10th June Concentrate

 

10^th June  ‘Concentrate’  Guermes to Boo de Pelegios  26km

Did you ever hear the story about the day David Beckham was seen in his local Waitrose just staring at cartons of orange juice. When asked by an inquisitive shopper what he was doing, soon to be Sir David replied "Sssh, it says concentrate". Which is exactly what he was doing and exactly what I have been doing on this Camino.

Concentrating that I don't get lost by missing one of the wayside direction signs which are at times not as easy as one ,might expect. In the best scenario it is a bright yellow arrow and scallop shell on a blue background usually placed at eye level. 

Or it could be on a road side bollard, or painted onto wall, traffic sign , lamp post, roadside crash barrier or in miniature on a bench or rubbish bin. In some places, normally the big cities, all of these have been dispensed with in favour of having directions in the pavement. One lack of concentration and you might stray off route.

Then I have been concentrating where I put my feet, whether it be gnarly forest paths, steep cliffside climbs, rock strewn descents, mud baths, kilometres of concrete and even concentrating on remembering that to walk facing oncoming traffic here in Spain is off course on the opposite side of the road.

I've had to concentrate not to leave my valuables unattended, because even the Camino offers an opportunity for theft and off course not to leave anything behind when repacking each morning or during mid walk stops.

Today's walk from Guermes to Boo de Pelegios was one that involved rural roads, cliff top paths, a beach, a ferry ride, crossing a major city (Santander), an industrial park and finally not just locating the actual albergue but managing the on line check in on my phone. And that's just the concentrated version. Dilute to taste as appropriate.