There and Back again
I have returned from my quite short walking trip. Me and david did about 100 Km. At night we stayed in little spanish towns about the size of... I dunno... somthing small. Many of the towns were very old; filled with castles and cathedrals and tiny winding streets. The sun would beat down on the castillian plain with intensity, and a heavy backpack also added to the fatigue. However, it was well worth it and I would have continued if I could have. In fact I was.
We were going to do another 100 K, but I really wanted to spend a couple days in the Santo Domingo de Silos monastery. So the mexican and I decided that he should keep walking (it turned out that once he had gotten into the walk, he liked it) and meet me in madrid in 4 or 5 days. Meanwhile I was going to take a bus to the monastery and stay for a while.
I was a little far from the city that I had to catch the bus from, so I hitch-hiked there. Yes it was fun. I had never done that before. I was picked up by two metal heads that had the music blaring in their old jeep. The driver looked fairly run of the mill, but the guy in the passenger seat was more hard core, with various piercings, tattoos and dreadlocks. I was a little sketched by the fact that the guy in the passenger's seat was obvioiusly wasted, but the driver assured me that he himself was ok, he had only had a couple of beers. Word.
Anyway, after a day of changing buses and stuff, I ended up in the quietest place I have ever been in. The level of peace and quiet was uncanny. Unfortunately, the monastery was full... and had reservations until late september. I was very dissapointed; their website said nothing of making reservations. But they felt sorry for me, and invited me to have dinner with them which I did, and let me tell you, they were very cool. Then I went to the vespers service and listened to them sing gregorian chant in old latin. Very very nice. If you ever hear a Gregorian chant CD, it was most likely recorded by these chaps; they are famous for it. Then I went and stayed at a cheap motel for the night, because I didnt friggin feel like getting eaten up by mosquitoes that night. In the morning I got up at 5:30, prayed alone in the cathedral, and then attended the morning service with some more rocking gregorian action. Then I took a series of buses to get home, because I couldnt afford to spend 3 days in a motel.... bummer.
All was not wasted however. I was able to go see Daniel Dixon, Chris Cherene and the gang otherwise known as the "Autumn Lovelies." They rock my world let me tell you. They have a lot of potential to have a very very good live show if they can stay together and not make their mistakes obvious with their facial expressions. Either way, I love those guys and it was great to see them. Christian is one of the most brilliant people I know. He is a true artist.
Also, Today is my birthday. Feel free to wish me well, and say a little prayer for me. Also, if your generosity extends to the monatery kind... check out my Amazon Wish list on the left. Oh... but dont send anything until I am back at Gordon... cause I dont know what in the world will happen to it... They might forward it here... but a package might take a million years to forward overseas. Much love to all.
We were going to do another 100 K, but I really wanted to spend a couple days in the Santo Domingo de Silos monastery. So the mexican and I decided that he should keep walking (it turned out that once he had gotten into the walk, he liked it) and meet me in madrid in 4 or 5 days. Meanwhile I was going to take a bus to the monastery and stay for a while.
I was a little far from the city that I had to catch the bus from, so I hitch-hiked there. Yes it was fun. I had never done that before. I was picked up by two metal heads that had the music blaring in their old jeep. The driver looked fairly run of the mill, but the guy in the passenger seat was more hard core, with various piercings, tattoos and dreadlocks. I was a little sketched by the fact that the guy in the passenger's seat was obvioiusly wasted, but the driver assured me that he himself was ok, he had only had a couple of beers. Word.
Anyway, after a day of changing buses and stuff, I ended up in the quietest place I have ever been in. The level of peace and quiet was uncanny. Unfortunately, the monastery was full... and had reservations until late september. I was very dissapointed; their website said nothing of making reservations. But they felt sorry for me, and invited me to have dinner with them which I did, and let me tell you, they were very cool. Then I went to the vespers service and listened to them sing gregorian chant in old latin. Very very nice. If you ever hear a Gregorian chant CD, it was most likely recorded by these chaps; they are famous for it. Then I went and stayed at a cheap motel for the night, because I didnt friggin feel like getting eaten up by mosquitoes that night. In the morning I got up at 5:30, prayed alone in the cathedral, and then attended the morning service with some more rocking gregorian action. Then I took a series of buses to get home, because I couldnt afford to spend 3 days in a motel.... bummer.
All was not wasted however. I was able to go see Daniel Dixon, Chris Cherene and the gang otherwise known as the "Autumn Lovelies." They rock my world let me tell you. They have a lot of potential to have a very very good live show if they can stay together and not make their mistakes obvious with their facial expressions. Either way, I love those guys and it was great to see them. Christian is one of the most brilliant people I know. He is a true artist.
Also, Today is my birthday. Feel free to wish me well, and say a little prayer for me. Also, if your generosity extends to the monatery kind... check out my Amazon Wish list on the left. Oh... but dont send anything until I am back at Gordon... cause I dont know what in the world will happen to it... They might forward it here... but a package might take a million years to forward overseas. Much love to all.
Comments