Friday, February 22, 2013
Monday, September 20, 2010
Donal's Camino Walk DAY13
Today tried to access internet but codes are so long it is easy to make a mistake and fail to get on line - yes I failed.
Ill have one more go and see if I can succeed !!!!!!
Ok had a hard walk today as I am recovering from my blisters and I didn't want to make them worse.I only did 16 Km but involved a drop of about 1200 ft. to a town called Saint-Come d'OLT.
And tonight Im staying the Angels of Mercy a convent of the Ursulines so its another first for me.
I had another great meal in last night's Gite. A four course meal which is usual. The main course was a type of Beef casserole with lots of herbs in it and layered with potatoes.
On the way here I had some soupe and a veterarian tart as I wasn't sure if we were getting a meal here and we are. But the nuns looked after us well. I was in a three bed room but there was only two of us in the room.,
We had Dinner in the Restaurant. We went in and collected or soup, main course, I had a kebab rice and green beens, salad, and desert. I had the dinner with Joseph and Gaeton, the two men from Corsica who are so proud of their nationality, and a French man, who unfortunately don't know his name, but he told me that he worked in Derry in the eightys.
Today tried to access internet but codes are so long it is easy to make a mistake and fail to get on line - yes I failed.
Ill have one more go and see if I can succeed !!!!!!
Ok had a hard walk today as I am recovering from my blisters and I didn't want to make them worse.I only did 16 Km but involved a drop of about 1200 ft. to a town called Saint-Come d'OLT.
And tonight Im staying the Angels of Mercy a convent of the Ursulines so its another first for me.
I had another great meal in last night's Gite. A four course meal which is usual. The main course was a type of Beef casserole with lots of herbs in it and layered with potatoes.
On the way here I had some soupe and a veterarian tart as I wasn't sure if we were getting a meal here and we are. But the nuns looked after us well. I was in a three bed room but there was only two of us in the room.,
We had Dinner in the Restaurant. We went in and collected or soup, main course, I had a kebab rice and green beens, salad, and desert. I had the dinner with Joseph and Gaeton, the two men from Corsica who are so proud of their nationality, and a French man, who unfortunately don't know his name, but he told me that he worked in Derry in the eightys.
Donal's Camino Walk DAY19
TREES:
I haven't a great knowledge of the Flora of Ireland so you can imagine the knowledge that I can impart about the Flora of the Camino. But I can tell you about some of the trees that dominate the landscape of the paths that I have been walking on. Oak trees and Chestnut (eating chestnuts we would call them, not the Horse chestnut or conkers) seem to be the most common tree, but Apple trees are very common and you would see thousands of apples on the ground on the paths. Ive also seen pear trees, fig trees, peach trees, and an odd walnut tree. Broom is a shrub that is very common. Of the weeds, nettles are very prolific.
DOGS:
Not many people know this but I had a phobia about dogs. And I heard lots of stories about really wild big dogs on the Camino, so you can imagine that I wouldn't be very happy about them- wrong. I was cured of my phobia by my daughter Sarah, who first of all got me to foster a deaf German Shepherd who was my favourite dog of all time . He was so gentle and affectionate and really depended on me. He now has a lovely home in Sussex.
The second dog that Sarah got me to foster was an American Pit Bull Terrier called Ruby, a big strong, softie of a dog. She was too strong for me and walking her was difficult but I did a good job of training her to walk properly. But her big disadvantage was that she couldn't be left on her own. And she also was an escaper. She could jump any wall,especially if she saw a cat. And most people would be very scared if they came across her if she escaped. Her favourite occupation, when she was with me was to lie on top of me on the couch.
She is still awaiting re-homing.
Dogs on the Camino. On about my second day walking along a narrow path, which just happened to divide for a few metres, I came face to face with a huge Rothweiller sort of dog. He looked me in the face and I looked nonchalent away from him . He gave a frightened yelp and ran passed me.
Today as I came up to where I am staying for the night, I was met by about 6 barking ,growling dogs. Thanks to Sarah I have now a completely different attitude to dogs and they weren't a problem. I have met lots of other dogs as well and no problems with them.
CATS
Ive seen a lot of cats two but just two notable ones. Yesterday in Decazeville with ba very short tail and today in Le Communal I saw another one- very similar to a Manx Cat.
