Mc6 Take Madrid

​July 3

On Friday, July 3rd, we packed up our things and walked the 20 minutes through SDC to the train station. We all panicked a bit upon arrival because of the long security line as we only had 15 minutes to catch our train. One of the perks of train travel is skipping all the security hassle of an airport, but because we were on a long, high-speed train, we had to go through what Alastair called “fake security.” They run your bags through the giant x-ray, but at such a quick clip I am not sure anyone is viewing it. We made our train with a few minutes to spare. We all appreciated the three hours to decompress, rest, and catch up on our own shows, journaling, and reading.

We booked an apartment just outside of Madrid, so we had two more local trains and a quick walk to our place. We dropped our bags, cranked up the AC, washed our hands, and headed right back out for our last day of Mc6 fun. 

First stop, food. We munched on some snacks on the train, but we needed real food, and a few margaritas. When Adelaide lived in Valencia she found TKO tacos. Not fancy, but super delicious. She really is fluent. She orders everything up for all six of us all the time. She is regularly asked how long she has studied Spanish. I think she does very well. It is rare for her to misunderstand, and even then, she knows exactly how to communicate to get the second explanation. Thank you, Adelaide!

We walked around for about an hour and then parked ourselves in the Plaza Mayor for more drinks in the shade and more Rook. This is the card game we play a lot when we travel. Dave and I stayed in this plaza about 5 years ago when we visited so it was fun to come back and reminisce. Good people watching and the center of Madrid. Next stop, churros and chocolate. Spanish churros are slightly different than Mexican churros, but both are delicious.

Our last stop for the night was a tiny blues club underground Alastair found in March when he was in Madrid. The club serves drinks and sunflower seeds. They encourage you to eat before arriving because they don’t serve food. We listened to a local artist for about two hours and had a great time.

The kids all did a significant pack thinning last night. Every traveler who carries their own pack quickly figures out what they no longer need and what was carried along as a luxury item. Dave and I jammed our packs full and brought home one extra pack, so the kids have less to haul going forward. The girls will stay with Alastair until August 1. They plan to travel more Spain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, and then who knows? They spent many hours on our last afternoon in SDC booking trains and hostels for the next two weeks of travel. They have Eurorail passes and two weeks of plans including the running of the bulls in Pamplona and five days sunning their bums in San Sabastian.

Dave and I said goodbye to the kids this morning to point back toward the airport in Madrid. He and I fly home today and back to our normal work, tennis, and summer activities. 

We left them with big hugs. It feels weird to part. Sure, most of them live far away and take full care of themselves, but this feels bigger than the normal goodbye. Dagny and Magnolia will return to Denver August 1 for school. Four weeks more of travel for them. They will have a blast. Adelaide will return to the States on August 1 for three additional weeks of travel in the USA. We won’t see her until August 24, just before school starts up for her. Alastair has no return plans. After he leaves his sisters on August 1, he will travel with buddies for a while and point east. I heard Balkans, Istanbul, and Asia, but who knows. He has his fishing rod and a lifetime of Eagle Scout skills. He is ready. Praying God’s provision over all of them.

Jll

Camino Day 13 and our time in Santiago!

​July 1

Having recovered from food poisoning, I was very excited to walk with my family again yesterday (June 30th). The miles flew by and I was so grateful to take in the scenery of the Camino once again.

Today, we woke up early and ate a hotel breakfast to fuel for our FINAL day on the Camino! We tackled 16 miles from Padrón to Santiago de Compostela. For the last 13 days, we’ve had mostly outstanding weather, and that continued to be the case today. Our mornings are cool and it only warms up in the afternoons when we’re close to finishing the day.

One of the best parts of walking together is all of the quality time that allows us to film funny videos, play on playgrounds, and sing songs from our childhoods. I would describe it as the perfect journey for the inner child. 

After about 6 miles of walking together, I began to slow down as my left quad began to feel strained. On this final day of walking, I earned my NINTH blister and my first muscular injury (the quad). Mom slowed down to walk with me as the rest pushed on to the lunch spot. I already had lots of KT tape on my feet and added much more to my left knee and thigh.

The tape held up and we eventually made it to the top of our first major hill for the day. The rest of the family were sitting at a cafetería playing cards as they had already eaten lunch. Mom and I joined in and before long, we were walking again.

With only 4.5 miles to the Cathedral, the temperature began to increase and we were all eager to wrap it up! As we approached Santiago, we caught our first glimpse of the Cathedral which was like seeing the light at the end of a tunnel that is 170 miles long.

Our final climb into the city was rewarded as soon as we stepped into the square in front of the Cathedral. This is the place where hundreds of thousands of pilgrims complete their journeys each year. We found shady places to sit and watch as groups hugged, celebrated, and photographed their joy.

At the pilgrims office, we received our official certificates of having finished the Camino Portuguese de Costa. We picked up our bags at a local hostel and took a 10 minute taxi ride (which felt like a dream) uphill to our beautiful AirBnB home.

After lots of downtime, Alastair found us a delicious celebratory dinner at a Michelin recommended restaurant near the Cathedral. The highlights were some baby scallops, braised pork cheek, and my dessert French toast.

After dinner, some of us walked by the Cathedral again. There was a group of musicians playing and the music filled the square as the sun set on a magical day.

