peaks and valleys

every day is different on the Camino, not just the scenery or the people or the food but the emotions...oh the emotions!

I had a shocker of a day yesterday. It was wet and cold and dismal walking from Santa Catalina to Rabanal the day before that, but I finally got there and booked into a small hotel - nice, hot shower etc. So I wasn´t expecting to have a bad day the next, the Cruz de Ferro day but I did in the end.

I reached the top of the mountain - well not quite the top but something of a symbolic point - and was looking forward to my ritual and some quiet reflection time. But when I got there a lot of pilgrims felt the need to scale the mound of stones and hold their walking poles akimbo as if they had conquered some kind of Mt Everest. I didn´t get the feeling that they had any kind of spirituality of respect going on.

Now, I know I sound harsh and I probably am being overly harsh. I need to look at this a bit differently - for some I guess getting to the top of that mountain (lets not get any ideas of steep ascents, its quite a well marked path and relatively gentle) is something of an achievement and something to be proud of, a conquering of sorts I suppose.

Hmm, is cranky Megan back? well, yes she is - pmt, post-flu, sleep deprivation...its enough to test the patience of St James himself!

Where was I going with this - oh yeah - CdF, I did my thing and had my quiet moment. The experience was saved by a couple of things 1) the frank-talking down to earth British nurses I met up there and 2) only a few km down the road the real peak of the trip - I stopped and realised I was in the alps, level with the snow covered peaks, I cried tears of happiness and appreciation. I then put on some excellent music and tottered off down the hill.

I reached Acebo, a nice little hill town in time to get a bed and a chat to my girlfriend on dodgey Spanish phone lines. After that was a walk around town (10 mins) then hanging out for dinner. I had a cider and a beer or two and couldn´t believe it was still 2 hours till dinner. The day had been long, the walk 17km - a lot of it downhill which is always tiring. So by the time dinner came around I hadn´t eaten for 8 hours (I don´t count the patatas fritas con el cerveza) - I was cranky, hungry and totally over pilgrims...and I was so so homesick it wasn´t funny! Bed came early - 9pm, sound asleep not long after (I love industrial strength ear plugs).

But today, well, today is another day - and a good day - lots of encouraging emails and texts from my gorgeous girlfriend - the sun is shining, I´m off the mountain for a few more kms. I´m off now to check out the museum of the radio then dinner then bed...ah...

I wonder what tomorrow will bring?