Day 3 on the Camino

October 4, 2009

I didn’t write on this day. I guess that I was tired. It’s amazing that I can say that because in comparison we are not walking anyway near as much as when we were in Shikoku but I am still tired. It’s all relative really. There is tired and then there is exhaustion and here we are just tired, really tired. It makes me think of the scene out of Lawrence of Arabia where El Orance puts out a lighted match with his fingers and his companion asks him how he does it. “What’s the trick?’ he asks. Lawrence replies, “The trick is not minding the pain”. So we hurt; everyone hurts, but the trick is not to give in to the pain.

On this day our hotel is across from one of the largest cathedrals in Europe. It looms as a large object right outside our window. We tour the same cathedral after checking in and washing up. Nancy is not allowed to lead us. A Spaniard takes us around. He is funny but he is not our beloved Nancy. The place is huge. There are over 20 chapels within the structure. Quasimodo occupies several. Later that night we attend mass to hear a special performance from a special choir. It is very beautiful and inspiring. I half expect Charleston Heston to appear dressed in red robes, carrying Jean Simmons in his arms.

The night is a free night and we must once again fend for ourselves. Everyone is tired so we do not do another Pincho night but choose a sit down restaurante. We order two kinds of Paella and casa de tinto y blanco. It is good and our little group is happy.

Our informal group consists of Steve & Hope, a couple from Los Altos, their neighbor, Paula, who has since returned to her birthplace of Oahu, and Robert, who lives in New York City. It was coincidental, but understandable when the ladies (4 ladies from Florida) and a couple from the East coast appeared at the same restaurant. They were tired too and chose the nearest sit down restaurant that Nancy had recommended.

The night of October 2

We just got back from dinner. It wasn’t quite dinner, not exactly, more like your ordinary night of debauchery. Tonight was a free night. In other words we were on our own and of course that meant trouble. After receiving a map and a list of Spanish to English translation only regarding food, our guide/mother turned us loose to fend for ourselves. Emi and I ended up with four other tour members and we hit the town of Logrono, specifically the tapas area. Only in this part of Spainish tapas are called pinchos. The area was hopping. It was a Friday night and that means TGIF in Spain as well as home. Of course you understand that the night life here doesn’t start until past 9pm. I’ve read and heard about that, but I was still amazed to find it to be a truth. No matter. I had had a short nap, and so I was rejuvenated and ready for anything. I quickly formed a plan. There were 6 of us and that easily translated to 6 rounds of pinchos and drinks (cerveza and tinto, red wine). The plan was quickly approved and I started the night by ordering octopus cooked in olive oil. When we finished consuming the eight legged cephalopod, down went the paper towels unto the floor as the custom and onward to the next pincho bar specializing mushrooms with shrimp. Oyster mushrooms cooked in olive oil followed. Then skewered beef. Then chorizo. And gelato ended the night. It was a short walk back to the hotel and we all made it without falling. It was like a grand street party. People were eating and drinking inside and out. Music was being played and people were dancing in the streets.
Our little group bonded and became like a group of life long friends. The night was so unexpected, so wonderful. It was one of the things that make traveling so much fun. It was an event that I couldn’t duplicate even if I wanted to. Only in Spain.

Reflections on the Camino...

October 2, 2009

Another fun day…ha-ha. Estella, Ega River, Erache, Vaillamayor de Monjardin, Sansol, Torres del Rio, Nuestra Senora del Poio, and Logrono. And I’m not going to elaborate. Enough to say that it is all beautiful. We’ll post the pictures at some point in time. As they say one picture is worth a thousand words, which is good because I don’t want to write a thousand words.

Interesting was a short talk by Nancy, our guide, at the end of the day. The subject came up spontaneously. What is a pilgrimage? What is a spiritual walk? Is there a right way to do it? Does our guided journey qualify as a spiritual one or is it too decadent when compared to a true pilgrim who walks the entire way with all his belonging on his back, one who suffers way more than we. Since we have done the henro michi on Shikoku, Emi and I understand suffering, and we are certainly not suffering like the walk on Shikoku. But Nancy said that there is no one way to do a spiritual quest. She has seen participants on her trip find their spiritual meaning and she has seen people completing the Camino de Santiago unchanged in their heart and soul. It was good to hear. There is still hope for me, that I will find my salvation and find the peace that I always long for. Of course, I don’t think that I needed to come to Spain to find inner peace, but it’s sure been fun in the search here in Spain.

