To all of my friends back home - Happy Independence Day!! Eat a hamburger for me:)
Today ended well, but it was an interesting road getting there. This morning we awoke in Markina-Xemein and made more noise than we ever intended to getting packed up. There's a set of Germans somewhere around Gernika probably cursing us right now. We patched up wounded feet and bruised backs (please wait for the picture to end all pictures - our hospitalero athletic taping a feminine product to my cousin Annie in an attempt to shield her already bruised back from further damage from her backpack. It's awesome) and started to hike. Carrie was attempting day two in size 11 flip flops. To her credit, she made it about 3 km through mud and a couple of rivers before it became inevitable for her to go back to her boots. We lost the war at that point. Her pressure wound hasn't gotten better, she has new blisters, and the tops of her feet are shredded. It was time to give in. After directions from a bartender in a taverna, we found our way to the three buses that took us to Gernika where we waited for Annie. Little did we know the trechery that awaited on today's trail. It was badly marked with few fountains or towns available for refilling water, etc. Annie ended up getting lost for a frustrating hour before finding her way back to the path and finishing the hike to Gernika. When she arrived, we looked classic. Carrie and I had spent the last couple of hours channelling the DC homeless scene: sleeping on park benches, scaring small children with our stench, eating day old bread... we were a sight to behold.
The day wasn't a wash, though. Gernika, the site of one of the worst experiments in total war of the 20th century, is home to a peace museum that I've wanted to see. We found the museum across the street from the tourist office where we stopped to snack. The permanent exhibit is so moving, and we even had the chance to see a temporary exhibit on South African Apartheid. I thought it was an entirely appropriate sidetrip for July 4th. Gernika itself is a phenomenal town. Founded in the 1000s, Over 75% of the original village was destroyed in a German bombing spearheaded by Spanish forces supportive of Francisco Franco on April 26, 1937. While few original buildings remain, the traditional architecture of the new additions do nothing but add to Gernika's charm. I'm so glad I had a chance to finally see the town I've read so much about about.
We decided to take a bus to Bilbao to give everyone's wounds a chance to recover from the grueling week. We've now eaten fresh food, showered, and are about to call it a night. Unfortunately, Carrie's feet are beyond repair at this point, and since she doesn't have realistic options for comfortably and safely continuing the Camino, she has decided to return to Madrid tomorrow. I'm so sad to see her go, but given the current state of affairs, it's the best decision. Annie's week with us is also over tomorrow, so come Sunday morning, I'll be hiking to Portugalete on my own. I'm okay with it, though. I'll definitely miss the company, but I've already met some incredibly interesting people in the last week. I'll catch up to them on Sunday, and will no doubt have plenty more stories before I'm through.
No comments:
Post a Comment