July 2

As today was our first day off of the Camino in two weeks, all four of us kids slept in until 10am. We had breakfast and coffee and a nearby cafe before walking back to the Cathedral for the pilgrim’s mass at noon. We waited in a LONG line and the Cathedral was packed, but we were able to squeeze into our own pew for the service.

The mass was given entirely in Spanish, so I was the only one able to appreciate what was said. Mostly I enjoyed the shout-outs given to different groups of pilgrims that had arrived in Santiago.

The highlight of our mass was the giant “Botafumiero” incense that was swung violently across the church, and over the heads of all of the pilgrims. Someone had made a 600€ donation in order to see the spectacle, and we were grateful to be there when it happened.

After service ended, we descended some steps to see the tomb of St. James before making our way out to the Cathedral to find lunch. We had drinks, played cards, and shared appetizers and ponchos before heading back to our AirBnB. 

All 6 of us went into this summer having very little planned. On the Camino, that meant that I organized our plan for mileage, accommodations, and luggage transfer on the fly. This often led to some chaos and late night phone calls asking for help from complete strangers. However, the Camino (+ Mom and Dad) provides. When Mom and Dad leave to go home in two days, the four of us will continue to travel Europe together for another month. As of this morning, we had nothing planned and nowhere to sleep starting in 3 days.

We spent the afternoon frantically booking the dwindling, coveted Eurail train seat reservations that we could find, along with some AirBnBs and hostels. It took approximately 4 hours of chaos, overlapping conversations, negotiations, and teamwork, but we now have ~2 weeks worth of a plan.

We went out for a steak dinner and were all so exhausted that we hurried home to get back into our pajamas. Tomorrow we will all travel to Madrid, and the following morning, Mom and Dad will fly home.

This Camino has been a blessing in so many ways. As we all grow older and our lives become more full, it is a miracle that we are able to take the time to walk along the ocean, side by side, encouraging each other along the way. I am forever grateful to my parents for the gift of travel which they have given to our family time and time again. I don’t know many people who would willingly use their vacation time to earn blisters, sunburns, and muscular injuries, but my parents were always eager to join in.

This Camino was a blessing, my family is a blessing, and I can’t wait to see where the rest of the summer takes us.

Stay tuned!

Adelaide

Camino Day 12

June 30

​Oh boy, yesterday was tough. I am not sure if it was food poisoning or dehydration, but I had a hard day walking from Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis. Total walk was over 13 miles, and I headed out early on my own to try and tackle it while it was cool. I did ok for the first half and then literally had to sit down on the side of the Camino and rest. Literally on the ground, under a tree, and rest. This was humbling and encouraging. Humbling because I pride myself on being tough, encouraging because I couldn’t rest at all with every other Pilgrim on the Camino checking on me. In all the languages with all the looks of concern and the common language of the questioning thumbs up, “you ok”? I wasn’t, but it helped a lot. I slogged on another couple of miles to the first café in a long time. Truth, it was called Oasis. I needed it and the shade provided. I was nauseous, exhausted, and felt gross. I put my head down on a table and rested, drank water, took an Advil, and rested some more. My family found me, supported me, and held my hand for the last four miles. The Camino will provide.

Today was drastically better. I drank all the water, walked with my crew, and we sang and played all the way to Padrón. Today was only about a dozen miles, well fueled by fresh fruit, coffee, and better overall spirits. I prayed for it, Lord God make my body well, and it was well. The Camino will provide. 

Our walking is filled with beautiful scenery, so many Pilgrims on the same journey (some more miles, some less), musicians along the way, and little stops for stamps in our Pilgrim credentials. These are little booklets given to Pilgrims when they begin the Camino. Pilgrims seek stamps for them each day along The Way as evidence of progression along the Camino. It is a fun little scavenger hunt of sorts and we love seeing the variety of each stamp. We will display our Pilgrim credentials proudly when we get home. Today the girls and I also picked up matching seashell necklaces. Dagny wanted matching tattoos. We settled for necklaces. 

We are really pleased to have completed 12 of 13 stages of our Camino. Each Pilgrim chooses different total lengths (ours is 278k/173 miles) and different total days of walking (ours is 13). The towns and accommodation along the way allow for a variety of decisions about daily mileage (ours 8-19 miles/day). Tomorrow, we finish our Camino in Santiago de Compostela (16 final miles) to the cathedral. We feel proud of ourselves and will be glad to take walking off our daily to-do list.

Pilgrims have been walking to this Cathedral from all over Europe since the 9th century to the burial place of Saint James. We are asked if we are on a religious pilgrimage and answer, not really. We are fans of the apostles, and think James was probably pretty special, but our Christian faith hasn’t called us to walk this pilgrimage, especially since we were all together in Jerusalem three years ago. But the blessings of the Camino don’t escape me. I am blessed. Having Dave and my kids alongside me for this long journey has been a gift. We are all grateful for our specialized walking shoes, properly fitted backpacks with hydrations bladders, sunscreen, SPF shirts, Darn Tough socks, and KT Tape. Can you imagine the original pilgrims and their efforts? We get that this is part walking tourism and part quest. “Everyone walks their own Camino” and I am grateful for my Camino.

 

Jll