Saturday, March 22, 2008

Torres del Rio - Navarrete

Yesterday, I walked some 28km from Estella to Torres del Rio, thus avoiding staying at Los Arcos which I remembered Rachel had described as being "creepy". Indeed creepy it was..my only encounter with a local was a man who said " tomorrow you´ll be treading on snow...." so I carried on to Torres del Rio, to a hostel called Casa Mari which Mel had recommended and was truly worth the extra distance, although I suffered the last 4 km with a swollen foot and a bit of pain.

Today dawned with a light rain, and i set out in trepidation, afraid of my foot giving me more problems. The day started with 10km of up and down muddy and slippery slopes. There is a Spanish phrase "tread with muddy feet" meaning " be careful" and today i fully understood where this phrase comes from! I had originally planned to go just as far as Logroño (about 20km) but i made good progress and found that my foot wasnt hurting at all, so carried on to Navarrete some 12 km further. Just before Navarrete, on the right hand side of the path, there was a long stretch of fence separating the camino from the motorway which someone had spent a lot of time decorating with crosses made from twigs woven through the fence. As i walked along i became amazed at the extent of this work of art stretching for several hundred metres, and with no sign of coming to an end..until finally I got it..the decoration was of course the work of pilgrims, at which point I duly placed my own cross with the others! This simple revelation was the high point of my day, the revelation of the power of participation instead of remaing a spectator. The crosses finally finished a couple of km later where the fence stopped.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hola Matt,
Estoy leyendo tu viaje. Que fantastico es esto de internet.
No estás teniendo muy buena suerte con el tiempo, aunque por otro lado esa dificultad formará parte de la experiencia única, personal e intransferible que es este camino que recorres. Seguro que encontrarás la forma de superar esa dificultad, igual que todas las demás, y llegarás a Santiago contento y feliz, habiendo disfrutado un montón. Mucho ánimo, y no hagas todos los días lo de avanzar dos pueblos mas, que vas a acabar antes de lo previsto.
Manolo.

Anonymous said...

Easter Day: Today in Maulden I really was "walking on snow" this morning going to church - an unusual white Easter for southern England. We are impressed by your rapid progress. I am printing instalments to post to Ouma. Mum.

Anonymous said...

Hola Matt!
Sóc l'Anna i t'envio molts i molts ànims... estic pensant molt i molt en tu... Crec que tot et va força bé malgrat això que expliques del peu...espero que puguis anar fent, però no forcis més del compte... Bé, bones Pasques, eh? Deu ser molt maco tot el que estàs veient... jo tinc moltes i moltes ganes de fer-ho i a més l'anar caminant, ajuda molt a l'esperit, estic segura que t'està anant bé per sobreportar millor les experiències de la última setmana: el comiat de la feina, els teus companys... Sé que va ser dur, i més sabent com ets tu de compromès amb la gent i èticament molt responsable i delicat vers els altres, però la vida va com va i tu no podies fer res més... De totes maneres has fet molt bé de tancar aquest episodi amb aquesta vivència del Camino, que t'ajudarà molt per començà una nova etapa quan arribis...
Bé, no m'enrollo més...L'altre dia vaig anar al cine amb la Juli i la Pili... La Juli et nota molt a falta, però ja te la cuidarem, no et preocupis, i com a ella no li falten amics i família que la mimin, doncs, tot i que no sigui el mateix, ho anirà portant...Avui potser es passa per casa per veure la Beatriz i també hi serà la Maribel... Per cert, la Beatriz t'envia molts ànims i petonets...
Tots estem fent el Camino amb tu, mentalment, clar, l'esforç físic sí que et toca només a tu...
Una abraçada ben forta!!