Tonight I am staying in an Equestrian Centre but they do not supply dinner but there is a kitchen where I was able to make my own. I did a Pasta dish and I made the sauce from a large tomato that I had bought this morning and a tin of tuna. It was very tasty especially since I had bought a small bottle of white wine to compliment it. All I can sayis that its hard work on the Camino.
TREES:
I haven't a great knowledge of the Flora of Ireland so you can imagine the knowledge that I can impart about the Flora of the Camino. But I can tell you about some of the trees that dominate the landscape of the paths that I have been walking on. Oak trees and Chestnut (eating chestnuts we would call them, not the Horse chestnut or conkers) seem to be the most common tree, but Apple trees are very common and you would see thousands of apples on the ground on the paths. Ive also seen pear trees, fig trees, peach trees, and an odd walnut tree. Broom is a shrub that is very common. Of the weeds, nettles are very prolific.
DOGS:
Not many people know this but I had a phobia about dogs. And I heard lots of stories about really wild big dogs on the Camino, so you can imagine that I wouldn't be very happy about them- wrong. I was cured of my phobia by my daughter Sarah, who first of all got me to foster a deaf German Shepherd who was my favourite dog of all time . He was so gentle and affectionate and really depended on me. He now has a lovely home in Sussex.
The second dog that Sarah got me to foster was an American Pit Bull Terrier called Ruby, a big strong, softie of a dog. She was too strong for me and walking her was difficult but I did a good job of training her to walk properly. But her big disadvantage was that she couldn't be left on her own. And she also was an escaper. She could jump any wall,especially if she saw a cat. And most people would be very scared if they came across her if she escaped. Her favourite occupation, when she was with me was to lie on top of me on the couch.
She is still awaiting re-homing.
Dogs on the Camino. On about my second day walking along a narrow path, which just happened to divide for a few metres, I came face to face with a huge Rothweiller sort of dog. He looked me in the face and I looked nonchalent away from him . He gave a frightened yelp and ran passed me.
Today as I came up to where I am staying for the night, I was met by about 6 barking ,growling dogs. Thanks to Sarah I have now a completely different attitude to dogs and they weren't a problem. I have met lots of other dogs as well and no problems with them.
CATS
Ive seen a lot of cats two but just two notable ones. Yesterday in Decazeville with ba very short tail and today in Le Communal I saw another one- very similar to a Manx Cat.
Tonight I am staying in an Equestrian Centre but they do not supply dinner but there is a kitchen where I was able to make my own. I did a Pasta dish and I made the sauce from a large tomato that I had bought this morning and a tin of tuna. It was very tasty especially since I had bought a small bottle of white wine to compliment it. All I can sayis that its hard work on the Camino.
Donal's Camino Walk DAY18
Today I walked from the lovely Midieval town of Conques. After breakfast in the Abbey I said good bye to Michel and Anne who were walking further and faster than me so I may not meet them again( although I did meet them later in the day)Michel( from Canada) and Anne from Melbourne were delightful companions on the Camino. Anne is a very young looking mother and has an 18 year old daughter and was a věry fast walker so I only met her in the hostels. I felt fresh today but was glad to get to the Gite where I was staying. I was very surprised to meet Melanie( from Austria) She had taken a day off and was resting and would stay another night in this Gite. We talked a lot while she wrote her cards, over which she took a long time. She thought it funny when I told her that I write the same things in my cards and write them all in about half an hour.
Today I walked from the lovely Midieval town of Conques. After breakfast in the Abbey I said good bye to Michel and Anne who were walking further and faster than me so I may not meet them again( although I did meet them later in the day)Michel( from Canada) and Anne from Melbourne were delightful companions on the Camino. Anne is a very young looking mother and has an 18 year old daughter and was a věry fast walker so I only met her in the hostels. I felt fresh today but was glad to get to the Gite where I was staying. I was very surprised to meet Melanie( from Austria) She had taken a day off and was resting and would stay another night in this Gite. We talked a lot while she wrote her cards, over which she took a long time. She thought it funny when I told her that I write the same things in my cards and write them all in about half an hour.
Donal's Camino Walk DAY17
My rest day, time to write up my Blog, and get some post cards and send them off.
Last evening the meal that we had was special. The Abbot came in and gave a big speech which was very funny in places, well I think, it was funny as everyone laughed- I didn't understand a word.
The meal followed the usual pattern of Soup, Salad, Main Course this time of ???? Cheese and Desert washed down by a few glasses of red.
After that we went to the Church and there was a Benediction for us Pilgrims where we were presented with a copy of Gospel readings.
