No Pain, No Gain!
My feet hurt, my collarbone hurts, I have a blister on my butt that I have named Mario. He really wants to be close to me, he has squeezed into the space between my pack and my skin and refuses to move. He thinks I’ll let him stay if he gets bigger- looking a bit possible too. I also have a giant painful bruise from being bitten by a psychotic dog...but I love it!
I will be honest, I didn’t do much research before we started, I was too frightened that it would put me off coming. Even with a mother who has walked Caminos before, I still thought I was going to be walking through the wilderness, cut off from the world, at one with nature. I didn’t realise we would be storming over entire mountains just to get to the next town, the next café con leche, the next sangria.
I am in awe of my surroundings, these Spanish towns are so different, so beautiful, so ancient and exciting.
I go to bed every night, feeling broken and depleted. I wake up every morning like a newborn baby. Fresh, ready, strong and a little scared.
It’s only been six days and there has already been a lot of pain but here are some of my gains...
The tall dark and handsome Spanish man who looked right at me with sparkling blue eyes as he passed me in the street.
The kind monk that removed my hat, kissed me on the forehead and then let me use the church bathroom.
My new German sister Elena. We adopted her on our first day. Elena has given me 6 days of friendship, laughs and lessons. She also gave me a European phone charger which is super handy.
The puffing, sweating and hurting all over but knowing there will be a chilled vino tinto at the end of the day.
Sitting exhausted in an information centre avoiding adulting and letting my mother do the language barrier sign language dance while I read brochures and discovering that the Balenciaga museum was in the very next town. Then dragging 3 unenthusiastic women around a fashion exhibition. I was in my happy place!!
Walking out into the crisp air as the sun rises into the sky, feeling the freshness on my skin, then as the hours tick by feeling the heat of the Spanish day settle on my shoulders and thinking to myself tan, tan tan!!!
I guess the moral of this story is I’m feeling the love, getting in hang of things and thrilled to be on this adventure. Yay
Lulu xoxo
