As you can probably tell from the fact that our posts have stopped, we're safely back home and caught up in the usual daily grind.
We actually returned to the Bear Cave at 1.15 a.m. on Monday morning, then, a few short hours later, it was back to work, to do our part to keep the wheels of Bears Unlimited turning.
We've been so busy telling our friends and colleagues all about our trip that we haven't had too much time yet to reflect on our trip and what it means for us.
However, a friend and fellow pilgrim Luc, from Belgium, did email us some words that we strongly agree with. We met and walked with Luc 2 years ago and while he wasn't with us in body this time, he was travelling with us in spirit and said he 'would follow us on our trip to the field of the stars on the road that never ends'.
And he is quite right; the physical road may have ended for now, but the journey has not. While we were in the church at O Cebreiro, we came across the following prayer, written by a Franciscan relative of Gio's which we found very moving. It says far better that we ever could, what walking the camino, and returning from it, is all about, so here it is ...
Prayer of La Faba
'Although I may have travelled all the roads,
crossed mountains and valleys from East to West,
if I have not discovered the freedom to be myself,
I have arrived nowhere.
Although I may have shared all of my possessions
with people of other languages and cultures;
made friends with Pilgrims of a thousand paths,
or shared albergue with saints and princes,
if I am not capable of forgiving my neighbour tomorrow,
I have arrived nowhere.
Although I may have carried my pack from beginning to end
and waited for every Pilgrim in need of encouragement,
or given my bed to one who arrived later than I,
given my bottle of water in exchange for nothing;
if upon returning to my home and work,
I am not able to create brotherhood
or to make happiness, peace and unity,
I have arrived nowhere.
Although I may have had food and water each day,
and enjoyed a roof and shower every night;
or may have had my injuries well attended,
if I have not discovered in all that the love of God,
I have arrived nowhere.
Although I may have seen all the monuments
and contemplated the best sunsets;
although I may have learned a greeting in every language;
or tried the clean water from every fountain;
if I have not discovered who is the author
of so much free beauty and so much peace,
I have arrived nowhere.
If from today I do not continue walking on your path,
searching for and living according to what I have learned;
if from today I do not see in every person, friend or foe
a companion on the Camino;
if from today I cannot recognize God,
the God of Jesus of Nazareth
as the one God of my life,
I have arrived nowhere.'
We've lots more pictures and a few more tales to share with you in the next post or two.
Bye for now,
Love from the Camino Bears xxx
Showing posts with label pilgrims. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pilgrims. Show all posts
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Monday, October 26, 2009
The Best Laid Plans
It's been quite a while since we last posted and it's hard to believe how much has happened in just a few days. Of course, if you've been following our minders' blog you will know all there is to know.
Our walk out of Boadilla was a rather wet one. It was the first time since we started walking in September that we had set off in the rain. Fortunately the rain had raised temperatures so we didn't get cold, and our spirits were raised as we walked along an old canal, since as regular readers will know, we are big canal fans. It was sad to see a fine lock staircase no longer in use, and with lock gates at the top end only. It was quite a spectacle, but we were prised away by the promise of a nice, hot cup of coffee.
The rain continued all day, but fortunately our lunch problems were solved by a nice lady at a hostal we passed, who cooked us plates of pasta with cheese and tomato soup! Being rather wet on the outside, provided us with a good excuse to book into another private room at a hostal, at the town of Carrion de los Condes.
In the end this turned out to be a wise decision for more than the original reason of spreading out wet gear. Our male minder, who had been having some foot troubles for a while, thought we should see if a day off helped. Thanks to our hostal room, we had somewhere warm and dry, with a TV with a good sports channel, to hole up the next day, while we anxiously hoped for foot improvements. The extra day gave old friends a chance to catch up with us, and this is exactly what happened. We were very pleased to see our Belgian friend, Luc, walk in to the restaurant where we were having our pilgrims' meal, and spent a happy hour catching up on each other's news.
