Coast of Death. More on that in the first episode of the new series - Beyond Nic's Camino.    Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaCamino Frances
    Päivä 47

    My Camino Family

    28. lokakuuta 2022, Espanja ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    Given you are now all Camino informed individuals, you may have a few outstanding questions about my Camino which I hope to answer over the coming days.

    Firstly I'd like to talk more about Camino families. Many people are inspired to do a Camino, particularly the Camino Frances, as a way to meet and make new friends. A traditional Camino family is a group of people from several different countries that meet early in the walk and end up travelling all the way to Santiago together. Apart from making new friends a Camino family is a group with whom you can share your journey and reminisce for years to come.

    In reality many types of Camino families form. Most common would be groups of people that fluctuate in size where people drop in and out, catch up, stay behind, go faster or slower but generally bump into each other a lot and possibly organise to walk into Santiago together.

    I met quite a lot of groups, usually three or four people, who met each other on the first night at Orisson hostel with the tradition where everyone introduces themselves. I'd highly recommend staying at Orisson if you're fit enough to do 20km a day and a Camino family is something you're looking for.

    I also met quite a few people who had made a Camino family at the start but that had ended somewhere along the Way as some people finished, some got injured and some went their own way.

    I met a group this week who had formed a Camino family just ten days before and were planning the rest of the walk together.

    I have mentioned the term Camino family a few times in these writings. Given the nature of my journey it wasn't something I expected to find nor something I was looking for. Being a bit of an introvert, I'm not sure I could have coped with the intensity of a traditional one anyway. I might have run away screaming for peace and solitude.

    I did swap contact details with a few people and meet and enjoy a good conversation with many more. Some I saw on and off for a few days or a week. That will always be a memorable and important part of the journey.

    But to my surprise I feel I did make an unexpected Camino family, one I can talk to about my journey and share the highs and the lows. And that Camino family is this group. I never expected to have so many people interested in my escapades, this was originally just going to be an update for a few family and a friend or two.

    You've been full of support and encouragement and unlike the solo travels of my youth, I've hardly felt alone and certainly have plenty of opportunity to share. And sharing does make the world a better place.

    Thanks for coming on this journey with me.    Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaCamino Frances
    2
    2
    Päivä 46

    Caminoed Out

    27. lokakuuta 2022, Espanja ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    I've walked 360 km on the Camino Frances but the time has come to wind up my official Camino journey and do some less specific wandering in Europe for a month. After three days of walking in Galacia I struggled to make it to my next accommodation. In reality I continue to be able to walk only ten to twelve kilometers a day and today, as well as the next several days, around 15km is required to get to the next suitable accommodation.

    So today I've pulled the pin. I'm pretty happy with my 360. I've never done anything like that before. While it's only about half of the full Camino Frances, I saw all the best bits, and the reality is I just wasn't fit enough to do it all. No big surprise there. I'm definitely fitter and lighter than when I started so that's all good.

    Also I've arrived in eucalypt plantation country, I think I've seen that somewhere before. It's one of the things pilgrims like most about this section, the smell of gum trees.

    Now I don't plan to just lie around on the beach eating pizza for a month, I do plan to keep walking and getting fitter but with a bit more flexibility than the last six weeks.

    I'll bus to Santiago de Compostela tomorrow, the official end of the Camino, then I'll head to the Galacian Coast where I plan to stay in one place for three or four nights and explore.    Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaCamino Frances
    Päivä 45

    Thoughts from another Pilgrim

    26. lokakuuta 2022, Espanja ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    My walk continued today along the rolling Galacian hills to the town of Portomarin on the Rio Mino. I'm not feeling particularly insightful but this Camino description by another pilgrim resonates with me so I thought I'd share.

