ensuitepilgrim's Blog

Arrived here after an easy drive from Cape Town, for a two night stay, with the intention of some wine-tasting and a visit to Stellenbosch. We were impressed by the landscaped entrance, lake and welcome – a glass of wine. All the walls of the main building were hung with works of art by African artists;I was particularly taken by a striking, mosaic – like piece, near to the Loos! Depicting miners’ wives, bringing up their children alone. There is a choice of restaurants and we had lunch on the Terrace – the main impression is one of peaceful, tree surrounded spaces – all the rooms around a grassy quad, with shared splash pool; there is a bigger pool, too.We took advantage of a 5 km walk, available on a map, from Reception – still managed to take a wrong turning and add a further 3 km! Rounded the evening off with a ” Farmers’ Buffet”; great choice and value; very satisfying bottle of Pinotage, too, from Spier’s , of course.

It was inevitable that this wonderful place would be on the itinerary. Apart from being on the “top ten” places to visit, in Cape Town, it pandered to two of my great interests – horticulture and history.

Oldest, largest and most exquisite botanical garden, it said,  in the Focus South Africa Guide, 13 km south of the city,stretching up the slope of Table Mountain.History – Cecil Rhodes bought it as a farm, in 1895, to prevent the encroachment from the city. He gave it to the people of South Africa and since then, under the guidance and imagination of people like Professor Harold Pearson, whose grave is there, marked with a Celitc Cross ; his epitaph states , ” If you seek his monument, look around you”. Followed by Professor Compton, who cared for the gardens for 34 years. His herbarium alone harbours 250 000 specimens ! There are a variety of themes and the access to all of them is brilliantly, but not obtrusively achieved. Of especial delight was the Treetop Canopy Walk. Fascinating and informative, but it is at its most “floral” from August to October.Taxi and train back to the city – travelling independently always throws you on to your own resources. Not a problem. Another fascinating day.

By taxi to the cable car terminus; looking at the queue for tickets, I was glad I had pre-booked, online.Being there at 7.30 a m,meant a short wait, until the ascents began at 8 am.Very hot even at this hour. We soon boarded the car, which carries 65 passengers at a time. An innovation was the internal, revolving platform, which guaranteed everyone a great view.

It is a brilliant piece of engineering and even the brickwork of the two stations, fits in to the granite face of the mountain.Wandering about on the top was energising and despite being busy, there was plenty of room. Coffee was most welcome by now and taken with one of the greatest panoramas at hand. Splashed out in the gift shop, for my ” Proteas” button badge, now adorning my hat.

Downwards and onwards to Mounts Bay, by the hotel’s courtesy bus, for an afternoon on the beach. The Atlantic  crashed on to this popular stretch of pristine sand; I went so far to immerse myself up to my ankles at which point the freeze factor kicked in.Only Hannah was brave enough to face the waves, from which she emerged breathless but exhilarated. Of course, the backdrop of the mountains adds to the beauty of this bay, which, else wise , has the usual seaside facilities. A group of township children performed a song and dance on the perimeter of the beach, which we caught, on leaving.Their joy and enthusiasm reflected that of all the children enjoying the seaside. We returned by the same way; the luxuries ( to us simple folk ), of a first class hotel.At this point, I should praise the hotel and its staff , who were consistently courteous, friendly, helpful and engaging; I hope the management of the PepperClubHotel treat them as well as their staff treat their clientele; even the ignorant Americanfamily , who at breakfast were overheard rejecting lemon slices, with their fruit and demanding wedges! The stupid…….

First ferry out to Robben Island, infamous for the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela and many other black prisoners .Like Venice, Cape Town is best approached or left, by sea. We were informed by our guides of the long history of the Island, over the centuries, of incarceration, for example, Lepers, whose graveyard is still preserved.It was an army base during the war, and some fearsome guns still remain in place.

However, its place in history will always be defined by Mandela’ s ” Walk to Freedom”, and we were shown the high security prison, Mandela’s cell and the little garden he allegedly planted.Our guide had been imprisoned there himself for seven years, in the eighties; accused of recruiting for the ANC. The pitiful status and treatment of black, political prisoners was outlined by him. There were many murals along the walls of the quay, outlining the inhuman treatment of a whole range of prisoners.It was a brilliantly organised visit.Interestingly, there is still a small village on the island and the water is no longer brought over by boat, from the mainland, as there is a desalination plant in operation.

By contrast,some of  the afternoon was spent in the much heralded Victoria and Albert Docks – a mega collection of shops and restaurants, all more expensive than any where else in Cape Town.Escape was made along the quays, to Mouille Point, a pleasant walk, in bright sunshine and balmy breezes…An extremely varied day, ended in ” Little Ethiopia”, a tiny ethnic restaurant, that we came upon by chance…Authentic and different, greatly appreciated !

The prospect of Heathrow is usually as daunting as a journey up the M 6, but it was a very easy through route to the BA flight, I have to say. The overnight flight meant landing @ 7.20 am in Cape Town, in warm sunshine.

