I wasn’t planning to write every day during the Camino, but it’s what I love to do, so I really can’t help it.
My first day was exhilarating and exhausting. I walked 30 kilometers (about 18 miles), downed five beers and then did yoga in Portuguese.
I started out at 6:40 am and met Nadja, a tall and gorgeous Australian who sold all of her belongings to travel the world. She introduced me to Peter, a Swiss retiree from San Francisco, who became my adopted father for the day. Peter was a godsend, because he immediately told me I was wearing my backpack wrong, and that I would injure my back. He adjusted it for me, so that it lay on my hips and proceeded to lecture me on how to take care of my feet along The Way.
I walked at a slower pace than everyone, still unaccustomed to walking miles and miles a day, so I walked alone most of the time, occasionally catching up to my new friends.
We reached our final destination around 3 pm. Peter dressed yet another blister for me, and for the next few hours we drank our well deserved beers and did absolutely nothing. Later that evening, a Portuguese yoga instructor who was walking the Camino held a small yoga session on the lawn by a bar, so Nadja and I hopped in.
I’m was never a big fan of Hatha yoga, I’m more of a Vinyasa Flow type of girl, but today I was a shining yoga star. I’ll attribute that to either my total exhaustion, the five beers I had or the fact that I don’t speak Portuguese.
Cheers to my first successful day on the Camino!