    "Being a pilgrim on the Camino is a curious thing. You walk with many others, and you also walk alone. You make instant friends and build bonds with pilgrims, yet you seldom learn their last name. You walk day after day with pain, and forget it all while sitting around a cafe table sipping wine and laughing with other pilgrims, waiting for the kitchen to open at 7pm(or 8pm!), so you can EAT! You walk miles, in the early morning darkness without breakfast or coffee, and it feels normal. You sleep in bunk beds and share bathrooms with many other people, and are grateful to have a hot shower and a place to lay your head at night. Sometimes you cherish the camaderie of other pilgrims, and sometimes you crave solitude. You walk through indescribable beauty, and also trudge under a merciless sun or through cold rain. You carry fruit or snacks with you at all times, because Spanish shop keepers decide their own schedule. You eat more bread & pastries and drink more wine or cafe con leche than you ever imagined, and still lose weight. And every day you wonder why you are doing this, and every day you give thanks that you can.

    Credit - Donna Mast    Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaCamino Frances
    23
    Päivä 44

    Chestnuts and Acorns

    25. lokakuuta 2022, Espanja ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    I headed off from Sarria at dawn (which is about 8.30am here!!). The weather forecast had improved giving me a morning with a lower chance of rain and the temperature was significantly warmer than back in the mountains a few days ago.

    I was keen to get on the road and see a bit of Galacian countryside seeing as it had looked pretty gorgeous from the bus and train the last two days.

    As soon as I found the track about 500m from my hotel I was impressed with the amount of people walking. There were much larger groups of people than before and lots of Spainish chatter. You could spot all the newbies in their shiny trail runners and unworn ponchos.

    From the minute we left town Galacia did not disappoint. The path meandered by a bubbling brook, the birds twittered and twirped and the excited Spainish giggled and groaned up the first hill.

    As the morning went on the rain came, mostly a drizzle but later a few downpours. Galacia, at home with the rain and crowds, provided much bigger, well covered cafes with yummy food and ample opportunity to rest.

    The meandering way, the softness underfoot, the moss covered stone fences, green pastures, horses and cows, and autumn in it full glory invoked thoughts of Ireland. It was one of the prettiest days of the walk so far with the added bonus of rolling hills rather than breathless climbs and steep descents. The views were also inspiring.

    The way was lined with chestnut trees and oaks leaving chestnuts and acorns in the muddy roadside. These big trees also blocked some of the rain at its worst. I pulled into the nicest modern hostel I've seen in my usual sore but not agonising condition. Ten kilometres to Portomarin tomorrow. Taking it a day at a time.    Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaCamino Frances
    1
    Päivä 43

    The Compostela

    24. lokakuuta 2022, Espanja ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    I took the train from Lugo to Sarria, the beginning of the last section of the Camino Frances. I had a date with Jill, my Camino Angel from way back in Cirauqui who was the stranger who gave me a little blue pill. for my swollen feet. Jill finished her Camino journey in Sarria today so we had dinner and celebrated the path and the way.

    Both Jill and I were much more interested in our journey's themselves, in the towns and villages we tramped through, rather than our destination. Jill had planned all along to end her journey in Sarria because Sarria is where the Camino can change. It is where hundreds of Spanish start their Camino and it is known for being crowded and being different.

    The Spanish start in Sarria because the requirement to be able to officially complete a Camino is to walk 100km to Santiago. There are many Camino routes to Santiago but of them all, Sarria to Santiago is the most popular. If you walk the distance when you arrive in Santiago you can be awarded your Compostela, the officially certified evidence of the completion of your pilgrimage. I think it absolves you from your sins, an added bonus for some.

    When walking the Camino, you are given a passport or Credential in which you can collect stamps. These stamps are proof that you have walked the Camino. Prior to Sarria you require one stamp a day but after Sarria two stamps are needed to convince the officials that you walked, not taxied or bussed.

    The name Compostela derives simply from the city of Santiago de Compostela but Santiago is St James in Spanish and the Compostela refers to a field of stars guiding the original farmer to the discovery of the bones of St James, now entombed in the Cathedral in Santiago.

    So even though I've walked about 350km, I don't currently qualify for a Compostela. If I want one, I have to walk ever step from here to Santiago.    Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaCamino Frances
    1112
    Päivä 42

    Detour

    23. lokakuuta 2022, Espanja ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Pick the authentic Camino messenger?

