WILLERTONS WORLD

Madrid, Spain.

April 3rd, 2017 

I checked into what turned out to be a really nice hotel, which is well located. There is great staff who speak good English.

My first night was dinner at 10PM in front of the telly in the hotel cafe, watching Barcelona pummel Grenada 4-1. Jet lag is a female dog of a thing & I woke up again at 3AM despite (due to?) two glasses of red wine over dinner.

The next morning I woke up at 8 and after a quick brekkie hit the streets on a pre arranged tour bus thing to get the lay of the land. Wow Madrid is an awesome city. So well laid out with palaces & gates & statues everywhere celebrating this Marquis or that King or Prince. Great parks & more museums than I can possibly fit in.

Highlight of the day was the trip to the Santiago Bernabeu stadium where Real Madrid play. Who knew the stadium was named after a President who served 35 years & set them on the path to present day glories.

Beautiful day here- bloody cold on the bus in the morning so had to head back & get another layer, but now clear skies & brilliant sunshine.

I spent the early evening walking to the Egyptian tempo via the number of wonderful plazas that exist in Madrid. They were all full of people drinking, laughing, having fun and enjoying the spring sunshine.

Getting to the park where the palace was, to watch the sunset at around 8 o’clock, I found it was full of young people who were intertwined and checking each other’s tonsils out.

Deciding this was not really the place for a man having a midlife crisis, I beat a hasty retreat back to the royal palace. Walking to the Egyptian place (I seem to have my bearings now) I stopped in for a quick cervaza (beer) and met a couple from Minnesota who were there for a week on some sort of incentive because he was a financial adviser.

He was saying it was -5 in Minnesota so today was unbelievable for him. He was very interested to hear about the Camino and kept saying to his wife Julie “Are you getting this? This crazy guy is walking 270 ks!”

Feeling pretty tired, I stopped in for dinner at a lovely little restaurant and had a paella with another Cervaza and indulged in my favourite thing – people watching. Hitting the hotel at around 10 o’clock I collapsed in a heap and slept the sleep of the dead until 7.

STEPS: 23,613

MLC thought for the day – is football where I can make the most difference? What will my football legacy be?

Second MLC thought for the day – you know you are 50 and see a pretty girl and start looking for her Mother!

SPANISH: 1/10. Although I did manage to order a coffee and lunch and dinner and a Cervaza when they didn’t speak great English.

WEIGHT: about high 89s I reckon

Madrid, Spain

April 4th, 2017 

The verdict is in. Madrid is awesome. So full of energy & life like many large European cities are but it is also a city with a soul.

It is full of lazy, drunk, begging gypsies too, but that is another story. After a lazy morning catching up on this blog & having brekkie, I headed out to the Prado Museum which was just down the road from my hotel.

Having spent 25 euros online to purchase a ‘jump the queue’ ticket, I started my cultural immersion. (of course I walked out & found I could have bought it for 15 Euros….)

To be honest if you are into art history – awesome. This place is full of, sometimes very large paintings by Raphael, Caravaggio, Rubens, Panini (who knew sandwiches could paint?) and a few Spanish blokes like Goya & Venezquales.

The best bit – sculptures of the Greek gods from AD 50. Yes that is almost 100% of our 2017 years. Made me feel a little less old.

Not a sculpture of the Greek gods

But back to the MLC – what did I learn?

1. The church & nobility had all the money & power, so a lot of art is about an interpretation of religious events with a large degree of self aggrandisement.

2. Before photography this was the only way to record events.

3. A lot of the subjects of the paintings were middle aged men. Did they face the same MLC challenge as modern day men? To ponder these questions and with a couple of hours to kill, I sat in a plaza in the sun & drank Cervaza before heading to Porto tonight.

MLC THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Maybe an MLC is an opportunity to get a painting done? What would I look like as a reclining nude? (Rubenesque!) Riding a horse perhaps? Reclining on a horse naked?

STEPS: 16,716

SPANISH RATING: 2/10. Getting more understood now just in time to go to Portugal

WEIGHT: 89.7 I reckon

Porto, Portugal

April 5th, 2017 

I arrived in Porto at around 8 o’clock in the evening and caught the train into the Central Station, where I walked to the Dom Henrique hotel in the dark without getting lost.