PAIN
Pain while walking the CAMINO. Before I started my walk, my main concern was the pain in my heel. As I walked after the first day I had pain in my hip and forgot the heel pain. After that I got pain in my shoulders from carrying my backpack. After that I had pain in my Calves and for got about all the other pains. I also occasionally got my Arthritis wrist pains from using the walking poles. And then I got Blisters and these were painful. But I got over all these pains and I continue my walk tomorrow.
All over Ireland there are people with Cancer. They are going through treatment that will, hopefully, cure them. The treatment can be very painful debilitating and they can feel very sick. I think of these people as I walk and offer up my very little, not even worth mentioning, pain
I think especially of patients in St James's Hospital being treated my Dr. John Kennedy. I also think of patients who have been treated in the past. I think of all the dedicated nurses in St James's , in the wards and in the ChemoTherapy rooms. I think of all these things as I walk the Camino of St. James from Le Puy to Santiago de Compostella in Northern Spain, a distance of 1000 miles.
My rest day, time to write up my Blog, and get some post cards and send them off.
Last evening the meal that we had was special. The Abbot came in and gave a big speech which was very funny in places, well I think, it was funny as everyone laughed- I didn't understand a word.
The meal followed the usual pattern of Soup, Salad, Main Course this time of ???? Cheese and Desert washed down by a few glasses of red.
After that we went to the Church and there was a Benediction for us Pilgrims where we were presented with a copy of Gospel readings.
PAIN
Pain while walking the CAMINO. Before I started my walk, my main concern was the pain in my heel. As I walked after the first day I had pain in my hip and forgot the heel pain. After that I got pain in my shoulders from carrying my backpack. After that I had pain in my Calves and for got about all the other pains. I also occasionally got my Arthritis wrist pains from using the walking poles. And then I got Blisters and these were painful. But I got over all these pains and I continue my walk tomorrow.
All over Ireland there are people with Cancer. They are going through treatment that will, hopefully, cure them. The treatment can be very painful debilitating and they can feel very sick. I think of these people as I walk and offer up my very little, not even worth mentioning, pain
I think especially of patients in St James's Hospital being treated my Dr. John Kennedy. I also think of patients who have been treated in the past. I think of all the dedicated nurses in St James's , in the wards and in the ChemoTherapy rooms. I think of all these things as I walk the Camino of St. James from Le Puy to Santiago de Compostella in Northern Spain, a distance of 1000 miles.
Donal's Camino Walk DAY16
Today I got hopelessly lost and bypassed one village entirely. I folled the wrong Balise which was silly of me. The balise that I should have being following and which I have followed since I stared is coloured Red and White (come on Cork) but I follow ed a red and yellow one. Any way getting direction from local people and stopping cars , one a Post Office van, I got back on track again.
As soon as I got back on track, to celebrate I sat down and had a mid morning meal of a ham and cheese sandwich and some dried apricots, washed down with plenty of water, which is so important. While I was there a group of pilgrims came along and were delighted to meet Donal the Irishman again. We hadn't seen each other for about a week and they had been talking about me and wondered where I was. This Irishman is attracting a lot of attention because it is so rare for Irish people to walk the Le Puy route- the reason that I started there was because I had driven through it, in 1995, I think, with Doreen and the girls.
While I was there another group of friends passed by, Norm and his wife Sue from Australia, with Beatrice from Belgium.
I think at this time I should list off the nationalities of the friends that I have made so far on the Camino--French, Canadian, Belgian, German, Austrian, Dutch.
Apart from getting lost, the walk to Conques was relatively easy. Still the arriving groups looked like the walking wounded limping up into the Abbey (Abbay) of Conques where we were staying for the night- me for two nights as I am taking a day off and resting my tired feet in this lovely town.
Today I got hopelessly lost and bypassed one village entirely. I folled the wrong Balise which was silly of me. The balise that I should have being following and which I have followed since I stared is coloured Red and White (come on Cork) but I follow ed a red and yellow one. Any way getting direction from local people and stopping cars , one a Post Office van, I got back on track again.
As soon as I got back on track, to celebrate I sat down and had a mid morning meal of a ham and cheese sandwich and some dried apricots, washed down with plenty of water, which is so important. While I was there a group of pilgrims came along and were delighted to meet Donal the Irishman again. We hadn't seen each other for about a week and they had been talking about me and wondered where I was. This Irishman is attracting a lot of attention because it is so rare for Irish people to walk the Le Puy route- the reason that I started there was because I had driven through it, in 1995, I think, with Doreen and the girls.