Efficient transfer to Pepper Club Hotel, welcomed with a glass of cold, white, wine; earliest ” drink” I’ve ever had! Great room, with view of Table Mountain, from balcony, which is as stunning a vista as you could wish for. A bite to eat and a beer, across the road, specialising in 96 different, bottled beers, plus a multitude of draught pilsners, etc.

Then a walk down the appropriately named Long Street, to the railway station to buy tickets for the next day’s train journey to NEWLANDS Cricket Ground.  

    
 After a bountiful, buffet breakfast, walked downtown to the station.All vestiges of yesterday’s festival had been removed and being Sunday, it was very tranquil.Arrived at NEWLANDS and within minutes we were in our seats , enjoying the atmosphere and views from this wonderful sporting arena. Hannah spied David”Bumble” Lloyd, our favourite Sky cricket pundit, being wired up for an interview; she cajoled him into a photo and was very pleased with herself! So were we…

I won’t go into too much detail about what unfolded into one of the most exciting day’s Test Cricket, ever, just some photos. 

    
   Really fortunate in our choice of day. The evening was rounded off with dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant, where we were served a range of dishes, no knives/forks, scooped  up with pieces of spongelike , flat bread; accompanied ( for me ) with Savvanah Cider. So far, we have encountered a great atmosphere, friendly people willing to engage and that undefinable feeling of being in a totally different and fascinating country and in particular the ” Mother City”…aptly named.

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 4,500 times in 2015. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

WHAT THE CAMINOS PROVIDED FOR THE ENSUITE PILGRIM

On my Blog, I confess to being an “ensuite pilgrim”; that is because I don’t like albergues and I can afford not to stay in them. I am now 69 years old and walked my first camino, ten years ago, from Sarria to Santiago, with a large group, aiming to raise funds for a young peoples’ residential centre , run by the Archdiocese of Birmingham.
After retiring, nine years ago, from my post as Headteacher of a Catholic primary school, in a challenging part of the city of Birmingham, my thoughts returned to the Camino. I walked the Del Norte from Luarca, the alleged “coastal route” from Lisbon to Porto [it doesn’t exist !].A. Machado captures it exactly “Walker, your treads are / the path and nothing more; / walker, there is no path, / the path is made when walking…”.
I have also walked the interior and coastal routes, from Porto to Santiago. Most recently, I have walked part of the Via de la Plata, from Seville to Caceres and the Camino Ingles. With the exception of the Portuguese coastal from Porto, which I walked alone, all the other walks were in groups of various sizes.
Why? I have a love and fascination for Spain; its peoples and its history. Years ago, I came across James A Michener’s book, “ I beria”, in which he stated rather grandly that he had ..”long believed that anyone interested in either the mystic or the romantic aspects of life, must sooner or later define his attitude concerning Spain”…Amen.
Writing about such a variety of caminos is not scientific; it is either an emotional or spontaneous selection, from memory, aided and sometimes confused by my Blogs !
In trying to describe what the Caminos meant to me, or gave to me, I should have to make a division between those I took before two successive traumas – a stroke and then cancer struck me. What remained the same were the necessities , listed perfectly by Ralph W Emerson:-
“Few people know how to take a walk. The qualifications are endurance, plain clothes, old shoes, an eye for nature, good humour, vast curiosity, good speech, good silence and nothing too much”.

After suffering and recovering from the stroke, in autumn 2012, I walked the Coast from Lisbon to Porto, as described, with a group I knew well. That was June, 2013. I was frustrated by the route and by some of my companions; so it remains bitter-sweet in the memory. Therefore, to regain my self- belief and self- reliance, I determined to go “solo”, along the coastal path from Porto to Santiago. There was probably another compelling reason too, only I haven’t been able to define it, yet. Anyway, if it was simple enough for my brain to understand it, I’d be too simple to comprehend it. Rather like this interesting formula, “The Camino is 90% physical. The other half is mental”.
The “Coastal” was a wonderful walk, although solo, the pilgrims I met that September were initially strangers, but also friends just waiting to happen. When not listening to my Camino playlist, this Camino gave me a clearer understanding of myself, though the world remained a deeper mystery. It was an intensity of experience, which I think can only be gained by walking. That is not to understate its challenge and difficulty at times. Also, remaining cordial in the face of provocation. Light travels faster than sound, that’s why some of the pilgrims appeared bright until they started talking . Though I am gregarious by disposition and still retain contact with some of those I met.
I got off track a couple of times, you would think that’s not possible when all you have to do is keep the sea on your left, but I managed to do it, just South of Vigo, where a friendly local took me 10 KM out of his way, back to the coast. The kindness of strangers…
“que camino es el camino, por favour? ”
No wonder an earlier enquiry left this gentleman baffled!
Esposende remains etched in my mind, for it was there that I suddenly became aware of blood in my urine. I stayed in my hotel room , resting for 16 hours; it stopped and I walked on, not knowing it was a sign of deeper trauma to come. What did this Camino teach me?
It was best to try to live each new day, as if it was the first, or last day of my life.
Moving quickly forward to Christmas Eve 2013 when I was informed that I had invasive bladder cancer [ after more scares].From three options, I chose to have complete removal of the bladder. After chemotherapy in the spring of 2014, I underwent a nine hour operation, where my bladder was removed along with my prostate and appendix. All done by “keyhole” surgery – like painting your hall, stairs and landing through the letterbox . Viva the NHS !
Still, whilst recovering, I made renewed plans for another Camino – the Via de la Plata. After all, as Hubert Humphrey memorably said: “Oh my friend, it’s not what they take away from you that counts – it’s what you do with what’s left”. Cancer is a journey, but you walk it on your own.
I booked flights to Seville in the autumn; April 2015 , the Via de la Plata, with my friend and Pelegrino, Mac. I began training again, recording each walk, weight carried and average km per hour. We made a great Camino; target achieved. Una Terra Unica E Inolvidable