The hotel is downtown which is quite ironic considering it’s at the top of a big hill.

I spent the evening watching yet more excellent football on television while having yet another risotto (the joys of being gluten-free in Spain & Portugal).

My information pack was waiting for me and the reality of what I’m about to embark on has hit home.

There seems to be a lot of tarmac and cobblestone walking on my Camino. I have yet to meet any fellow pilgrims but did have a brief sign language chat to 3 middle-aged Austrian woman in reception who had walked from Lisbon.

I spent the morning exploring to establish where the cathedral was, where I got my certificate stamped to show the start of my journey. I need to get two stamps per day from Hotels, Cathedrals and restaurants to prove my Compostela.

The cathedral is the starting point for the Camino and where I will be first thing in the morning to walk 17kms to Vilar de Pinheiro.

I did the tourist thing by jumping on a river cruise to check out the city from the river & then mooched up the city to try and find the city markets. Then prepped for tomorrow by sorting out my luggage and having a late lunch to people watch some more.

It is quite hot today so an early start is called for. Just the one Cervaza tonight I think. Although it is 98% water…mmmm

STEPS: 10,610 mostly uphill with a few more to go

MLC THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Can cities have an MLC? Porto has had better days with many dilapidated buildings, dirt and graffiti. Of course it still has its charms and the ability to make you go Wow! every now and then, but the days of being the centre of attention have passed it by. Perhaps renovation is the key to restore the former version of itself?

SECOND MLC THOUGHT OF THE DAY: If me reclining naked on a horse in a painting makes people want to lose their breakfast 😀 perhaps a statue might be a better idea?

WEIGHT: 89.4 est.

PORTUGESE: negative 1 and I am finding it a tough language to master.

Porto to Arcos. Portugal.

April 6th, 2017 

I set out from Porto on an overcast morning at 8AM but soon heated up doing some hill work to get out of the old town. Having missed my marker twice I had to retrace my steps and ask with my new found Portuguese where to find and how to pronounce the name of the street.

Hitting an old roman road which went straight on for ages, I walked through suburbia through the light industrial zone & out eventually to the countryside. There was lots of traffic so I hit some Spanish dance beats, followed by a workout playlist, followed by a country gold selection.

Got some strange looks as I bopped along sometimes, but hey I’m pretty weird to be doing this anyway. The markings showing ‘the way’, were a bit difficult to find sometimes but mostly good. There were directions supplied by the Camino company but they all related to street names which were tough to find and the directions were a bit cryptic.

Anyway the deal was, I had to walk 17kms to meet a taxi by 3pm who would take me to the accommodation. Easy Peasy at 3kms an hour – should be there by 1.30 and give an hour for stops 2.30. Only not.

Out in the wops of Portugal that I found myself in, no one speaks any English. I asked a few people “Was I going in the right direction to Vila de Pinheiro? & they all said ‘Si’ and pointed me on. The yellow arrows all pointed me on as well. Consulting google maps it also told me the same. Long story short I missed a critical turn which was in the instructions. Yes I know ladies very funny.

So at 345 with my feet and legs dying after 38,643 steps or roughly 30kms I met an angel.

Most of the walking is along cobble and narrow streets. Most of the Portugese drive like me but all talk or text at the same time.

Walking along a very tight main road, I jumped into a ditch to get away from a squeeze of cars and a bloody big truck. Coming around the next corner the car had stopped, and in surprisingly good English, a lady called Rita expressed her concern for my safety and asked where I was going.

When I told her Vilar de Pinheiro, she said “that is 10kms back that way”. Bugger. Turns out she had spent time in NZ! She had done 3 Caminos & just understood the what and the why.

She then went 20 kms (10kms there) out of her way to drop me to my accommodation. Unbelievable. What an angel. I would have ended up walking two days worth!

So an interesting first day. Although the upside is I know I can walk 30kms.

STEPS: 38,643

MLC THOUGHT OF THE DAY: **** my feet are sore.

SECOND MLC THOUGHT OF THE DAY: The price of success is peace.

WEIGHT: 87.4

Vairao to Arcos, Portugal.

