Earlier today as we walked through Cacabelos, a belligerent terrier decided to greet our arrival on his patch with a barrage of high pitched yaps, delivered from the relative safety of a first floor balcony. His owner quickly appeared from behind a curtain to admonish her pooch - and it then transpired that his name …
Author: johnelsewhere1968
Thoughtful wanderer in search of virtual meaning
Cruz de Ferro
Oftentimes, an image of something forms in your mind, based on a limited amount of information, and takes on almost mythical proportions. When you actually see it, however, it's a bit of a letdown. So it was with Cruz de Ferro, a couple of kilometres further on from Foncebadón, where we'd laboured up to the …
Just Another Day
After the sociological dramas of the last two days, it was something of a relief to simply get up, strap on my mochilla and walk from one place to another again. But not before a moment of concern. The morning after the night before and The Woman In The Top Bunk was still sequestered away …
A Cry For Help
Last night, as I prepared for bed, the woman on the top bunk bed above me asked for my help. I'd suggested that she could easily move to a lower bunk bed as the dormitory in our albergue was nowhere near full, with just nine pilgrims at the communal dinner that night. Instead, she quietly …
Go Your Own Way
It's often said that walking the Camino is a form of therapy, enabling a person to think, to consider, to evaluate and hopefully to develop in some way as the miles crunch away under the feet. It's certainly been that way for me, as I've given thought to a great many things over the last …
RHWB, we salute you
Many years ago, Tom Hanks made a film in which he was cast away on an island for a very long time and as a result of his long isolation, he made friends with a volleyball and called it "Wilson". He became very upset when something happened to "Wilson" (no spoilers) and I remember being …
To León
The next great city on The Way lay just 24km away from Reliegos and León seemed well within reach from there. In the luxury of my solo occupation of a four bunk bedroom however, I'd not been gently awoken by the rustlings of rucksacks being repacked and I was a little behind in waking myself …
Zero Ambition
A couple of days ago, Simon from Australia waited for me to settle into my chair with my zumo y hielo and then asked me The Question. "What are your ambitions, mate?" We'd already exchanged "hellos" and introductions a few moments before, after finishing the long 17km stretch of the Meseta into Calzadilla De La …
Back In The Old Routine
After enjoying a relatively lazy day in Sahagún, I awoke quite early, delighted at the prospect of strapping on my mochilla and lacing up my faithful Timberlands once again for the next stage, taking me closer to León. It felt very good to get back into the routine of preparing the feet for another day …
Halfway There
Yesterday at Terradillos de Los Templarios, I thought I might probably be somewhere about halfway along The Way from St-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago de Compostela. I was quite close to being right, with evidence of the halfway point arriving in the shape of a grand stone monument just outside Sahagún, a few kilometres down the path. …
johnelsewhere 