I have been toying with the idea of jogging through the streets, paths, and roads of Spain. This would be quite an event for me, since I have given up running for a number of years. It was either give up running or become an invalid, and I chose to continue to be able bodied, but the thought of running here was just too compelling so this morning I got up early, put on my shorts and running shoes and walked down three flights to the front door of the hotel only to discover it locked. The key was in the lock, but there was a sign, in Spanish of course, talking about “Opening….” And the rest I didn’t understand. Since there was no on up or around, I couldn’t ask for a translation. Thinking twice I walked back upstairs and went back to bed. I’ll try again tomorrow.

Day 2

October 1, 2009
Day 2 on the Camino de Santiago and it feels like the 5th or 6th. The walking may not exhaust us but we do tire. We only walked 8.3 miles, but we feel it. It makes me wonder how I ever walked 18 miles a day in Japan, but I know how we did it; we just pushed our bodies to its limits.
Today we did a short walking tour of Pamplona, the city where they do the “running of the bulls” made famous by Hemmingway. As Nancy explained the event it made me laugh. I thought it was the dumbest thing to do, nothing practical like paddling class 5 rivers or walking ridge trails in Hawaii.
After our bus took us to Zariquiegui where we walked through empty wheat fields over the Sierra del Perdon and descended to the village of Uterga where we had a picnic lunch of red peppers, chorizo, sheep cheese, bread, tomato, mussels, frog skin melon, and two kinds of unknown drinks.
It was then time for another bus ride to Eunate, a mysterious eight-sided church from the 12th century. It is said that the Templar Knights were connected to the construction and Tom Hanks next movie is going to be filmed there (joke).
We then went to our hotel and did an optional walk later in the day. The setting sun gave the villages that we walked through a dramatic air that I hope looks well in film. Our last sight was a Roman road and bridge. I am so amazed that it dates back 2000 years.
Dinner was in a renovated bodega (cellar). Once again the meal was excellent. Spanish food has definitely found a place in my stomach.
Nancy, our guide, is so informative. I sometimes feel like I should be taking notes. We told her that under no way will we be tested for all the information that she has given us. We stood in front of a Romanesque door and she talked for 20 minutes about why this doorway was not a true Romanesque door. I could go on, but I won’t. Enough to say that it was greatly influenced by the Moors.
The church bell just rang. It must be time for bed. Then again, we were warned that it rings on the hour, every hour. Yikes!

Day 1 on the Camino de Santiago

September 30, 2009
We must not be in Kansas anymore because we can’t understand anybody. Either that or we both have had major strokes.

The worst part about traveling is traveling or specifically getting to your destination to where you will be touring. It was 10 hours to London with a 2 hour layover, then a 2 hour flight to Madrid with a 5 hour layover and finally a 1 hour flight to Pamplona. I did like the fact that the alcoholic drinks were en gratis. I didn’t like the three security checks that we had to go through, especially the first where I was pulled aside for a personal check due to the aluminum wrapped lactose pills that I had stored in the pocket located halfway down my leg.

The first day of the tour is over and it was wonderful. We had an easy day of walking, only 5.1 miles from Roncesvalles at the Ibaneta Pass to Espinal. Emi and I wanted more miles, but one should be careful when wishing. Tomorrow will be longer. But the nice thing about today was the scenery, the people, and the food. The camino (trail) was through a beech forest which is not like anything found in California. It reminded me of a scene from the hobbit movie. Our fellow walkers are nice and we are doing a lot of life exchanges. And the food…most excellent. Dinner was a collection of small dishes, no not tapas, like roasted red peppers in olive oil, mushroom and borage, a certain kind of celery/thistle, a cod dish, and roasted lamb. The local merlot was part of the dinner and some of us ordered another bottle. Nancy, our guide, is a trove of information and she educates us so thoroughly that I feel like taking notes. We just came back from dinner and it is 11pm. Time to go to bed.

Prologue 2009

September 28th Emi and I will be leaving for Spain, to walk part of the Camino de Santiago. It is about a 500 mile walk, but we didn’t want to spend a month to walk the entire length, consequently we are taking a tour of the walk. We will only be walking about 100 miles in 10 days. They will shuffle us and our luggage along the trail, so in comparison of walking 700 miles around Shikoku with our belongings on our back, this should be like a walk in the park.