    You meet a doctor who listens to your injuries and pains and says " That shouldn't cause permanent damage. You can probably push through that. Disclaimer - I'm not a foot specialist."

    You get the following text from one of your Camino family. "I've found a bus that stops 4km from O'Cebriero. My host in Villafranca says there's a bus along the whole Camino after O'Cebriero so no more expensive taxis"

    Within the same hour you get the following text from another one of your Camino family
    "I’m half way through to O’Cerebro. It's brutal. If you could bypass this mountain, I highly recommend you take the bus. The weather is for ducks."

    A black cat in a Templar Knight's hovel insists you stay an extra day and that it is unsafe to go near any mountains.

    Clouds float past in the shape of a resort in San Sebastian with free foot massages and a swim up bar. A Templar Knights awaits to transport you through a portal back to summer.

    Ok the first three were authentic, the last two may be the result of the margarita I had with dinner.

    The Next Morning...

    I caught another bus, this time to Lugo which is not on the Camino Frances.. I have made it to Galacia, the last province on the Camino. It is beautiful here apart from and because of the endless rain. Autumn is in full swing and everything is green and gold and red. Rain is forecast every day for the next two weeks. The buses passed by beautiful mountains covered in beech forests but seen through the sideways rain squalls I was happy to be on the inside.

    I have skipped ahead again. My Camino journey is morphing naturally into just Nic's journey. I am keen to explore the beauty of Galacia more so than the trails of the Camino. I am keen to experience the Spainish culture more so than the pilgrimage culture. I feel my days on the Camino are coming to an end but that I am finding the freedom to explore without any preset expectation except those core goals which have always been just to move, to go slow and simple, to continue learning and to live in the moment.

    I sit in a bar in Spain, where drinking alcohol seems a prerequisite to being fed, waiting for my accommodation to open. After siesta there is more than 2km of original Roman wall, still completely intact, in which to circle the old city and stroll away the afternoon. If this is not the definition of slow and timeless, I am lost.

    Tomorrow I am meeting a friend at the beginning of the last stage of the Camino Frances. I may then walk a couple of days in the rain to experience the villages of Galacia. Who knows, maybe the sun will shine for a while.    Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaCamino Frances
    11
    Päivä 41

    Castillo de los Templarios

    22. lokakuuta 2022, Espanja ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    The Templar Castle in Ponferrada was occupied by the Knights of the Order of the Temple from 1178 until 1312 when the Order was disbanded. They protected pilgrims crossing the Iron Bridge over the Rio Sil.

    This would have to be my favourite piece of significant historical architecture on the Camino so far.

    Prehistoric remains have been found here that date from the first Iron Age. The Templars reinforced the walls and built additions to the castle. They left some legends behind including the existence of a passageway to a nearby castle.

    In the 15th century the castle was extended and the New Palace built by the Count of Lemos including the construction of many of the walls, towers, parapets and the entrance that remain today. The older castle sits at one end of the site.

    In the last century, since the site was declared a national monument in 1924, the Ponferrada Council has sort funds for restoration which have resulted in progressive spaces for exhibitions and conferences within the castle walls along with safe exploration of the castle. These modernisations and updates have been tastefully done and make the castle something that can be enjoyed by the community and visitors today.

    The New Palace, which has been extensively restored, contains the Templum Libri which contains ancient texts, maps and manuscripts from as far back as the 11th century. This is the first examples of ancient non-religious manuscripts I've seen on this European visit and I do love a good library.

    The castle also managed to highlight the magnificent setting of the valley and mountains which could be seen in the distance in every direction.    Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaCamino Frances
    2
    2111
    Päivä 41

    Mountain Mists and Knights Templar

    22. lokakuuta 2022, Espanja ⋅ 🌧 11 °C

    After some quiet days, today was full of adventure - a misty mountain, burdens released, a loco taxi driver and the mythical Templar knights.

