Steve : We were up the big hill beyond Hornillos this morning for the sunrise, so, of course, Sheryl Crow started up in my brain’s music player.
Jen and I have been discussing ideal playlists on a pilgrimage theme – however you’d care to define that.
Top of our list is the great Paul Simon song, “America”:
Cathy, I’m lost, I said though I knew she was sleeping
And I’m empty and aching and I don’t know why
Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike
They’ve all come to look for America
There will be more…
Ironically, given we’re on a pilgrimage where you’re supposed to be paying attention, on some long days, like today, when the sun is hot, you need distractions from the relentlessness of the trail. For the last few days I’ve walked the meseta listening to ‘Cabin Pressure‘, from BBC Radio 4, on my Sansa MP3 player. If you’ve never heard it, I urge you to give it a go. Extremely funny. Unfortunately I finished it last night in bed, whilst trying to block out the snore-fest.
So, today’s trek across the wide open spaces was accompanied by a BBC ‘Book at Bedtime’ recording of Robert Harris’s novel ‘The Ghost‘, from, I think, 2007 or so. This novel, and the Roman Polanski film version, are favourites of mine when travelling. I’m not entirely sure why, but they seem to transport me better than most. I remember listening to the BBC recording about ten times whilst my brother and I took shifts driving a minibus full of kids to a camp in Finland.
So, in the 34 degree heat of the Spanish midday I strolled into Fromista with the book ending about half a km from the albergue.
Splendid.