Weather With You

I made it from St. Jean Pied de Port to Roncesvalles, a 12th century town, in about 8 hours. There was fog (great for hiding the trail!), though we may have just been walking in a cloud. There was sideways rain (not great for a poncho with side openings), a steep 1450m climb within the first few hours(painful), and a steep 25% descent in the last few hours(painful).

I travelled mostly with Natasha from West Sussex, England. The mud slowed us down and the rain/fog made us add a few more layers to keep warm. Our idea for an afternoon picnic at the top turned out not to be the warmest, but we made it in high spirits.

We're staying in The Royal Collegiate Church of Saint Mary with a newly renovated Pilgrim Hostel section. A Canadian friend told me it's much nicer than the last time he was here. It even seemed like there were a few IKEA-esque floorlamps. I later learned that most of the staff are from Holland. The town has less than 100 people and it seems that they're all here to serve the Pilgrims. Supposedly Roncesvalles holds a burial place for pilgrims from medieval times and also for the slaughtered rearguard of Charlemagne's army who were massacred here by the Basques after his army damaged the walls of Pamplona.

We attended mass tonight and there was a special prayer just for everyone that journeyed there that night. They welcomed Pilgrims of all religions and belief systems with open arms. I liked that we were all there together from different backgrounds, but with the same common faith in the Camino we were experiencing.

I started to think about faith and how I embraced it into my life. Though I was raised
Catholic, I don't practice. I like the spirit of faith and the belief in goodness and in the importance of honesty, modesty, gratitude, and patience. I like the idea that someone may be watching over me and I hope they listen when I ask them to look out for the ones I love more than me.

My father once sat me down when I was a teenager and he told me I could be any religion I wanted as long as I was a good person. My brother had recently gone off to University and was going through a transitional period which included his religious beliefs. I never really decided about the religious part, but I was sure about the 'good person' part.

The thing about faith (to me), is how you carry it and take it with you. There were some miserable parts on the Camino today, but we didn't come across anyone who was in low spirits. Everyone smiled at eachother and held their heads high. They continued on as if the sun was shining and a cool breeze followed them with every step. They took their own weather with them, and it flowed through all 27km.

Here on My Own (but not alone)

The load. 10.5kg

Tomorrow we walk around 27km and climb 1450m.  It's the Route de Napoleon and it's one of the longest and most challenging legs of the journey.  Napoleon liked this route for getting his troops in and out of Spain during the Peninsular War.  It's seen as a rite of passage for pilgrims beginning the Camino and though I try to focus on being in Saint Jean Pied de Port and it's medieval picturesque beauty, I can see the steep mountain of the Cize Pass that will make up most of my tomorrow.

Joao asks me in English during a picnic outside the citadelle what my thoughts are on swearing.  I tell him I don't mind and he says in a Scottish/Portuguese accent that he calls the mountain staring down at us, "a bastard hill."

We hope that the Thomason family (father/mother/son), who were on a schedule and didn't decide to stay the night in SJPdP, reach their next point in good weather despite leaving after 11:00 a.m.  Another group decided to charge ahead too.  A 21-person group made up of members from a boy scout troop from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  It's good to see other Americans on this journey with me.

St. Pancras Train Station, London

The top three questions of the day are: What's your name, Where are you from, and Why are you doing this?

It's the least competitive atmosphere you can imagine.  People just want to walk and talk to others.  Natasha from England only has enough time to go to Pamplona.  Gra--(complicated Polish name) is also here on her own and I've only been able to speak to her through translation, but she's greeted me warmly throughout the whole day.  Gra was impressed and surprised at how different everyone was, especially in age.  I think she thought I was a lot younger than I actually am, but I suppose the lack of makeup, messy pony tale, and my favorite gray street hat from the Gap doesn't help.

The Thomason's in SJPdP

I always want to reflect on the best and worst things that happened to me on my days as I go on.  The best was enjoying how warm and open hearted everyone seems right from the beginning despite the language and cultural barriers.  It doesn't seem like the rest of the world follows suit.  Then again, there are still a lot of steps, pain and reflection ahead.

The worst might be the exhaustion of the overnight journey here and the long train ride from Paris.  The ticket office in Bayonne wasn't open and I needed to buy a ticket to SJPdP.  The ticket machines only took credit cards with a chip (normal for Europe, not for America), and only one machine would take Euro coins only, but didn't have an English option.  I had to ask two different counters to change my Euro notes to coins to use the machine, after I asked someone to translate the machine for me. Lessons learned: Two years of French when I was 15 and 16 years old was not enough, and carry more coins than notes on the Camino.

Registering to get my Pilgrim Passport 

Some people have really mapped out their journey, almost point to point, and are familiar with where they're going to stay at the end of the different legs (some even made reservations!).  For me, I decided I would just get here and go with the flow and hope for the best--which looking back doesn't really seem like something I would do, but is more of something I've developed over the last year or so.

Travelers, rather than tourists, everyone here is on a personal journey, but we're definitely not alone.

--J