    As is customary, the Camino continues to provide the answers I need. A few days back I was wondering if I could make it to Cruz de Ferro, the Iron Cross. At 1504m, it's the highest point on the Camino, and the legendary spot where is pilgrim leaves their pilgrim stone and their past burdens behind. There was no problem getting to the Cross, the issue was the descent
    afterwards, which is known as the hardest on the walk, a brutal 8km on loose slippery rock. This part of the walk would have destroyed my ankles and ended my Camino. But a few days back I'd met a lady who was determined not to miss the cross because she was carrying blessed rocks and ashes from home. She told me about the Camino Angel Luis the taxi driver who is the go to man for taxiing the descent.

    With Luis booked to fetch me off the mountain at midday, I set off up the mountain about nine. I should have left later but it wasn't raining and the sun was rising and briefly shining so it seemed the best time to go. The rising sun over the valley was an absolute delight.

    I have carried from home a very small white river pebble from the Douglas River at Bicheno to leave here on the mountain in honour of the Spainish people who have been my generous hosts on this journey. So I said my thanks to Spain and left my rock on the very large pile on the mountain. I don't feel I have too many burdens to leave on the mountain, but I do hope the seven or eight kilos I've lost on this journey so far will stay in Spain and never return. Probably not if I have a Brownie Gelato for dessert.

    Luis, the wise mountain taxi driver, had encouraged me to walk a few more kilometres through the mountains and agreed to pick me up from the home of Tomas, the self styled last Knight Templar, and sole inhabitant of the village (more suitably the hovel) of Manjarin. By the time I reached Tomas, who clearly wasn't in on the secrets of any hidden Templar riches, the mist had set in and the rains had come. Tomas, being the most sociable mountain hermit I've ever met, opened the door to his wood shed and gathered in passing dripping pilgrims for a chat. While not a single English speaker passed while I was there, I managed to communicate that Taxi Luis was coming and picked up a few more customers that made my taxi fare a bargain. I watched pilgrims come and go (I was their for a while as I had set out too early and had no phone reception to hurry Luis up) as Tomas encouraged them to stay on the road and off the slippery rocks.

    The added bargain of some Spanish speaking passengers for my taxi ride was that Luis chatted endlessly to them and not me. Yesterday when he also gave me a lift, we couldn't drive more than five kilometres an hour because he was too busy chatting to google translate and playing it to me the entire drive. Out of that I did pick up that a Google review would be greatly appreciated and having done that I was his favourite passenger today. Some of today's photos were taken by Luis who insisted on stopping the taxi for every photo opportunity. We also managed to pick up my friend Anna from Arizona on the way down the mountain as well.

    Arriving at our destination of Ponferrada, Anna and I had lunch beside the Knights Templar Castle before parting ways again.

    The valley in which Ponferrada sits is beautiful, surrounded by rugged mountains in all directions. I'm glad the rain eased up enough this afternoon to see them all. I find the geography fascinating. As I approached these mountains from the other side slowly over a few days, they didn't look very big. In the Meseta I was already at an altitude of 900m and it rose quite gradually to the summit at 1500m. But in Ponferrada my altitude is under 600m and the descent was rapid so the mountains look much taller and more rugged from this side.    Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaCamino Frances
    3
    Päivä 40

    Back in the Mountains

    21. lokakuuta 2022, Espanja ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Tonight I'm sleeping at 1400m and have left the Meseta behind and made my way into the mountains again. The days are colder and drizzly but so far my timing has been good with only light rain while I've been out on the trail. Fonceban, my place of rest tonight, is known for being covered in either snow or fog so I've been lucky to see the view this afternoon.

    I am in an area of Spain that has slightly different architecture and is quite remote by Spainish standards. It's expected to rain everyday for the next ten days so the warm Spanish weather is behind me now.

    I had a lovely dinner and conversation with new pilgrims friends last night and met up with several ones I've previously met tonight. It is still close to impossible to have a quiet dinner to yourself even if you wanted to.

    I haven't had the camera out much again.    Lue lisää

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