Dear Diary: No longer walking to Spain, this Calgarian takes her pilgrimage to the city streets
Carla Bolen Anderson was supposed to be hiking in Europe. Instead, she's exploring the sites closer to home.
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In this instalment of our series, Dear Diary: In a Time of COVID-19, Carla Bolen Anderson tells us about her postponed milestone-birthday trip, and how she's making the best of it by exploring parts of Calgary she's never seen before.
This entry has been edited for clarity and length.
Another day, another trek around a part of Calgary I've never been before.
I should be in Spain right now, solo hiking the 800-kilometre Camino Frances, from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France, to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, in 34 hiking days (47 days in total, including travel and a few rest days).
I was to start on my 65th birthday, May 8, and end on June 16 in Santiago. But COVID-19 caused the trip to be cancelled …no, postponed!
In a flash, over a year's worth of planning went up in smoke. Oh, well. I will go when Spain is ready to receive "pilgrims" again, maybe in the fall, more likely next spring.
In the meantime, since May 5, I've been walking the itinerary I planned for Spain, here in Calgary.
So far, I have walked 327 km, making me about 43 per cent done!
Every morning, I look at my itinerary to see what town I should have been headed to, and post photos on Facebook as my inspiration.
Today, I should have been hiking 20 km to Castrojeriz, a beautiful town with a castle surrounded by poppies. I wear my Camino backpack, weighing about 18 pounds, which is decorated with patches from various Camino organizations, including the Canadian Company of Pilgrims. Boots on and off I go.
I sometimes stop at friends' places for a distance visit on their front step, and a rest. When I get home, I post photos of the places I have visited, like a guided tour of Calgary. And then I plan for my next day's hike.
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I'm hiking four to five days a week, between 20 and 25 km per day (but yesterday I did 28 km).
I am missing the dirt paths, friendly villagers calling, "Buen camino" as I go by, the other pilgrims from all over the world, the cows, chickens and bars serving cafe con leche or vino tinto.
But being that all Caminos end at the cathedral in Santiago, I am planning to end mine in late June, symbolically at some cathedral here in Calgary … still researching that. There will be vino!
If you see me with my boots and backpack, walking with poles around Calgary, please call, "Buen camino!"
Read all of our past Dear Diary entries here.
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