Unfortunately, the day off, didn't improve the bad foot, and during one of the most miserable walks of our life the next morning, (17km of the straightest, red earth Roman road, with nothing of interest on either side to view, and an icy gale blowing right into our faces) we came to the conclusion, reluctantly, that finishing the camino on this trip simply wasn't going to be wise, or possible.
At the albergue, at the grandly named village of Terradillos de los Templarios, which wasn't so grand in reality, as there wasn't so much as a bar or a shop, our minders monopolised the PC offering the internet, so we couldn't get near it to write a post. They did have important business to do though, as they were researching ways to get home and successfully booking a flight.
They did well, and the next day we had an amazing travelling day. First we all walked the 12 km from Terradillos to the next town of Sahagun. From there we caught a train to Leon, and from Leon, caught a bus for the three and a half hour ride to Santander. By this point it was gone 7.00 p.m. so we checked into a lovely 3 star hotel for a bit of pampering. You should have seen the toiletry range - it could have kept us occupied for the whole weekend!
In Santander we occupied our time before our flight back to England using the 'tusbic' scheme. This allows you to register and leave a deposit on your credit card, at which point you can release a bicycle and cycle round the city for no fee at all. You can return your bici to any of the stations round the city. We kept well clear of the traffic and mixed it with all the promenaders who were walking along the water front and the lovely sandy beaches. It was such a great scheme and should definitely be introduced in England.
So now we are back in England, rather sooner than we expected. Rest assured we will be putting the extra time to good use and hopefully embarking on another adventure soon, so watch this space. In the meantime, we will be planning to share some of our camino photos with you and hopefully will get to visit some of our many friends.
Lots of love the Camino Bears xxx
Our walk out of Boadilla was a rather wet one. It was the first time since we started walking in September that we had set off in the rain. Fortunately the rain had raised temperatures so we didn't get cold, and our spirits were raised as we walked along an old canal, since as regular readers will know, we are big canal fans. It was sad to see a fine lock staircase no longer in use, and with lock gates at the top end only. It was quite a spectacle, but we were prised away by the promise of a nice, hot cup of coffee.
The rain continued all day, but fortunately our lunch problems were solved by a nice lady at a hostal we passed, who cooked us plates of pasta with cheese and tomato soup! Being rather wet on the outside, provided us with a good excuse to book into another private room at a hostal, at the town of Carrion de los Condes.
In the end this turned out to be a wise decision for more than the original reason of spreading out wet gear. Our male minder, who had been having some foot troubles for a while, thought we should see if a day off helped. Thanks to our hostal room, we had somewhere warm and dry, with a TV with a good sports channel, to hole up the next day, while we anxiously hoped for foot improvements. The extra day gave old friends a chance to catch up with us, and this is exactly what happened. We were very pleased to see our Belgian friend, Luc, walk in to the restaurant where we were having our pilgrims' meal, and spent a happy hour catching up on each other's news.
Unfortunately, the day off, didn't improve the bad foot, and during one of the most miserable walks of our life the next morning, (17km of the straightest, red earth Roman road, with nothing of interest on either side to view, and an icy gale blowing right into our faces) we came to the conclusion, reluctantly, that finishing the camino on this trip simply wasn't going to be wise, or possible.
At the albergue, at the grandly named village of Terradillos de los Templarios, which wasn't so grand in reality, as there wasn't so much as a bar or a shop, our minders monopolised the PC offering the internet, so we couldn't get near it to write a post. They did have important business to do though, as they were researching ways to get home and successfully booking a flight.
They did well, and the next day we had an amazing travelling day. First we all walked the 12 km from Terradillos to the next town of Sahagun. From there we caught a train to Leon, and from Leon, caught a bus for the three and a half hour ride to Santander. By this point it was gone 7.00 p.m. so we checked into a lovely 3 star hotel for a bit of pampering. You should have seen the toiletry range - it could have kept us occupied for the whole weekend!
