Adios, Espana...Day Eleven

The map said Bilboa-final resting point before an early a.m. departure tomorrow (August 3rd)--was only 175 kilometers or so from Pamplona. If one travels in a more or less straight line and observed all speed limits, the journey should take no more than two hours. Traveling a far more circuitous route, we managed to turn the trip into an eleven hour adventure.

Rather than head west toward Bilboa, we elected to travel east, tracing the Camino de Santiago to its source: St. Jean Pied de Port in southern France. This required travel along a two lane highway that seesawed back and forth across the Pyrenees in a way that tested how tightly I could grip the steering wheel without breaking it (or my hand)! As we climbed up (and up and up and up) this mountain trail, Camino-travelers became more frequent. As we twisted and turned downward along roads where there was little margin for error (lest a long drop ensure), some travelers still early in their adventure were struggling up the mountain slope. I wondered what that might bode for their Camino success. [BTW...a really great website for information about the Camino can be found at: http://www.caminodesantiago.me.uk/].

St. Jean Pied de Port proved far too busy for our taste. Passing through, we navigated north to a small town where a pleasant noon day meal was consumed. From there it was back into the Pyrenees--back and forth up to the summit at Ispiguey (think “Miss Piggie”). While I took pictures throughout the mountains, I doubt they do justice to the grandeur evident when standing along the side of the road, gazing at God’s handiwork across the many miles visible. No one the folks who populated these mountains and trails centuries ago found it easy to erect churches and monasteries to celebrate gifts with which they were confronted every time they rose and looked out the window.

Traveling northward through the Pyrenees we finally reach Irun, on the north Atlantic coast. This gave us one more chance to spend time along the coast so we jumped on two lane highways that---you guessed it---seesawed up and down the coastline. Quite frankly, today’s travel made me long for a quick trip up US 30 from Fort Wayne to Valparaiso. I may take Monday off and do so!

I still find Spain fascinating; southern France had some charm as well. Given the intensity with which I usually work and the breadth of the tasks to which I am always committed, this journey away afforded opportunities to refresh and nourish my soul. Remote places (curves and all) were especially helpful. When I can strip away the “noisiness” of daily living and hang out in the natural, unblemished world, the spirit that has dampened within me can fed by the Spirit that surrounds me. Our Spanish journey reminded me how important those opportunities are to me and gave me a good swift kick in the ---- toward making a better effort at doing so.

For those of you who have traveled with us as we flitted from town to town, I thank you for your time, thoughts, and prayers. We had several chances to stroll along Spanish parkways and river walks where it seemed as if the entire community had turned out looking for connections with family and neighbors. Far too often our rugged American individualism leaves us thinking that we can go it alone and our experience are personal only. This blog was a deliberate attempt to build community; I offered up travel photos, personal tidbits, and some serious reflection hoping to start a conversation trend. If you’ve heard that call, you have my special thanks.

And, as the Spanish folks say “Buenvenidos.”

Day Eleven photos can be found at:
www.flickr.com/photos/42254846@N00/sets/72157601176659920/

Camino de Santiago...(Days Nine and Ten)

James the apostle worked the Spanish venue. Legend holds that his bones were brought to Galacia upon his death in the early first century where they were “discovered” anew in about 837 CE. A cathedral built in Santiago to hold these relics soon became the site of regular pilgrimages. During Middle Ages roughly a half million people annually traveled from what is now the border between Spain and France.

Though pilgrimage slowed to a trickle in the 1960s, more than 100,000 people travel the ancient routes each summer. Some come on foot. Others on horseback. Moderns travel by motorcycle, car, or bus. Many make the journey as a whole; others take it in stages--a little each year.

Most folks travel along the “French route,” a path that begins at Roncevalles and passes through Pamplona, Burgos, Leon. The road includes cities with origins that date back to Roman times. Along the way, on the Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James) encounters churches, monasteries, castles, and communities, the origins of which cover a gamut of time, style, and significance.

We traveled this path in reverse, heading from Santiago to Pamplona across the last few days of our trip. We enjoyed our stops in Leon and Burgos; indeed, we were especially enchanted by Burgos with its expansive riverfront parkway. Burgos has Spain’s third largest cathedral, an imposing religious edifice founded in 1221 and completed almost three centuries later. Our cursory visit was not long enough to appreciate Burgos or its cathedral fully.

Our journey ends in Pamplona, a city given imaginative treatment by Ernest Hemingway in his novel, The Sun Also Rises. Elevated temperatures kept us from exploring this town as much as we would have liked. We made it as far as the fortified walls of the city’s citadel, a contemporary reminder (1571 CE !) that this community’s strategic importance dates back to its founding by Roman general Pompey in 75 BC.

Day Eleven will return us to Bilboa where, after a dreadfully short night, we’ll pick up our air transport home. Eleven days was not enough time in this wonderful country. We sampled just enough of the terrain to know that there’s more worth visiting. Indeed, the entire Camino experience awaits....

 Day 9 and 10 photos can be found at:
www.flickr.com/photos/42254846@N00/sets/72157601145028101/