Day-11 Fears and Friends

Two main themes today

Fears- I had 2 options for routes to start the day. The first was a pretty direct route though not too scenic. The other was longer and wound along the edge of a sheer cliff with the ocean below. I have never felt comfortable with heights and it seems to be getting worse. The thought of walking a narrow trail along the edge of a cliff filled me with fear and dread. But, chickening out would haunt me. I decided- I would take on my fear. As I began the walk the cliff and path came into view. Yikes! My strategy was to focus on the trail in front of me and not to look to my right. This trail was miles long. It worked but I was still scared. When I did sneak a glance my knees went weak. I was able to resist the urge to be done with it and just leap to my doom. Eventually I made it down to the ocean where I walked along the flat beach. Salvation

Friends- The Camino is a world of its own. When you enter you are taken to a new place with new people. You forge friendships but they are Camino based and sourced by the shared common experiences. At least for me, the friendships which are real and rich are for the Camino and would not fit outside of it. The Camino can create strong bonds, but just through the Camino. I would not invite a Camino colleague to my house- doesn’t fit. That said. I keep in touch with 3 guys I met on the VLDP, one from South Carolina, one from Switzerland and one from England. They are all included in last year’s blog. Mike McBride, is the guy who wrote 2 books on the Camino. We have stayed in touch a little talking about his Camino books and our Camino trips. So if we communicate it’s always about the Camino. The total of our time together on the VLDP was probably about a week, but in that time we made a pretty strong connection. He knew I was doing the Norte and he was going to do a route starting in Madrid. To get there he had to take an overnight ferry from Plymouth England to Santander Spain, arriving April 28. It just so happened my travels would be taking me through Santander on the 28th. I looked up the ferry schedule and Mike was due to arrive at 2:00 pm. I had to take a local ferry to Santander and I was going to get there by noon. The question- Gamble I had my facts right and that Mike was indeed on that ferry and surprise him? It would delay my finish for the day by at least 3 hours. Plus, with the country having no power, there may be further delays. Or pass up the chance and finish the remaining 10 miles of my day. The chance of connecting on separate Caminos and surprising him was too enticing. I put friendship over self and stayed. When Mike made it through customs, I called out “Buen Camino”. He was dumbfounded. It was awesome. Everything was without power and closed so we walked around a bit and talked and then he had to catch a bus to Madrid. All told the encounter lasted less than an hour but boy was it worth it. I felt far better supporting friendship than anything I would feel sticking to my plan.

With no power I was having trouble staying on course, my phone just would not function . As I was leaving Santander, I was left with just the markings to guide me. Cities are the worst for posting arrows and signs. I noticed a fellow walking on the other side of the street. He was a bit portly and he had 2 sticks of bamboo he was using to walk. Maybe his phone worked and maybe he knew where I was going. So I shadowed him. Eventually I crossed the street and said the classic Camino ice breaker- “Buen Camino”. He responded and said he was from Czechoslovakia. He asked me where I was from and I said The States. He asked me where and I said Boston. He started telling me about when he was in Boston in the 80’s he saw the band Boston. “You must like them no?” I didn’t have the heart to tell him no. Turns out we were born 3 days apart, October 27 and 30 1958. He said “since I am older, you must follow me”. No problem there. All I had to do was deal with his bamboo sticks clicking on pavement-beats snoring. He was a hoot to talk with and the time flew by. Ultimately I had to go it on my own to get to my hotel. That’s where the police come in. See below

EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to lack of power and internet, the photos for today’s entry will be uploaded at a later date.