April 7th, 2017 

After my ‘adventure’ yesterday I spent my time before dinner soaking myself in the cold pool before hitting a lovely luxurious hot bath. Mmm sometimes a bath is more than a bath if you know what I mean. The Romans were actually way ahead of us on that score.

Dinner was an interesting experience sitting on my own, smack in the middle of the restaurant surrounded by French and Brazilian people. Great Portugese style steak and rice though, complemented by a Portugese red wine that was so dry it sucked moisture from my body.

I retired & slept solidly until my departure at 930.

Getting dropped at Vairao which is where I got to yesterday, I spent 10 minutes reading and double checking the instructions before I set off 😀 having dialled in a country hits playlist which had me bopping once again.

This is real Portugal. I was walking in the country down twisty, little rural lanes with some great views along the way. Walking across bridges built by the Romans & walking a trail that is thousands of years old, I was reminded of the hundreds of thousands of Pilgrims & Romans who had walked before me. What were they thinking? How many of them were having an MLC?

The body behaved itself with the blister plasters and liberal Gurny goo and double socking working a treat. The old footballers hips are grumbling but a dose of Voltaren gel got them to shut up.

I knocked off the 10 kms back to Arcos which is a lovely little village, in 2.5 hours, despite deliberately going slow (so perhaps is was more like 7km) pausing to delete my football email account off my phone.

There are lots of Peregrinos on the road all of a sudden, and I talked to one group of them but I am guarding my solitary time. I spent the afternoon having a leisurely lunch followed by a siesta and getting prepped for a 20km day tomorrow.

MLC THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Well… nothing. I spent the first week away struggling to adjust to not having my head full of thoughts and priorities. I found myself deliberately finding things to fill my thoughts. Today I revelled in just being on the road. No pressure. No priorities. Just letting go of historical wrongs one by one like some sort of step by step carthasis. (Very Romanesque)

STEPS: 14,702

BODY STATE: 8/10 with chemical assistance

PORTUGESE: 2/10 as I have found that magic phrase that means ‘I would like’ which in Portugese is ‘Gostaria’ which mixed in with Per Favor works a treat

WEIGHT: 87 I reckon but there again 3.5 kgs in a week would seem a lot despite having walked 126,614 steps or 101 kms.

Arcos to Barcelos. Portugal.

April 8th, 2017 

After my lazy afternoon a few Peregrinos arrived for the night and I ended up having dinner with 4 of them which was a nice change.

Actually it was 4 women, 2 from Holland 1 from Austria and 1 from Germany, one of who was an oboe player in the Austrian symphony orchestra.

Angelique one of the Dutch women, had done what I think she said was 20 caminos & she had a very interesting and philosophical view of things lots of stories to tell. Almost Yoda like in fact, although blond & blue eyed.

Setting off at sunup (645) to avoid the heat of the afternoon & with a packed breakfast from the hotel, I enjoyed being the only thing on the road. Locking in great movie soundtracks I was flowing along quite nicely easing into the day. (Pink Panther bought back a few memories).

This route was 20km mostly through woods & farmland down some dirt roads until hitting some well to do villages 5 clicks out from Barcelos. The scenery is really quite pretty and when in the Eucalyptus forest, the scent was really strong.

For some reason it was a hard 20 k’s from about 6 kms in. I stopped & had ham, cheese & a yoghurt for breakfast in a forest & then kind of rambled my way through to coffee time, stopping often at Roman churches or to take photos, but the bag felt uncomfortable and I couldn’t find my rhythm.

Changing the music set to Walking on Sunshine lifted my tempo to the point I was getting smiles from the locals when there was a bit of disco going down, although to be fair I did have a bit of a boogie on.

I met a few Pilgrims on the road including an older couple from Arizona who were chatty and had walked from Lisbon, but I tend to walk faster than most of them, so just chatted on my way past.

Arrived at Barcelos at 1245, to the best sight of the day, when a gorgeous young lady arriving at the church for a wedding and wearing a long flowing number with a high split, got an upward step & a breath of wind at the same time and left me searching for the Portugese word for commando.

The afternoon will be spent sightseeing around the town (particularly the church steps) which looks very pretty, before finding somewhere for dinner.

STEPS: 33,723

MLC THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Baggage. By the time you get to 50 we carry too much & either the weight of it slows you down or makes you uncomfortable if you don’t stop & readjust.

