Tuesday, May 14, 2024
I sleep like a rock. Maurizio had booked a room in an albergue containing single beds (as opposed to the standard two-level bunk beds most albergues offer), and our sleep was heavenly! I wake refreshed, ready for another day of walking fast, long distances. As I wake, some funny, giggling women travelling together have me laughing hard. They point out the people snoring heavily over the night, waking at 3:00 am to wait in the kitchen until 7:00 am to catch a bus to the next section of the walk. Coffee. Breakfast. Walking. We settle into a convincing pace for the day. Two 600-metre hills are climbed, two short coffee breaks are taken, and a wonderful ten-second portrait of Maurizio is taken with his permission for my footage. I am blessed with some great conversational footage of him taken while walking into Burgos. By 3:00 pm we enter the city along the river and through a very green and natural park—much more satisfying than walking along the N-120 highway. Our entry into this large city is quite beautiful. I check into the albergue and we walk into the old city for pintxos and pints. More conversation. More laughs. We made plans to meet for dinner, and his walking friend would join us for laughs later in the old city centre. Clean clothes. Back up materials. Then, I am downtown and we are laughing at it all and enjoying some wonderful food. Our lively conversation lasts for hours, until 9:45 pm, and I, unfortunately, have to leave for the albergue—it closing by 10:00 pm. We say goodbye, I wish him a buen camino, and hug this wonderful man, not wanting to let go. The walk back to my albergue is difficult—one of many difficult walks away from people I have grown very close to over this experience and wishing my heart wasn’t so broken over leaving them. Prepare for sleep, my mind buzzing over how much fun these past two days of walking have been!
Today’s distance walked: 36 km | Total distance walked: 324.11 km
“Read Fossett. Coelho ruined it for everyone.” — Maurizio
Monday, May 13, 2024
Waking early by 4:00 provides plenty of time to charge all devices and settle into some writing for the day. Paul and I discuss the day’s walking and leave by 6:15 into a cool, dark morning. We walk for about an hour leaving the town of Santo Domingo de la Calzada behind. The sunrise is impressive. A beautiful man named Maurizio walks up to us and we immediately and naturally fall into an interesting conversation and fast pace. Before I know it, I have been walking with him for hours—two coffee breaks, and 32 kilometres later.
The trail giveth and the trail taketh. I’ve lost: my favourite long-handle titanium spoon; deodorant; soap; and pints left in albergue refrigerators, my memory hazy upon rising so early in the morning to remember retrieving. I look over the map of our upcoming sections of walking. My initial distances calculated were based on those of the group I was walking with at the time—a form of group consensus. Walking with Maurizio, the daily distances have increased into the mid-30 kilometre range, which is more in line with the distance I achieved last year walking to North Atlantic Eastern Canada. Maurizio was a comet. He entered into my walk at the precise time when I needed some tough love. Walking with him was fun. His natural cadence of movement perfectly matched my own. He told plenty of intriguing stories. He laughed easily and fully—loudly, wholeheartedly. We stopped twice for i). coffee and zumo de naranja and then, ii). lime and orange drink.
He graciously makes a reservation for me at the place where he and his walking friends are staying in exchange for a round of pints at the albergue—a perfect exchange! We check in, finish our laundry, eat dinner, and enjoy the comfortable beds in this incredible spot—Villafranca Montes de Oca. Everyone on this Camino seems to know this man, and he in turn talks with everyone along the way. Shower. Laundry. Files. Today was amazing! I have been thinking about how the things we know we need in our lives often arrive at the most crucial moments. Maurizio was the comet I needed to help push me through some things I have been reflecting on over this walk. He suggests I read some Keith Foskett books, as he’s already read everything I mention on the topic of walking. I make notes and copy everything I can within the spaces between his words. Today was an incredible day on the walk in Spain. I fall into bed both tired and refuelled.
Today’s distance walked: 32 km | Total distance walked: 288.11 km
“Just walk. Forget about everything else.” — Maurizio
Sunday, May 12, 2024
Sleep. My body rebuilds itself overnight. My pack, however, is a shit show, with everything shoved in at all angles producing sharp Dyneema-covered spears poking at me through the pack. The day’s walk begins laggardly, moving far slower than my mates. I watch them move into the distance and around curves in the road. I run into a familiar face moving at my pace, and we walk for several laugh-filled hours into late morning—lots of fun. She tolerates my dumb jokes and constant farting. She decides to break, and I take the opportunity to set the wolf eyes, shifting into top gear. Much of the landscape is similar to what was walked through yesterday. Before long I am walking into Santo Domingo de la Calzada, easily finding the municipal albergue. When I arrive I feel a bit done. A queue of about ten has formed outside the door, and I put my pack down in the order forming. Some groceries are acquired, and the day’s materials are transferred to the hard drive. I aim for the darkest of sleep.
Today’s distance walked: 35.7 km | Total distance walked: 256.11 km
“The more I took pictures, the more I felt like something inside me was being chipped away.” — Kyosuke
