facts and figures

First of all, I don't mean this to be in any way and expression of dismay or a request for sympathy, it is just an observation of a fact. Truth can set us free.

Last Thursday I visited a vascular surgeon for my (so far) fairly mild case of varicose veins. I fell over a few weeks ago and the injury to my leg became infected. My GP said the varicose veins could predispose me to infections, so it was worth looking at.

The surgeon had a look and gave me some options. These were based on his calculation that I have a likelihood of remaining on this earth for 26 more years. When I walked the Camino I calculated 20, so it is good to get a bit extra from the surgeon. I know we are recommended to take one day at a time, but I find it useful to consider

Sinning Across Spain

Last Thursday I listened to a talk by Ailsa Piper and Fr Tony Doherty about the Camino in Spain and the book "Sinning Across Spain" that Ailsa has written.

Ailsa had already walked the Camino Frances, and she then read about a medieval practice of paying people to walk a pilgrimage on behalf of them. She planned to walk the Camino for a second time, this time from Granada to Santiago. Before leaving, she published an advertisement asking people for sins they would like her to carry for them.

I had the impression that Ailsa expected this to be lighthearted, but she was surprised to receive extremely serious and personal descriptions of sins and also surprised by the effect of her pilgrimage on some of these people. Food for thought.

Saint Cirq Lapopie

I enjoyed a lunch last Saturday with a group of people interested in the Camino de Santiago. Some of the discussion was about Camino routes in France, such as the Camino Aragonese, which comes from Le Voie d'Arles.
Another interesting route is Le Voie du Puy, which goes past the village of Saint Cirq Lapopie, which has been voted the prettiest village in France.

These routes are not as much travelled as the Camino Frances in Spain, but they also look interesting.

Want some photos?

I have been sorting out the photos and video clips I took on the Camino.

If you think I have a photo that you would like have, send me an email at
ozyazik@gmail.com

and I can send you a copy of it.

I have put some videos on YouTube here:

A Korean children's choir at Cruz de Ferro

 

Walking in Galicia, just after leaving O'Cebriero

The main square in Pamplona

Some cows minding their own business in the Pyrenees

A rainbow on the Meseta

The lighthouse at Fistera

Walk

Halfway through a 10km walk, trying to keep up the exercise. The first 5km took 1 hour, whereas I did about 3km per hour on the Camino. Why is it so?


- Posted using BlogPress

Location:Middle Head Road,Mosman,Australia

Camino equipment

I wanted to record the things I took with me on the Camino, so here they are:

External: backpack (35 litres), sleeping bag (the smallest and lightest they had), walking stocks, rain protector for backpack, poncho.

Clothes I wore every day: shirt, trousers etc, plus passport and spare travel money card in money belt, wallet, camera, reading glasses, mobile phone with TravelSIM card and smartphone with Spanish SIM card for calls and data.

Underwear and socks. Shorts for wearing after showering each day

Clothes I wore sometimes, plus waterproof bag to keep them dry inside the backpack. Light T shirt, warm jumper, beanie and gloves (which I never needed), neck protector, towel and sandals for wearing at the end of the day.

Gadgets and waterproof bag to protect them. Batteries for camera, spare battery for smartphone and spare memory cards for camera

Medicines, bandages, foot lotions, protection and repair, toothbrush and paste, shaving cream and razor.

Not shown above are
- the guidebook and Pilgrim Passport
- a pen and notebook.
- two 0.5L plastic mineral water bottles
- lunch snack if necessary, eg bocadillo
- chocolate bar
- comb

Weather

Having returned from the Autumn in Spain and Belgium to the humidity and heat of Sydney, I have recently been thinking often about the weather.
I just read a column by Peter Hitchens about the season of Advent where he talks about the weather in England at this time of year.
I find Hitchens a puzzling writer. As a political journalist, he can become tedious and repetitive, even if you agree with what he is saying. However, every now and then he breaks into gloriously descriptive and thoughtful prose, for example his description in this article of the weather in the season of Advent:

"Now, to Advent. Being a northern person who greatly prefers a frosty morning to a sunny afternoon, who loves to see  storms beating on the coast and trees shaken by the wind,  I enjoy this time of year, which seems to me to be full of promise and immensely exhilarating.

There is something about the long light of the low sun (when it appears)  which is particularly thrilling, and the rapid dusk of the short afternoons intensifies the pleasure of homecoming from a long walk in the crisp, open air."

As I have been telling people, every gene in my body is designed for northern winters, not southern summers. As much as dozing on a beach can give pleasure, I also thrill to the weather that Hitchens describes so well.