Half way there

I have found it is hard to find the time to update my blog. Here is why. This is an example of my daily schedule.
We wake up around 5:00am,  I usually sleep in the clothes that I will be waring the next day on our hike. I spend about 10 minutes treating my feet with vasoline, medicated lotion, compeed ( blister preventer), ibobrofin gel ( keeping close attention to tendonitis) then wrapping my feet to reduce swelling. Then we put our socks and boots on, and grab a café con leché with a cressant. Around 5:45, 6:00, we start walking, up to 20 miles a day sometimes. I am finding that 12 to 15 miles is a better distance for me. After that, my feet are screaming for a rest.
We are in the meseta area of Spain. It is mainly flat, dry and not very much to look at. In fact, sometimes I feel as if I am in Texas. Since it is more flat, we try to cover more distance, but then there is the heat factor.
We then arrive to our destination village around 2:00, 3:00pm. From here, we find the Algergue we are staying in, we get our camino card stamped and we find ourselves to our dorm room. We immediatly take a shower and after that we hand wash our clothes. At this point, it's about 4:00pm, and now we have free time to write in our journals, e-mail, take a nap, etc. Around 7:00pm, it is dinner time. We are served a pilgram dinners which include bread and wine, and 3 courses.
After dinner, we organize our packs, check and see if our clothes are dry, brush our teeth and by 9:00,we go to sleep ( with ear plugs for all the snorners in the dorm).
It is very systematic, but beside all this, we continue to meet extraordinary people on this hike. For example, this evening, Valerie and I had wine with Fabio from Italy. An older gentleman who also left his family behind to take this journey. I always learn something from the conversations I have with the people I meet. Tonight, Fabio talked about tranquility. He wanted to get away from everyday pressure and just, "take it easy". We toasted to tranquility tonight, and I will always remember that toast with Fabio from Italy.

Poco ó Poco

We have now been hiking for 12 days straight, and I am feeling like I am in the mental part of the stage. I am in the rountine of getting up early, having my bag packed and ready to go, walking by 7 am and doing it all over again the next day.
As we continue to walk, I am realizing that I don´t need much. Many people at this point in time, start dumping all the useless things they have in their packs. It feels liberating to get rid of baggage. The less I have, the happier I am.

We already walked through  three regions in Spain:  Basque, Navarra, and La Rijoa. We just entered the Castilla y León. We walked along beautiful vineyards, rolling hills filled with wheat and poppy flowers. The hike has become a rhythem for me. I repeat Poco ó Poco ( little by little) as I put one foot in front of the other. I listen to the sound of my boots hitting the gravel, poco ó poco.  I am reminded how slow things are for me when I walk near a highway of fast moving cars and roaring engines, which is a complete contrast to the wind blowing through the wheat fields, and watching it ripple as if it were water.

The Camino forces me to live in a single moment, one step at a time.






I repeat over and over in my head, poco a poco ( little by little) as i put one foot in front of the other. I dream of the Albergue that we will be staying at in the evening. That I can take a shower and I cool down and relax before another hot day tomorrow.

57 miles in

I finished five days of hiking, 57 miles total!
To recap, First day of the hike was hiking out of the city, St. Jean Pied de Port. This was the hardest day for me. The trail was a steep incline, going right up to the Pyranese. I felt as if I made a mistake, what the heck was I thinking! We split this hike up into two days lucky for me. Day two, the pinnacle. Another tough hike, but this time, we had friends. A mother/daughter team from Pennsylvania. The views were spectacular looking over the rolling, green land with the clouds below us, the cool mountain air blowing and the cow bells ringing. I periodically would look at the trail behind me to see what I accomplished for a little pat on the back.
I found myself emotional on this hike, very hard to explain why but that I was overwhelmed by what I was looking at, where I was, exhaustion, and the list goes on.
We hiked over the border into Spain, and stayed the night in Roncevalles for some rest--I really just hiked a mountain, incredible.
Day 3, hiked to the city of Zubiri. Great hike for me. I felt strong, my pace is a little faster, though my dad world disagree, lots of shade. Valerie and I worked out a water system, I grab it out of her bag, we drink, I put the water back in her bag.
At this point, w are starting to make lots of friends. There's, Neil, an opinionated Canadian guy who's done the Camino before. Karin, from Boston, rewarding herself for completing grad school. Meshae, from south africa, who's been walking already for 30 days, and has given me lots of blister advise, and of course, Christene and her 14 year old daughter from the US.
Day 4, we hiked into Pamplona. Another very beautiful hike along the spanish country side. I was so looking forward to Pamplona, but the weirdest thing was, as we walked though the busy city, I felt exposed.For the past few days, we'd been in smaller towns, where people were friendly and things moved slower. I walked with my nasty hiking and my frizzy hair along side the beautiful European woman and their sassy shoes. The great part of Pamplona--tapas, tapas, tapas. And the best question someone could ask me, white or red?
Today, my body is feeling tired. My legs hurt, my knees hurt, and my blisters are inevitable. But, we continue to meet more people and we continue to see our friends we've made along the way.  We are staying in a "plush" alberge today. We have our own room, free wifi, hot shower where the water doesn't keep shutting off, washer and dryer, TV. Yes, these are normal things, but to us, this is luxury.
There really is so much to tell you, but, I'm hungry and ready for a glass of wine. 
I can say this: It's a simple life, it moves slow, friendships are sincere, and conversations run deep.

Excuse the grammer and puncuatins, done all on my phone and  I'm exhausted.
Buen Camino

Leaving St. Jean Pied de Port

After 30 hour of traveling, we made it to St. Jean Pied de Port. Still getting over jet/train lag. This is truely a beautiful city, almost wish I could stay one more day. However, we must walk, and it starts tomorrow early morning.
So far, the people here have been nothing short of amazing. I met a girl from San Francisco who up and quit her job to walk the Camino, a 77 year old german woman who already walked 400 miles and is part of it again, a gentleman with Parkinson's disease who bike all over Europe and now biking the Camino....and so may more inspirational people.  We ate a really nice meal in the first Albergue of our trip, always served with wine and fresh french bread.
I look forward to meeting more people on the journey, and I will let you know how my body feels after tomorrows hike.
Au revoir!!

All packed...

...and ready to go!

Packing my bag and leaving the U.S.

I'm packing my bags and debating on what to bring and what not to bring. Because, in two days from now, my dad, my sister in-law -- Valerie, and myself, will be flying into Paris, where we will then take an 8 hour train ride down to St. Jean Pied de Port, which is located close to the Spanish border in the southwestern part of France. From there, we start our 500 mile hike across northern Spain, along the Camino de Santiago, AKA, St. James Way. This pilgrimage has been walked for thousands of years by many Europeans. The final destination is in the northwestern city of Santiago de Compostela. Here, we will arrive at the cathedral where the body of St. James is said to be buried.
You may ask, what on earth compels me to walk 500 miles? The answer is simply: I have no idea. Aside from the fact, at this point in time at least, I feel like it's a little crazy, I also feel that this will be a peaceful and meditative journey. I'm excited, scared, happy, and sad. Sad that I will be leaving my husband for 6 weeks. Sad to leave the comfort of my home, my dog, and my cat.
So, with that said, I married the most wonderful man. I married someone who gives me the freedom and strength to take such an adventure. Thank you, Stephen Slattery, I love you, I love you, I love you.

The importance of Solitude

If women were convinced that a day off or an hour of solitude was a reasonable ambition, they would find a way of attaining it. As it is, they feel so unjustified in their demand that they rarely make the attempt.

- Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Provence region of France...one day.