The Trip is over. Bob's reflections on Saturday and Monday.
(this appears to have some parts of older posts embedded in it; I have not been able to remove them!)
It is now shortly before 6:00 AM Saturday in Spain. The Indians winning streak is over, and so is our experience with 19 friends and about 150 miles (240 km). This blog entry will be written in parts, as I think of things that I want to share with my friends, family, and anyone whom I may not know but has been following our trip (and hopefully soon to be a friend!).
Others who have walked El Camino de Santiago have told me that the best part is meeting new people and making new friends. They have been correct. While I do not even know the names of all of my new friends, I have enjoyed walking with people that I never met before for fifteen minutes, for one day, and even for several days. It is a great experience to walk with someone for an hour, then lost them as one of us needs a bathroom break or a stop to eat, and then see the same person two days later and continue our conversation. It is difficult to remember all of the different countries from which I met people - many different parts of Spain, Sweden, Germany, Japan, Denmark, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Malaysia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Israel, Italy, France, and no doubt others that I may add on as I continue this blog entry. Some are people with whom I have exchanged e-mail addresses or have become Facebook connections while others I may never encounter again, but were part of my life for a few hours or a few days.
I owe a debt of gratitude to Srta. Goldsmith, Srta. Rosado, and Sra. Omelchenko - who taught me Spanish from 9th to 12th grade in the late 1960s. During the two weeks here, I was always able to communicate as I needed to. Many people I encountered speak English, but when I needed to speak Spanish, I somehow managed (although my grammar and word usage would surely have earned me some very low grades from my teachers). Knowing that I could communicate, even in a barely adequate way, gave me the confidence to hike on my own for long stretches of time, with an opportunity to make new friends.
I also owe quite a debt to my two hiking poles. Having pulled a hamstring muscle only three weeks before leaving, I was not sure if I would even be able to finish the first day's hike. The hikes were far hillier than I expected - we did not have a single flat day, and some of our hills were quite challenging both in steepness and distance. I found that walking on four legs rather than two made all the difference in the world. With help from my upper body, I had no trouble with any of the hills we encountered.
I certainly cannot omit mention of my American companions. Rhonda, who did a great job organizing the trip, has been a dancing friend of many years, as have Karen C and Dave. Ron and Rosa were with me in Israel last year. Karen B is a hiker I had met only briefly on a few of our longest hikes, but after two weeks, I feel very close to her, her husband Bert, her cousin Sue, and Sue's husband Art. Joe has been one of my favorite hike leaders for years, and it was a treat to meet his two close friends Syl and Peter. Barb is a hiker I'd seen on a few of Joe's hikes, but never really met until this trip! Theresa, Joan and Karin are fellow hikers whom I'd never met before, but I sure hope to join them on more hikes in the future. George is a fellow Yellowjacket - it's too bad we never met during the two years that we studied Economics together at the University of Rochester. Bob M is also an interesting person - thanks to him for distributing some of the materials before the trip. Thanks to all of you for contributing to my experiences on this trip together.
It is now 6:30 - and time for breakfast!
Time passses - and it is now Monday afternoon. We've been back in Cleveland for over a day and a half, and my body is almost healed from jet lag. It had almost no time at all, as I was scheduled to co-lead a 12-mile hike on Sunday morning at 9:00 AM (that's 11 hours after our plane touched down). Fortunately, my co-leader Bob DiVincenzo did the real leading - I was the sweep and entertained a few non-members who were hiking 12 miles for their first time ever and needed some encouragement! I was able to do the entire hike without poles (only one hill) - so I guess my hamstring is largely healed.
To everyone who has read this blog, and those who offered comments - thank you! To those who read it in the future (it's now 9/18/2017 at about 2:30 PM) - I hope you enjoy it, and perhaps you will be inspired to hike El Camino de Santiago by yourself or with friends. And even if you start out without any companions, you will surely have some when you finish!
Bob Kimmelfield
It is now shortly before 6:00 AM Saturday in Spain. The Indians winning streak is over, and so is our experience with 19 friends and about 150 miles (240 km). This blog entry will be written in parts, as I think of things that I want to share with my friends, family, and anyone whom I may not know but has been following our trip (and hopefully soon to be a friend!).
Others who have walked El Camino de Santiago have told me that the best part is meeting new people and making new friends. They have been correct. While I do not even know the names of all of my new friends, I have enjoyed walking with people that I never met before for fifteen minutes, for one day, and even for several days. It is a great experience to walk with someone for an hour, then lost them as one of us needs a bathroom break or a stop to eat, and then see the same person two days later and continue our conversation. It is difficult to remember all of the different countries from which I met people - many different parts of Spain, Sweden, Germany, Japan, Denmark, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Malaysia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Israel, Italy, France, and no doubt others that I may add on as I continue this blog entry. Some are people with whom I have exchanged e-mail addresses or have become Facebook connections while others I may never encounter again, but were part of my life for a few hours or a few days.
I owe a debt of gratitude to Srta. Goldsmith, Srta. Rosado, and Sra. Omelchenko - who taught me Spanish from 9th to 12th grade in the late 1960s. During the two weeks here, I was always able to communicate as I needed to. Many people I encountered speak English, but when I needed to speak Spanish, I somehow managed (although my grammar and word usage would surely have earned me some very low grades from my teachers). Knowing that I could communicate, even in a barely adequate way, gave me the confidence to hike on my own for long stretches of time, with an opportunity to make new friends.
I also owe quite a debt to my two hiking poles. Having pulled a hamstring muscle only three weeks before leaving, I was not sure if I would even be able to finish the first day's hike. The hikes were far hillier than I expected - we did not have a single flat day, and some of our hills were quite challenging both in steepness and distance. I found that walking on four legs rather than two made all the difference in the world. With help from my upper body, I had no trouble with any of the hills we encountered.
I certainly cannot omit mention of my American companions. Rhonda, who did a great job organizing the trip, has been a dancing friend of many years, as have Karen C and Dave. Ron and Rosa were with me in Israel last year. Karen B is a hiker I had met only briefly on a few of our longest hikes, but after two weeks, I feel very close to her, her husband Bert, her cousin Sue, and Sue's husband Art. Joe has been one of my favorite hike leaders for years, and it was a treat to meet his two close friends Syl and Peter. Barb is a hiker I'd seen on a few of Joe's hikes, but never really met until this trip! Theresa, Joan and Karin are fellow hikers whom I'd never met before, but I sure hope to join them on more hikes in the future. George is a fellow Yellowjacket - it's too bad we never met during the two years that we studied Economics together at the University of Rochester. Bob M is also an interesting person - thanks to him for distributing some of the materials before the trip. Thanks to all of you for contributing to my experiences on this trip together.
It is now 6:30 - and time for breakfast!
Time passses - and it is now Monday afternoon. We've been back in Cleveland for over a day and a half, and my body is almost healed from jet lag. It had almost no time at all, as I was scheduled to co-lead a 12-mile hike on Sunday morning at 9:00 AM (that's 11 hours after our plane touched down). Fortunately, my co-leader Bob DiVincenzo did the real leading - I was the sweep and entertained a few non-members who were hiking 12 miles for their first time ever and needed some encouragement! I was able to do the entire hike without poles (only one hill) - so I guess my hamstring is largely healed.
To everyone who has read this blog, and those who offered comments - thank you! To those who read it in the future (it's now 9/18/2017 at about 2:30 PM) - I hope you enjoy it, and perhaps you will be inspired to hike El Camino de Santiago by yourself or with friends. And even if you start out without any companions, you will surely have some when you finish!
Buen Camino!
Bob Kimmelfield
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