Editor’s note: Rick McKay, Joe Masonick, and Jack Karolewski, have been travel companions for more than 50 years to a variety of sites with many goals. This week’s adventure is the 25th in the series, a 14-day hike in 2005 across northern Spain’s intriguing Camino de Santiago, known as the Way of Santiago, for a religious retreat and pilgrimage. Visiting various villages on the journey requires continual hiking and climbing. Previously the trio’s exploits were focused on an 11-week trans-Asia trip in 1977. This week is Day 10 on the journey through Spain’s, Sarria to Portomarin Sunday, Sept. 25, 2005.
The previous article is at thevoice.us/nature-in-spain-spider-web-one-inch-frog-shetland-pony
By Rick McKay
Day 10: Sarria to Portomarin, Sunday, Sept. 25, 2005.
I don’t think I’ve laughed so long and hard in years as I did last night, deep, deep belly laughs, totally uncontrollable!
After posting messages on the internet, Joe and I followed Jack, who pointed out the way to the cathedral of Sarria where we could get our pilgrim Credencials stamped. (Note: The Credencial is somewhat like a passport. Perigrinos stop in designated churches or cathedrals along the route and submit them to officials to receive each city’s distinctive impression on one of its pages, demonstrating at journey’s end the portion of the Camino successfully traversed.)
Thereafter, we strolled back down to Sarria’sriverwalk, a pedestrian walkway lined with cafes and shops. While Joe and I were on the internet, Jack had scoped the place out and selected a site for dinner.
When we arrived, we were surprised to find four other American pilgrims whom we had met previously a number of times on the Camino. The apparent organizer was a man named Louie who had just retired from Price-Waterhouse where he had managed the Microsoft account! So, he was pretty well off.
Similar to Joe, Jack and me, he and his three compatriots have done a boys’ trip every year since their college days, though for the past 12 years, they settled on one place for their getaways, Cabo San Lucas!
One of them recently suffered a heart attack,so this year they decided to do the Camino instead, procuring monetary pledges to support the American Heart Association if they were successful in completing the hike.
When dinner went on and one bottle of wine was replaced by another, we began to break into song, first the Beatles’ “Michelle”, followed by just about anything for which we could remember a significant number of lyrics. The image of the ugly American came to mind, as we were somewhat louder and more boisterous than anyone else on the walk, but everyone seemed to love it. Soon we were getting requests from surrounding tables or passers by.
The coolest moment happened when, as we had exhausted our rock repertoire, one of us broke into “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas”. Right in the middle of the song an elderly local man, perhaps in his 80s, approached and standing a few feet away from us, tilted his head, followed the rhythm with his right hand, and tried to join in here and there, as though he had been suddenly transported to some long ago moment in time—perhaps a period of deep sentimental significance to him. At song’s end, he applauded quietly, tipped his hat to us, and shuffled away into the darkness.
The whole evening was fun beyond belief.
This morning we were off by 8:30 a.m. without breakfast. The cafes that open early are generally situated near the albergues, and in addition, it was Sunday. So we simply found our way back to the Camino and headed out of Sarria for Portomarin.
About an hour or so later it began to drizzle for the first time on the adventure. We stepped inside a makeshift cafe just off the path and had our usual deysauno (breakfast) while we got out our ponchos and bag covers.
The rain didn’t last, and by day’s end the sun shiined brilliantly in the afternoon sky when we approached Portomarin.
By early afternoon, we reached an important landmark—the 100km stone, indicating the distance to Santiago. Many pilgrims clustered here to get their pictures taken next to this significant marker. We are now down to double digits!
Shortly thereafter, I missed a turn-off arrow and wandered about half a mile down a tarmac road before realizing my error.
By the time I corrected myself, it seemed I had fallen to the rear of today’s broken string of hikers. In a way, it was very nice. I felt alone and unrushed, took my time and stopped often to enjoy the sunshine and the views.
As I walked on, I found myself breaking out into song, Red River Valley, to be specific. Recently Jack, Joe, and I had talked about our favorite movies, and John Ford’s “Grapes of Wrath” was on each of our lists, so the song had been on my mind. Yesterday, I downloaded the lyrics from the internet, and my solo walk today gave me time to practice.
Soon I caught up to Joe and Jack and we finished the last mile together.
Tonight we are staying in a private albergue, a bit more expensive (10 Euros as opposed to four), but very nice and clean.
Continued at thevoice.us/interesting-pilgrims-along-the-way-spice-to-the-trip-in-spain