WEIGHT: 87 holding steady

PORTUGESE: 2/10. Getting better at ordering coffee entirely in Portugese now

BODY STATE: 6/10

Barcelos to Ponte Lima. Portugal.

April 9th, 2017 

Feeling pretty beat after a long but awesome day yesterday, I hit bed early after a dinner at a Peregrino cafe where they serve pilgrim meals. While there I also watched Porto smash a team from Lisbon, with three old blokes who didn’t speak any English, but we all exclaimed at the same things.

Barcelos is a lovely town with a medieval fort, a lovely main street and plaza and an ancient history of hosting pilgrims. It seems quite wealthy – wouldn’t mind spending more time there.

Got woken by some Germans banging and crashing and talking loudly in the corridor at 5AM so decided to get up and treat my feet. I had been to the pharmacy yesterday and bought some foot cream which I used in ample portions and it seems to have worked a treat with one blister settling right down.

Thinking that part of my problem yesterday was that I hadn’t had enough energy food for breakfast, I decided to stock up at the free hotel brekkie before leaving.

I also smashed about 3l of Agua to deal with any dehydration issues. Hitting the road at about 730 to walk the biggest day of the trip at 34kms, and also the highest at 440 metres, I made my way out of Barcelos and was walking at my usual pace only to be mowed down by a group of Catholic scouts, who walk to Santiago in two days (it’s taking me 9 more!) and then get up and do it all again next weekend!!

With the words of Yoda ringing in my ears, I put the headphones away and tuned into the sounds of Portugal. Being Sunday there was a lot of church bells and one of them started at 750 and rang for 15 minutes – no such thing as a sleep in on Palm Sunday.

The other sounds were predominantly dogs, frogs & roosters or cocks as they like to call them here.

Hitting farmland pretty quickly, I shared the road with pilgrims from the US and Germany and man can some of those old girls motor – they may look like a grandmama but those boomers are built tough.

About 10kms in, I met a Portugese lad called Joao. So we get chatting and it turns out he is a tour guide and history PHD student from Lisbon. Unbelievably his Father was good friends with Steve Sumner from the All Whites of ’82 as they did business together.

What followed was the best way for both of us to not think about what 34kms was doing to our bodies and that was to cover the history of Portugal from the Paeolithic period through the Visigoths, Moors and Reconquista, through to present day, with plenty of other subjects in between, including a lesson in Portugese nature, culture, religion, economics, refugees etc – brilliant. I now understand so much more about Portugal.

The scenery was fantastic. I had worked my way up a 2 km hill & then worked down into a beautiful valley with vineyards & farms before hitting another hill climb & entering the last valley of the day, stopping along the way for an omelette and salada to give me the energy boost for the last 10kms.

Entering Ponte de Lima (Ponte means bridge in Portugese and Lima is the river) we walked down beside the river underneath old oak trees where there was a market going on.

Feeling like a Picasso painting, I found the accommodation which is in a converted old manor house, and jumped into a very cold pool – bliss.

Next stop – Cervaza and dinner before a slower start to the day to do 22kms to Pecene.

STEPS: 50,180 or 40.8 kms (the book says 34 but Garmin works off GPS so someone is lying)

MLC THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Should we retire to Portugal? You can effectively buy an EU passport by investing and buying a house here.

WEIGHT: Well I burnt 4,878 calories today so a little less I would think.

PORTUGESE: 2/10

BODY STATE: 5/10 and bloody stiff & sore but the feet seem OK.

Ponte Lima to San de Pedro Rubiaes. Portugal.

April 10th, 2017 

I am writing this blog on top of a mountain. A bloody big mountain actually. It took me 3.5 hours and 22,000 steps or 18kms to get here and climb it.

Competitive, must win Dave was to the fore, as I was determined to summit first amidst a group of other younger climbers & to then rest at the top.

So, counting out my paces in sets of 10 and keeping my heart rate somewhere in the 125-135 range with the odd burst to 150 ish, I knocked that ******* off.

It was tough going, with the track mostly loose or locked in rocks, covered in pine needles with some bits quite steep. Overall this was a lot more tramping then walking.

The view was worth it both along the way and when I got there.

