"The elevator to success is out of service, but the stairwell is always open."
Zig Ziglar
The Pyrenees 1 and Eric 0. That is the score after my first day hiking the Camino from France into Spain. Ok, maybe we'll call it a tie since I actually survived!! This first stage was mostly a steady climb with a few descents in the spectacular mountains of this region. The weather was warm, but the wind gusts often approached 30-40 mph as I gained elevation. Fortunately, for me there was no danger of blowing away. I did about 26 km or close to 16 miles...40,017 steps to be exact. I thought the downhill parts would be much easier than the climbing, that is until my toes felt as if they were going to come through the front of my shoes. All in all, it was a great first day on the Camino. I walked with a guy (Antonio) from Portugal, but I spent most of the day walking alone. I had a lot of time alone with my thoughts. One that came along more than once went something like this "what in the bloody world am I doing!!" I felt a similar feeling about 25 years ago as I layed down to sleep on my first night of basic training in the Army! I spent my first night in a Spanish alburgue which cost me 8 euros or about 10 U.S. dollars. This particular alburgue was part of an old Catholic church and convent. The place was crowded with a few hundred other peregrinos or hikers just like me. There were about 12 bunks in my room. The accomodations were very basic, but I could have slept on a bed of nails. My other challenges continue to be finding a place to change dollars to euros (I'm down to my last 4 euros) and finding WiFi in the Spanish countryside...hence the late blog post. It's probably not accurate to characterize them as challenges. A challenge in my book is fighting cancer, being a single parent, or losing a job. I'll just refer to them from now on as obstacles. Well, it is time to post some pictures from the first day. With any luck...they'll post. I'm currently poaching WiFi from an alley outside a tapas bar in Pamplona. Yeah, I said tapas and not topless. Haha!! More on tapas at a later time.
Lights out.
Zig Ziglar
The Pyrenees 1 and Eric 0. That is the score after my first day hiking the Camino from France into Spain. Ok, maybe we'll call it a tie since I actually survived!! This first stage was mostly a steady climb with a few descents in the spectacular mountains of this region. The weather was warm, but the wind gusts often approached 30-40 mph as I gained elevation. Fortunately, for me there was no danger of blowing away. I did about 26 km or close to 16 miles...40,017 steps to be exact. I thought the downhill parts would be much easier than the climbing, that is until my toes felt as if they were going to come through the front of my shoes. All in all, it was a great first day on the Camino. I walked with a guy (Antonio) from Portugal, but I spent most of the day walking alone. I had a lot of time alone with my thoughts. One that came along more than once went something like this "what in the bloody world am I doing!!" I felt a similar feeling about 25 years ago as I layed down to sleep on my first night of basic training in the Army! I spent my first night in a Spanish alburgue which cost me 8 euros or about 10 U.S. dollars. This particular alburgue was part of an old Catholic church and convent. The place was crowded with a few hundred other peregrinos or hikers just like me. There were about 12 bunks in my room. The accomodations were very basic, but I could have slept on a bed of nails. My other challenges continue to be finding a place to change dollars to euros (I'm down to my last 4 euros) and finding WiFi in the Spanish countryside...hence the late blog post. It's probably not accurate to characterize them as challenges. A challenge in my book is fighting cancer, being a single parent, or losing a job. I'll just refer to them from now on as obstacles. Well, it is time to post some pictures from the first day. With any luck...they'll post. I'm currently poaching WiFi from an alley outside a tapas bar in Pamplona. Yeah, I said tapas and not topless. Haha!! More on tapas at a later time.
Lights out.
3 comments:
You're doing GREAT! Thanks for rekindling some really good memories.
BUEN CAMINO!
I think I'm gonna have my geography class follow your journey. How did the hike rate with the ascent to prague castle.... haha have a blessed day Buen Camino!
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