Talking about the 88 temple walk, that seemed so long ago it might have occurred in another life that I lived, so distant the memory. Some weeks ago Emi mentioned that she might want to do it again, and I instantly exploded with, “Are you crazy? You have forgotten all the pain and suffering that we went through. Well I haven’t. No, no, no.” And then I apologized for screaming. Seriously, I loved the walk, but it was hard, maybe too hard.

That doesn’t mean that we won’t walk when there is a reason and walking the Camino de Santiago has real meaning. We will be walking for God. We will walk for God in all his manisfatations. We are not particular. Why should we be? Can there be but only one God? As it is said by muslims, La illah illa allah,” there is no God but God. Call him what you will. I personally call him, “the thought of time, past, present, and future.” I joke of course. I have no name for God, but I will be walking for God.

Then again we are walking for the sights that will make us catch our breaths, the pleasure of the physical effort, and the rewards that come at the end of each day: the Spanish cuisine (especially the wine), a nice bath, and a comfortable bed. Also, this will be a time when Emi and I can be alone to share the joys of each other while in the exotic and wonderful country of Spain.

More to come…

Fortune Lady

On the last weekend in August Emi and I went to the reopening of the new Freight and Salvage Coffee House in Berkeley. If you’ve never been there, don’t think of ordering a double latte with a sprinkle of chocolate powder; it’s not really a coffee house, more like a miniature Yoshi’s. They had Ramblin’ Jack Elliot for the night. He is a legend within the folk music world as far back as when I was young, single, and stupid, still am but a tad smarter. We didn’t go there to see him though he was entertaining with excellent folk guitar playing and a lot of dry, dry, parched dry humorous yakkin’ (the reason for his name I’m guessing).

We went there to see the opening act featuring Rick Didia and Aireene Espiritu, and in particular we went there to see Aireene who I would like to consider a friend of mine. Of course, understand that I use the word “friend” loosely. I met Aireene some years ago when the hui played for Purple Moon down in Chinatown. She had performed with Rick just before us. I didn’t get a chance to hear them play, because we were rehearsing when they were on, but I was curious about her music because (cue the drum roll) she played a vintage Martin tenor UKULELE. After our performance she was still around and I had a chance to talk to her. I lamely but sincerely asked her how she played her ukulele. She answered saying she strummed and picked chords…duh, and then she said pleasantly, “Here, you can have my CD to listen to.” I was thrilled. I thanked her and when I got home I did listen to her CD, and I must say I still do. It is one of my favorite CD. Her style, genre, is a blend of folk, country, blues, and strictly Aireene. Her ukulele is picking and strumming. Hey, that’s what she said. Her low voice is earthy, sweet, and dramatic.

Some two years later I saw Rick and Aireene perform and the Velo Rouge Café on Arguello Street and yes they do serve coffee at this cafe. It’s a small venue and I got a chance to see them up close. Rick noticed that I was there for a very long time and thanked me at the end. Not long after that I took Emi to the old Freight and Salvage to see them. She liked them as much as I and the audience on hand.

Moving forward in time. About a year later I saw Aireene in Kuishinbo in J-town having lunch. At a propitious moment I went up to talk to her. I think subconsciously I wanted to see if I could converse without making a fool of myself twice over. I know not my limits. I asked her if she ever gave lessons and she said that she was actually thinking about it. Well we talked about the particulars and later arranged a time and place where she would attempt to teach me. With some effort I did learn how to play and sing one of her own compositions, “Fortune Lady,” but I think the ordeal, aka teaching, had traumatized her, for she did not want to continue, which was OK. I understood completely. If I were her, I wouldn’t want to have continued the lessons either. I exasperate myself continually in the effort of learning anything. In addition she had sprained her ankle badly which made getting around difficult and realized that teaching was time consuming, a commodity that she had little of. But I feel privileged that she had spent the time to teach me her song, a song that she had performed at every show that I’ve seen and the song that is on both her CD’s. I can only assume that it is one of her favorites. That thought gives me some trepidation whenever I sing it, afraid of ruining it. Aireene actually wanted me to record it and send it to her. It took me over a year to get the nerve to do it, and it took three takes before it was a keeper. Even then it was far from perfect, but by then I was so worn out with the effort the mere thought of trying again was overwhelming.

Here’s a link to Aireene singing “Fortune Lady,” Aireene not me, and Rick and Aireene singing some of their other great songs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4_36UKIRVE