The day had started with a leisurely breakfast which was served at 830. I hoovered some fruit & two cups of coffee and left to spend 20 minutes looking around Ponte Lima which is a beautiful river town with a medieval bridge & castle. Legend has it that when the Romans landed in what is now Lisbon they marched to the Rio Lima. However the soldiers refused to cross believing the river was haunted and full of demons. Democracy won out even with the Romans, and they turned around and walked back again.

Working my way out of town, I was quickly into a valley full of farms and was walking along narrow and muddy or rocky tracks, and then started to climb up through some forestry tracks which followed the lovely and fast flowing Rio Lubaja.

Along the way I came across Yoda and Maria who were struggling ‘because Holland has no hills’. Sharing some of my half kilo of lollies with them, Yoda reciprocated when they caught me up buying Agua, by tying a spare scallop shell she had to my pack. (This is the historical sign of the Pilgrim). So on one side I have clogs from Maria & on the other a shell from Yoda. Very generous people the Dutch.

After coming down the mountain for around 4 kms, I reached the village of Rubiaes where my accommodation was staring me in the face at the end of the way.

It’s pleasant and out in the country but doesn’t have wireless that actually works in my room.

A few more kms before I cross out of wonderful Portugal and into Spain again. I know that I will be back.

MLC THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Scaling heights is bloody difficult and not without some pain. How I do that past 50 will have to change without sacrificing actually winning.

PORTUGESE LEVEL: 2/10

WEIGHT: I am but a shadow of my former self after that effort

BODY STATE: 7/10. Hips are sore but the feet seem great

Rubiaes de Pedro, Portugal to Tui, Spain.

April 11th, 2017 

After finding a bar in Rubiaes to post my blog in last night, I came across a Spanish guy who had already walked 55kms that day and had set out from Porto 2 days before. He had another 10kms he wanted to do that night so he could say he had done Santiago in a week. Crikey!

After battling snail pace upload speeds, I headed out to the one restaurant in town where all of the Peregrinos went. Staying at my Alburgue was a 60 year old American who was soon joined by another full of ****, ego centric but none the less charming couple of Americans, a young Dutch couple and a German girl. Good conversation and a chance to meet people.

When dinner arrived it was enormous – big enough for two and I couldn’t even eat half of it. Walking back, I came across the Oboe player from Taiwan/Austria and a guy. They had walked 34kms and hit the hill. They were exhausted and looking for accommodation by torch light, which I was able to help them with.

The next morning I thought I would make an early start, but the dogs of the village had different ideas, keeping me awake until 1130. There are dogs everywhere in Portugal – most houses have one and they all bark. None the less, after a breakfast of an apple and a coffee I hit the road at 8AM.

I was walking alone through a beautiful old roman road which snaked along the banks of a river and eventually into farmland as I walked up through a valley. The going was easy with just a few wee hills and mostly cobbles, some asphalt and then as I progressed, rocky country lanes.

Early on I was surprised by a cyclist who appeared behind me and stopped to take the same photo I was. I told him he had surprised me and he said ‘yes I am like a ghost’. I said ”Well nice to meet you Casper” and he thought that was very funny and rode off.

Stopping for a cafe com leite, I started the next tranche of the journey down a narrow track covered on both sides by thick bush. Halfway down I got the distinct feeling I wasn’t alone. Suddenly I heard a loud noise in the bush on the right hand side up, above and behind me. Thinking I was about to be attacked, I stopped and turned around to stare it down. I waited for around 1 minute which is a very long time standing there on your own. The noise didn’t repeat itself, so I slowly turned around and continued walking.  

All of a sudden my head was full of the presence of people who had passed over during my life. My Nana Newick, Nana Marwick, Benny Schalks, Lori Burns, Barry Sanford and from the scarcely believable file, Catherine Tasker, a girl I went to intermediate school with and hadn’t thought of for a very, very long time. It was a strange and yet very comforting thing as they walked with me, surrounding me with their presence.  They were happy and reassuring me, asking me questions. I seemed to be able to communicate with them, not by saying anything but just by somehow joining spirits. When I got to the end of the cutting, they left me gradually, until I was just left with a warm, tingly glow of their former presence. I can’t really explain it but it was an awesome and surreal experience. 

