The journey is the destination.

Today is Sunday, July 19th. I am taking another day off and I did not even realize it was the perfect day of rest until I walked down the streets here in Santa Domingo de la Calzada when I noticed that all the stores were closed and saw a full church at the morning mass. Such is life on the Camino. Every day is just that, another day with another path to walk and explore. I have walked for the past three days and my foot has been ok, but yesterday it was weary and sore. Today I am using my strategies and one of them is wearing support hoses. I sure look cool in those babies. If a trend spotter saw me he may just discover a new trend. But then again, he may just prefer to look away and wish he had never noticed this "beautiful" sight. He may instead prefer my new fashion of knee high support socks for walking. They make me look like a girl scout and has some pattern to them. YEAH!
Ok, in all seriousness. These are some of the best decisions I have made on this trip and it is amazing how well it works when I keep the blood from pooling in my legs. In 35-40 degree weather it is an amazing thing, and the result is that I can walk and not get so tired, actually my legs feel great even after 20kms walk. And, to my great surprise and delight I have not gotten one blister yet. A year ago I was in full blister management by day two on the camino. I can truly say it is a new world that has opened up for me. The ticket is light and quick drying socks that leave lots of room for the toes and when the feet don´t swell too much it works amazing!!! WOW!!!

Santa Domingo de la Calzada is a beautiful and vibrant town that has a significant place in the history of the Camino. It is a town that has banned cars from the streets in the old town. The impact of that is not lost on the people who can sit in the middle of these narrow streets and enjoy a great glass of cold Rioja wine and good conversation without interruption of any loud noices.

As we were sitting on one of the outdoor patios yesterday enjoying some salad and a pizza some Spanish people approached me and said "Peregrino", adding some Spanish words that I could not get and said 2008. I noticed right away who they were and almost fell off my chair. They were a family that had walked parallell with me from St. Jean to Burgos last year. The woman came over and gave me a big hug. It was amazing to see them again!
Because of language difficulties we never had any conversations, but we saw each other regularly wishing the other "BUEN CAMINO", never knowing if we´d see each other again. Once we left an albergue at the same time and had to find our way out of a town in the pitch black morning with only our head lights to guide us. As luck would have it we did say goodbye as we entered into Burgos. They knew my friend Ilkka, who could speak a little Spanish and told us that they were done. They also said they would be back another year. If I understood them right in all the language confusion yesterday they are now doing another leg: Burgos-Villafranca. What a small world. They are not even walking yet!!!

On Thursday we walked from Irache to Los Arcos and took a taxi to Logrono. To my surprise and delight we found out that Logrono is famous for their tapas culture and that there is a specific street where they serve only tapas and that the street was right by our accomodation. I addition there was a wine festival on that night. Well, that became an evening of spontaneous fun, with great food and wine. The calamari was unbelievable! The streets filled up with locals of all ages, though the youth dominated. I felt so free and happy to be able to connect with the pulse of that vibrant university city and their flair of Spanish culture.

On Friday it was hard to get up after all the wine, and we did not get walking until 9:30am. But the weather was cloudy and there was a gentle breese so the walking was easy. After 7.5 hours of walking and 29kms later we arrived in Najera, a small town that had a heavier feel, supporting the weariness in my body. Some towns make me want to stay and enjoy the ambiance while others make me want to get up early and move on. Unfortunately, Najera was part of the latter category. Who knows if it would have had a different feeling if I had arrived at a different time of the day and if the weather had been better, welcoming me with it´s heat. I don´t know. But I think about how this also is with the people we encounter and how first impressions burn into our memories, leaving little room for our opinions to change.

Yesterday was a shorter day and we walked 21km, from Najera to Santa Domingo de la Calzada. That was enough for my tendons, but it is sure frustrating when the rest of my body is in great shape and condition. So I constantly need to change my perspective and remind myself that the journey is the destination. The final destination is Santiago, but that is only at the end of the trip. It reminds me about how we get so focused on achieving our goals that we lose focus on the fact that the most important part of our lives unfold while we focus ahead or think about the past, wishing we had made other decisions, regretting, feeling bad about who knows what, and worrying about what the future has in store and whether we can make our dreams come true. Or maybe we just focus on other people´s opinions and what´s happening around us. Nonetheless the mistake is the same; we´ve forgotten that the journey is the destination. I get to look hard at this concept for me and I am doing my best to be present and truly enjoy every moment of my journey. It is a great adventure, and I want to be vibrantly alive while I experience every part of my journey.