Former Columbus Librarian Bob Trautwein is on a 30-day walking trip across northern Spain. The desire to walk the El Camino in northern Spain dates back to his college days. He is fulfilling the dream after his retirement this fall. Santiago, the patron saint of Spain and first Christian martyr, is buried in Santiago de Compostella in northwest Spain. Pilgrimages to his tomb began in the ninth century.
It’s Tuesday evening, Nov. 4, the day of the election. I’ve been asked time and again about my political views and who I think will win. Europeans and Canadians are very interested in the outcome.
Last night I had a delightful evening in a nice albergue (hostel). This one was heated for a change. It was especially nice as the weather has been verging on freezing every night.
So many of the albergues I’ve spent the night in this past two weeks have been unheated. Lukewarm showers are the norm, and laundry facilities consist of a porcelain wash tub with a built-in washboard. The clothes line is in the backyard, but I bet that any brave soul who tries to wash his clothes will find them just as wet after a few hours on the line.
Consequently, I haven’t showered much, and my clothes haven’t been laundered for nearly two weeks. Did I mention that I only have two sets of underwear.
Besides having heat, this albergue has a washing machine (tumble) and a dryer. For 7 euros (about 8 dollars), I washed all my clothes (I’m wearing only dark clothes). To socialize while my clothes dried, I wore my rip-stop nylon cargo pants, a similar windbreaker and sandals without stockings.
As the laundry facilities were in a covered porch in the back yard, I spent my first half hour after the wash started in front of the fireplace with a glass of red wine in hand. The middle-aged couple who own the albergue were very good hosts. My group purchased one bottle of red wine after another, and at 8 p.m. we were served a meal. The first course was a very large bowl of spaghetti followed by a second course of lamb chops and French-fried potatoes. I had yogurt for dessert.
It was a pleasure as I crawled into my bunk bed to smell the clean sheet covering the mattress and the clean pillow case. Too often I have slept on much used linen. I have been worried about bed bugs as a few days a go, a Korean girl declared that she had been bitten.
Today, I walked into Leon (248 miles along the way) with the group of pilgrims I had shared last night’s wine and meal. The Irish man and woman are finishing up the last stage of their El Camino in Leon. The Hungarian woman, French woman and I will continue for two weeks until we reach Santiago.
This trip is teaching me a lesson about walking. It’s been very pleasurable to walk in solitude but I have also welcomed the opportunity to have a walking companion. Yesterday’s walk was mostly with the Irish man. He is a probation officer. He was a delight with his Irish accent. His stories about his work reminded me that people are the same the world around.
My walking lessons include the thought that slowness is good. It’s hard to appreciate the life we’ve been given and our good health if we are always rushing about trying to accomplish a multitude of tasks at the same time.
Slow down. Maybe walk to the grocery store the next time you need a few ingredients for the next day’s meal.
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