They say the Camino is a bit magical and I guess I experienced that. 

Pushing on through some villages on the 25km trek into Spain, the way was flat and easy. Stopping for an omelette I met a Canadian guy who ran the Alburgue, who used to be a war correspondent and recalled playing tennis with the NZ Ambassador in Beijing in the early 90s around the Tienanmen Square episode.

Soon arriving at Valenca I was urban walking which is now a real dislike after the solitude and quietness of the bush.

It was hot today. Really hot for walking. I soon arrived in the far end of Valenca where a massive fort is on a hill. The way runs right through there, so I stopped and celebrated with an ice cream, Grande Agua (water) and a Cervaza, while talking to a Polish girl and her German boyfriend, a girl from Patagonia and one other from Switzerland who all live together in Barcelona.

The border into Espana is over a bridge and leads into Tui where I stay two nights, at the ominously titled ‘Hotel Colon’ ferrying back tomorrow night from Porrino.

Tui has a beautiful river and looks very old once again, so I am looking forward to exploring it some more.

MLC THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Magic is real. Sometimes you just have to let it in. 

MLC THOUGHT 2: Amidst the failing physical effects, what are the strengths of middle age? Wisdom? Mental toughness? Confidence in what is true north? Does all of that equal strength? How do you let go of the person you were and embrace that these things are now your reality?

STEPS: 33,112 or 26.82 kms

WEIGHT: I don’t know but I am seeing things I haven’t seen in ages.

PORTUGESE: doesn’t matter anymore

Tui to Porrino. Spain.

April 12th, 2017 

Sitting in a plaza trying to escape the sun at just past 2 in the afternoon, I am surrounded by Spanish people talking, laughing and well, just being Spanish. There is a lad of about 7 (it’s now school holidays) sitting directly behind me playing a game on his iPad at top volume who, when he got to the end of a stage, stood up, put up both hands and yelled whatever the words are for ‘I ROCK’ in Espanyol. Lets not be shy here people.

Last night I went to dinner with Yoda & Maria who I bumped into in the Plaza in Tui, while drinking Cervaza and people watching. We went to a very authentic Spanish restaurant where we were the star attraction and ate bait. Seriously they called it tapas but it was bait. River mussels which were so small you got a morsel, squid that I would usually put on a hook, hake roe sausages (think strong, grainy fish sausages covered in peppers and onions and you might get close).

Thank goodness for some pork, a tuna salada and two bottles of excellent Galician red wine accompanied by the only english the waitress understood, which was Marias phrase of……No Vino. No Peregrino!

Arising rather sluggishly, I got going by 930 after eggs and bacon. Leaving the old part of the city, I was straight away into beautiful countryside on well tended fine gravel paths following the rio.

Coming across another Roman bridge I took a wrong turn and had to double back 500m or so but was rewarded by simply stunning country with mature woods on either side.

That led into a walk up a highway which was also stunning despite being a road. I just ambled as I had plenty of time before having to meet the taxi at 3 in Portillo. Turning off into more beautiful country and into a national park, I twice came across the same Gardia who had also driven up the highway twice. Not sure what was happening but there was a sign and turnoff to a deportation centre en route.

Stopping for a cafe com leite after walking through a village, I was quickly into the antithesis of what I had been enjoying, namely heavy industry, which mainly serviced the pink granite quarry up in the hills.

Locking in the More FM 90s countdown I air guitared my way through heavy trucks and industrial noises smashing out 8kms in an hour 20 to get to Porrino and avoid the heat.

Being taxied back to Tui at a great rate of knots I am now trying to work a laundromat which would be a challenge in English, let alone in Spanish! The rest of the afternoon will be spent hitting the medieval cathedral and nosing around what is a lovely city.

Next up will be finding somewhere for dinner before getting ready for another small 20 km day tomorrow as I cover the last 125 kms to Santiago.

STEPS: pequena (small) 25,596 or 20.7 kms

MLC THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Are the visible signs of aging ,achievement badges you have earnt?

WEIGHT: wow is that my toes

SPANISH: 2/10. Quisiera (could I have or I would like) is my friend

BODY STATE: 7/19 The hips were giving me the good news on the way through the industry belt despite the excellent Voltaren 12 hour gel, but a Cervaza will shut them up