Aia

What a fantastic start to this Camino. Not an easy one, wasn’t expecting anything easy on this pilgrimage, but I did expect beauty, and wow did I get a good dose of pretty today! My Camino legs are back!! I don’t know how accurate my Apple Watch is but is says over 17 miles. A lot of up, up, up, and then dowwwn. Trail was muddy from yesterdays downpour so the trail was quite sketchy most of the way. Even walked through a ‘creek’ up hill that wasn’t supposed to be a creek. I was taking baby steps. Can’t afford to slip or slide, because I’m like 50+. It hurts too much now! I was ahead of the girls about a quarter of the day because my stride is different and also because I’m not here to bullshit for 8 hours a day. I can’t. I love the camaraderie, but in doses. We start off in the morning, ooo and aww at all the beautiful sites and then after 5Km we break for coffee. After that my Camino legs said let’s gooo!! So I did and walked about half the day alone. It was so wonderful to have some alone time. Love my companions, but the Camino isn’t about constantly being surrounded by your comfort zone and talking 8 hours a day, it’s about being alone with yourself and letting your thoughts talk to you. Honestly I didn’t have a lot of personal things come up today because the terrain was either very steep going up or very steep going down, slippery and muddy, I was just paying attention to being safe and getting to Deba in one piece. I waited for the girls to catch up at a coffee shop about 5Km before our destination and we proceeded to walk straight down into Deba in search of the albergue. The albergue was first come, first served and they always fill up. If full, you have to walk on to the next town. We arrived in Deba about 4 and are staying in a public albergue, which is actually an old train station. It has 50 or 60 beds. Everyone is so friendly and not ‘me firsters’, as my uncle Brian used to say, so laundry and showers got done right away when we arrived. We then went to the center of this
cute village and had some pinxtos and wine by the beach in between the washer and dryer cycles. Came back folded clothes and the volunteer hospitarlio has a gift for making bracelets. He was showing Holly and I them and offered to give us one. They are so beautiful I took one for my ankle and one for my wrist and donated to the albergue for the second one. Haven’t worn an ankle bracelet in years. In the early days Sterling used to always buy them for me, but because of skiing I ended up breaking them or not wearing them because they were dainty and I’d break them in no time. These are tough, I can hike in this one. I love the bracelet too, it sits right next to the one Jenna, my granddaughter made for my birthday .
They serve dinner at 8 here and we were so ready for dinner by then we had some Padron peppers (omg so good) and an ensalda mixta. Typically the ensalada mixta has tomatoes, lettuce, white asparagus, tuna and red onion. No creamy dressings here, just oil and vinegar. It’s amazingly refreshing. Nathalie had calamari and Holly had lomo (ham) and French fries (chips). It was all good for us who burned about 1500 + calories. I’m probably still calorie deficit after the hike today.
We went to a grocery store and bought food for tomorrows lunch because there are no towns to buy lunch or coffees on the way tomorrow. It’ll be a picnic day on top of mountain hopefully.
God I love it here. We met some Canadian (Toronto) ladies 70+ who have done multiple caminos and they were so nice to talk to. Another reason I love it here, as demonstrated, Nathalie, Luba, Luca, John, Jeremy, Tony, Andres, Lisa, Jennifer, Rui, are all still in my life. We have a special bond for life. If you share a Camino with someone, you share a piece of yourself and they share a piece of themselves, and you become very close because of this special place that has a magical, safe aura that allows you to share freely. What a refreshing outlet. What a healthy outlet. Sometimes people drink together to get that bond, here it is in between breathless steps up a mountain or having a picnic on the top or over dinner. We trust each other. And what’s said on the Camino stays on the Camino. My mom always told me if you tell someone a secret, they will tell at least one person. Then that person will tell one person, and so on. There goes your secret. Not here. So it’s cleansing and pure honesty without skating around someone’s insecurities, but offering understanding and grace so they feel safe. I’ve heard things mothers/fathers have never heard about from their own children, like big stuff. What an honor to be trusted like that. I’m glad they, and I, can feel a freedom from burdens.
While it was a really challenging day, it was gorgeous. It was amazing, and I’m getting my groove back. I can only share 10 photos, and it’s going to be hard to pick only 10. But here are the moments that made me smile.Read more