We wanted to start our walk in Leon, but Rand also wanted to take us to the 3 places (see yesterday's post) along our previous walk that meant so much to us, so we ended up taking the bus all along the nearly 500 kilometers we previously walked.
I was nervous. My only experience of riding the bus along the Camino wasn't a good one. Not the bus itself, but the reason for riding.
However, it ended up being the most amazing experience. The Camino runs parallel to the highway nearly all the way across Spain, so we were able to see so many places that left us with lasting memories. We probably annoyed the other people on the bus, because we were a constant source of chatter:
“That’s where we ate French
toast!”
“That’s where we ate at that lady’s house!”
“That’s where you went to the bathroom at the frat house!”
"That's the apartment we stayed at!"
“That’s where the food truck was!”
“There’s the chocolate place! That didn’t sell chocolate! Where
they played Pink Floyd!”
“That’s the restaurant where you got in trouble for taking your boots off!”
“That’s the Chinese restaurant we ate at!”
“Remember how hot it was that day!”
“That’s where the bread truck stopped for us!”
“That’s our detour to the dam!”
“That was the really cold night, when the hospitalero turned
off the heat when we went to bed!”
“Is that where we stayed when the Korean guy chomped his
teeth all night?”
“Is that where…?” “Yes!”
You can see that a pilgrim's life is all about where you eat, sleep, and go to the bathroom!
We talk about the Camino all the time, read back thru last year's blogs to remember, and look at our passports to let the stamps and dates retell our story. But seeing these places--35 days of walking in an intense 2 days on the bus--was overwhelming and beautiful and reminded us of how we traveled from strangers to friends to falling in love.
We talk about the Camino all the time, read back thru last year's blogs to remember, and look at our passports to let the stamps and dates retell our story. But seeing these places--35 days of walking in an intense 2 days on the bus--was overwhelming and beautiful and reminded us of how we traveled from strangers to friends to falling in love.
Plus we made several stops, in the larger cities, waiting for our bus transfers, and had the opportunity to go back to those places where we ate, slept, made new friends, and even more memories. Roncesvalles, Pamplona, Logrono. Santo Domingo. Burgos, Leon.
And we did our best to encourage the other pilgrims on the bus. I certainly didn't want them to feel isolated, or despondent about not being able to walk all 790 km.
Two girls we talked to had either run into trouble (pain or sickness) or were slow walkers like us, and were taking the bus all the way to O'Cebreiro (another 100+ km past Leon). A solo woman looked completely worn out, but when I tried to talk to her she said, "My English very bad." "Spanish?" I asked. "No," she shook her head. Even without a common language, I hope we left her with a sense that it is okay to take the bus, to take a rest, or to finish the Camino in her own time. These are certainly lessons we have learned.
And we did our best to encourage the other pilgrims on the bus. I certainly didn't want them to feel isolated, or despondent about not being able to walk all 790 km.
Two girls we talked to had either run into trouble (pain or sickness) or were slow walkers like us, and were taking the bus all the way to O'Cebreiro (another 100+ km past Leon). A solo woman looked completely worn out, but when I tried to talk to her she said, "My English very bad." "Spanish?" I asked. "No," she shook her head. Even without a common language, I hope we left her with a sense that it is okay to take the bus, to take a rest, or to finish the Camino in her own time. These are certainly lessons we have learned.
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