In Santander we occupied our time before our flight back to England using the 'tusbic' scheme. This allows you to register and leave a deposit on your credit card, at which point you can release a bicycle and cycle round the city for no fee at all. You can return your bici to any of the stations round the city. We kept well clear of the traffic and mixed it with all the promenaders who were walking along the water front and the lovely sandy beaches. It was such a great scheme and should definitely be introduced in England.
So now we are back in England, rather sooner than we expected. Rest assured we will be putting the extra time to good use and hopefully embarking on another adventure soon, so watch this space. In the meantime, we will be planning to share some of our camino photos with you and hopefully will get to visit some of our many friends.
Lots of love the Camino Bears xxx
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Meeting Our Own Kind
Having told you about some of the human friends we've made, we need to reassure you that we are making friends of the furry kind also, and to introduce you to some of them.
The first is really for Travelling Moose and members of his hosehold which does now include two fine elks.
So here we are with Monty, the Podally gite elk. He had an amazing gift for doing the splits which we don't think we could emulate and live to tell the tale. He was also more nimble and sure footed than us, which he needed to be as he lives on the edge of a crockery display. We're pleased to say we managed to visit without smashing anything.
Our next two friends were fresh air freaks and seem to live permanently out of doors.
Although the weather has taken a bit of a toll on them, they need to be outdoors as they have a very special role of welcoming pilgrims to the village of Marsolan.
The gite we stayed in was just round the corner, so we kept on popping over for a chat, while our minders did boring things like washing clothes. As a result we got to know them quite well
and were very impressed by their dedication to duty.
Love from the Camino Bears xxx
The first is really for Travelling Moose and members of his hosehold which does now include two fine elks.
So here we are with Monty, the Podally gite elk. He had an amazing gift for doing the splits which we don't think we could emulate and live to tell the tale. He was also more nimble and sure footed than us, which he needed to be as he lives on the edge of a crockery display. We're pleased to say we managed to visit without smashing anything.
Our next two friends were fresh air freaks and seem to live permanently out of doors.
Although the weather has taken a bit of a toll on them, they need to be outdoors as they have a very special role of welcoming pilgrims to the village of Marsolan.
The gite we stayed in was just round the corner, so we kept on popping over for a chat, while our minders did boring things like washing clothes. As a result we got to know them quite well
and were very impressed by their dedication to duty.
Love from the Camino Bears xxx
Monday, August 31, 2009
Time to Say Goodbye (to England)
The last few days have passed so quickly - we've all had a great time at Greenbelt - that we can hardly believe our final night in England has come round so soon.
We're not sure if we'll be able to sleep much tonight as we're all very excited, but also feeling a tiny bit of trepidation, as it is a big step into the unknown.
We certainly look the part though, and thanks to the creativity of Midlands Branch minders, no-one will be in any doubt that we are true pilgrims.
Here you see us sporting our scallop shells which will tell everyone we meet that we are pilgrims walking the Camino to Santiago, and hopefully they will be nice to us in consequence.
Our minders have full size scallop shells to wear on leather shoelaces, but they were far too big for us little bears, so we are extremely grateful to the Midlands Branch for finding, drilling and threading some bear sized shells. We've had a lot of support and generosity from all the branches recently, and it has all been greatly appreciated, so thanks everyone.
We'll hopefully be blogging from France very soon, so keep reading.
Lots of love the Camino Bears xxx
We're not sure if we'll be able to sleep much tonight as we're all very excited, but also feeling a tiny bit of trepidation, as it is a big step into the unknown.
We certainly look the part though, and thanks to the creativity of Midlands Branch minders, no-one will be in any doubt that we are true pilgrims.
Here you see us sporting our scallop shells which will tell everyone we meet that we are pilgrims walking the Camino to Santiago, and hopefully they will be nice to us in consequence.
Our minders have full size scallop shells to wear on leather shoelaces, but they were far too big for us little bears, so we are extremely grateful to the Midlands Branch for finding, drilling and threading some bear sized shells. We've had a lot of support and generosity from all the branches recently, and it has all been greatly appreciated, so thanks everyone.
We'll hopefully be blogging from France very soon, so keep reading.
Lots of love the Camino Bears xxx
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