WOW what a good nights sleep can do for you!
I woke eager to walk, highly refreshed...and deoarted Augustos' at exactly eleven heading to Gernica.
Tonight if all worked as planned I would meet Gerr, an Irish gentleman, from my Camino forum. We had exchanged many emails over the past month and while being here I had little or no energy to do a good job at communicating where we would meet and when. Thank goodness Gerr well understood my situation and when I sent a quick email to say, " lets meet infront of Picasso , Gernica, art on street between six and seven" .... He understood....
Today I was on!!!!
I had my groove...and honestly this walk seemed like a walk in the park compared to my first four.
Today I would get to think...I would look at clouds and think of what they lloked like, I saw images in them and while I have enjoyed every animal that has crossed my path I have not found myself thinking deep into things that I typically like to think about on my Camino. Until today I was in survival mode....
I liken it as when. I gave birth to my daughter who decided to come at home twenty minutes after I woke from a very deep sleep. Everone asks, "what were you thinking" and I can only reply I had no thoughts....each contraction stunted any rhought thus producing no thoughts. These past four days have been just that, I wonder if the US flight and the two days of travel to get here plays into that some...
Today I exhaled...
I hugged Augustos and thanked him for his precious hospitality.
I started out of town , along a beautiful stream....I've yet to get my shoes wet...and here was the most innocent path I have walked this trip and my feet sank in mud.....I felt the wetness thru my shoes and feared it would cause me problems but it did not.
I stopped to take a picture of my shoes and inches away was the only frog I have seen on the Camino to date. Last year I saw a dead frog in the road but have not seen one other than that.
I walked into Bolibar at lunch time, maybe an hour after starting and ate ate the bar at the top there (possibly the only one), I ordered a pasta salad and it was so perfect!
I carried on theu the monestary where I had hoped to stay last night...sad that I didn't make it, but glad that I didn't make it as well if that makes any sense. Not a person in site but a beautiful building...."next time", I thought.
Today was thru beautiful woods....tons of mud, it has not rained since my arrival and I wondered how anyone could handle much more mud then I was experiencing.
I had a cute experience happen in I think Muntibar. I passed a bar ( keep in mind that means restaurant) on my left with three outside tables, two were taken and I just decided to keep going. I started down the path and an old man ( guessing 75 plus) called to to turn left. He wad at the restaurant and something about him calling me put the bar back on my radar and convinced mevI needed a coke. By the time I turned around he was gone leaving me a comfortable table to sit at. I ordered my drink and took a spot at the table. My " hero" who just mi utes before wanted to make sure I knew where to go came from nowhere and sat at the same table. It was interesting because everyone strikesup a conversation with you here, but he dud not. Hecdrank his coffee with little to no attention my way. The bar owner came out and started joking with him...I could tell he was joking, " ahhhhh looks like you found yourself a pegrina ( female pilgrim).... The bar owner winked at me to show he was having fun with this fella who I suspect sits there probably ten hours a day and does not miss a happening. The bar owner then said to me, "companion...." As he pointed to my table date.... Then joked with the man about " going to Santiago". This was all fun and humerous, but my hero had a poker face.... he ain't chasing no girls, his facial expression showed.... I chimed in in fun, " si, companion".... Still not much of a face from my new friend BUT there was little doubt in my mind he was enjoying the attention. I then got up and headed out of town following the red/ white marks that I thought meant a toughr trail. Two gals thankfully corrected me and I turned to spot yellow arrows...there was my town boyfriend who must have seen my mistake and took the necessary steps to catch my attention to show me the right way. I thought, " see there you do love me!!!!" After acting all cool and smug... As I walked I remembered this Camino has been around over a thousand years and a good 50 or 60 years ago this gentleman probably did have a few pegrina relationships from this exact spot in tjis town :)
At one point I was approaching a home, dogs were barking, farm animals bells were ringing and I felt a huge desire to start videoing, I even backed up a few feet to capture what one experiences when approaching a home in this manner. You are always greeted by barking dogs....there is always the big one who is all talk....followed by the little who is really the one doing asll the talking and clearly calls the shots! Within seconds of videoing horses appear in my path, ungated coming towards me....just amazing how the calling to video this scene that I have experienced 100 times treats me with this!
I worked my way thru the woods and saw Gernika off in the distance, in view for about an hour I found myself walking down a city street having no idea where this famous Picasso was. I asked a mom strolling her baby, " Qui Picasso?" , she smiled and pointed straight ahead but said prior to the, " No Picasso!!!", yet she told me where to go, I thought she might have been joking.
It was I think 7:45... I didn't know if Gerr would even be there, I forgot what I had emailed him and really wished at this moment that I had put more energy into a game plan here.
I arrived at the top of a hill to the Gernika Picasso in tile form. I stood there not knowing what to do a minutes went by and clear,y Gerr was not there, I thought I would go to a bar that had wifi and get in touch that way. I looked at " the Picasso" and it had a marking showing it was a tile replica of the famous Picasso...so I wondered where is the real one? Is Gerr there....and then it all made sense when the lady told me, " no Picasso" yet proceeded to give me directions there.
I decided to go look for wifi...and within two minutes of arriving I hear my name and Gerr comes up the hill to catch me. Seems he had been there for about 45 minutes, met a couple of pilgrims who advised on where to stay and he thought he should go and possibly secure a bed, he took a wrong turn, went to correct himself and at that instant saw me.
Meeting Gerr was like running into one of my oldest frienships, poor fella I've had four days of little conversation and I felt I just threw up conversation all over him. We checked into a pension within minutes, 15 euros a person, with attached bar....and had a super dinner!!!!
We both felt we had to get in contact with family and struggled some to get WIFI as you can move in a bar ( restaurants are called bars here, no disco ball etc...), and lose your connection.
Tomorrow we will walk to Bilbao, I think the biggest town/ city of this Camino....I had planned to take a rest day here but have concluded I will not....
Gerr does not think he has the time to complete his Camino, and all of this time has known he must skip ahead for some stages we just don't know what part yet.....
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