While I was there another group of friends passed by, Norm and his wife Sue from Australia, with Beatrice from Belgium.
I think at this time I should list off the nationalities of the friends that I have made so far on the Camino--French, Canadian, Belgian, German, Austrian, Dutch.
Apart from getting lost, the walk to Conques was relatively easy. Still the arriving groups looked like the walking wounded limping up into the Abbey (Abbay) of Conques where we were staying for the night- me for two nights as I am taking a day off and resting my tired feet in this lovely town.
onal's Camino Walk DAY 15
Made slight miscalculation with my distance today and had to do an extra 8 Km to get to my Gite. This made a total distance of 24 Km. The Gite that I am staying in is run by donation only and you can give what you like and its just put into a box. We will get dinner and breakfast as well. I'd say that there is a religious motivation behind the running of it. lt was a lot like the one in Estaing.
Today was hard again but I got here much earlier than I had planned.There was a lot of road walking today and that I do not like.
Today I was thinking as I walked how I would advise people thinking of doing the Camino.
1. You should be a regular walker
2 You should be fit
3. If you have problems with your knees, the Camino would be very dfficult for you but not impossible
4 Learn to walk using two walking poles.
5 You should practice with your back pack with the expected things packed in it that you propose to take and you should play around to get the best weight distribution suitable for you.
6 If you plan to do the Le Puy Route learn to speak French as it is a distinct disadvantage not to be a French speaker.
7. Get a French Sim Card for your mobile for ringing up to reserve your bed for the night
8 If you are doing the Camino France which is the usual one undertaken which starts in St. Jean Pied De Port from just over the Spanish border you should learn some Spanish as well.
9. Who should do the Camino?---everyone--it is your life revealed to you as you walk
Where I an staying tonight is a very relaxed , pleasant place. The whole atmosphere here encouraged by Fabian, our host, was very communal. Before dinner we had apperitifs and in my honour, I think they got an Irish beer, which tasted nice. It was called George Killian, brewed in Enniscorthy. Fabian told me that I was the first from Ireland to stay with him in Le Suelie.
The dinner consisted of Soup, Salad, main course like Shepherds' pie and a lovely desert to finish off things and of course we had the red wine as well.
Over all it was a very pleasent and relaxed evening and in honour of the occasion of being the first Irish person to pass throgh I sang Grace, the song about the marriage of Joseph Mary Plunkett and Grace Gifford, on the night before he was executed in 1916. It went down very well.
Made slight miscalculation with my distance today and had to do an extra 8 Km to get to my Gite. This made a total distance of 24 Km. The Gite that I am staying in is run by donation only and you can give what you like and its just put into a box. We will get dinner and breakfast as well. I'd say that there is a religious motivation behind the running of it. lt was a lot like the one in Estaing.
Today was hard again but I got here much earlier than I had planned.There was a lot of road walking today and that I do not like.
Today I was thinking as I walked how I would advise people thinking of doing the Camino.
1. You should be a regular walker
2 You should be fit
3. If you have problems with your knees, the Camino would be very dfficult for you but not impossible
4 Learn to walk using two walking poles.
5 You should practice with your back pack with the expected things packed in it that you propose to take and you should play around to get the best weight distribution suitable for you.
6 If you plan to do the Le Puy Route learn to speak French as it is a distinct disadvantage not to be a French speaker.
7. Get a French Sim Card for your mobile for ringing up to reserve your bed for the night
8 If you are doing the Camino France which is the usual one undertaken which starts in St. Jean Pied De Port from just over the Spanish border you should learn some Spanish as well.
9. Who should do the Camino?---everyone--it is your life revealed to you as you walk
Where I an staying tonight is a very relaxed , pleasant place. The whole atmosphere here encouraged by Fabian, our host, was very communal. Before dinner we had apperitifs and in my honour, I think they got an Irish beer, which tasted nice. It was called George Killian, brewed in Enniscorthy. Fabian told me that I was the first from Ireland to stay with him in Le Suelie.
The dinner consisted of Soup, Salad, main course like Shepherds' pie and a lovely desert to finish off things and of course we had the red wine as well.
Over all it was a very pleasent and relaxed evening and in honour of the occasion of being the first Irish person to pass throgh I sang Grace, the song about the marriage of Joseph Mary Plunkett and Grace Gifford, on the night before he was executed in 1916. It went down very well.
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