“For me there is only travelling on paths that have heart..and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length – and there I travel, looking, looking breathlessly” – Carlo Castenada. Not too breathlessly I hope! Our second stage of that Camino is planned for late April 2016; flights booked, accommodation sorted.
Finally and most recently, the Camino Ingles, walked in September, with Mac, Dermot and brother-in-law, Roger. For the latter two, a chance to walk long enough to obtain a “Compostela”, which we all did. We learnt not to confuse a “short” walk with” easy”…It was a joyous pilgrimage, of varying vistas and unexpected surprises. I could walk anywhere with these guys, their humour, patience, gregariousness, stamina, great appetites – real boons to me.Thanks for the words of advice…and the others!

We all had different purposes for our walk: reasons of Faith, reasons of curiosity. For me, partly, it was the pleasure I got from having organised the Camino and its successful completion. And seeing Sanctu Iacobu afresh.
“The footprints of those who walked together never vanish”. ULTREIA….
PS All the above Caminos can be explored in greater detail, in:-
“ensuitepilgrimblog.wordpress.com”.
And the time taken to smell and photograph the flora and fauna!

The above article was written for ” The Camino Provides” website.

I hope everyone has a joyful Christmas and walk well in the New Year.

“Besides this you know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed” (Rm 13:11).. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed” (Rm 13:11).

http://youtu.be/__E2MCi35ZA ” Soon The Light ” by Yes.

Apocalyptic Readings for the First Sunday of Advent…..This Midwinter season , hijacked by early Christians,realising that the Christmas myth would sit well, here! Even so, I am still affected by this promise of the “Coming”. In particular and instinctively, the knowledge that the darkening days will soon be reversed.

Gospel
LK 21:25-28, 34-36
Jesus said to his disciples:
“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars,
and on earth nations will be in dismay,
perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves.
People will die of fright
in anticipation of what is coming upon the world,
for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
And then they will see the Son of Man
coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
But when these signs begin to happen,
stand erect and raise your heads
because your redemption is at hand.

“Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy
from carousing and drunkenness
and the anxieties of daily life,
and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.
For that day will assault everyone
who lives on the face of the earth.
Be vigilant at all times
and pray that you have the strength
to escape the tribulations that are imminent
and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Nations in dismay….Bombing them by Christmas…A government looking for a mandate to ” assault everyone” in the Syrian City of Raqqa,because it would not only be Isis that would be destroyed.

Corbyn, the lone Voice  in the Wilderness….

As Blessed John Henry Newman reminded us in a homily for the Advent Season: “Advent is a time of waiting, it is a time of joy because the coming of Christ is not only a gift of grace and salvation but it is also a time of commitment because it motivates us to live the present as a time of responsibility and vigilance. This ‘vigilance’ means the necessity, the urgency of an industrious, living ‘wait’. To make all this happen, then we need to wake up…”

Will we ” wake up” and shout down the pointless, sabre-rattling of the Politicians?

Perhaps I could send the above record for Cameron & Co to put on their Christmas Playlist?

Sorry to be so fervent!

Hope lives on, nevertheless….Must go and light the first candle.

Been some time since I posted and it is so easy to get out of practice, especially as another birthday has slipped under the radar.I have been busy with arrangements for the second stage of our Via de la Plata Camino.Accommodation is now booked for three of us as, sadly, Roger,my brother in law , is not able to make this one. The good news was getting flights to Madrid, from where we will take the train to Caceres, from Birmingham, with NorwegianAir. We shall return to Madrid from Zamora. Our dates are 17th April – 1st May.

Health wise,am doing fine since all clear from my Urostomy consultant,just receiving some physio for the calf strain I picked up in late summer, basically doing lots of stretching exercises.

Events have included weekends in Henley On Thames and Berkhamsted,a night at the Birmingham Literary Festival and a night out in Lichfield, to see a Buddy Holly tribute band, which was a present from good friends, Sue and Sean.

I celebrated the aforementioned birthday, with the family , enjoying the fireworks and sparklers, overseen by Dan & Tom.Then an excellent dinner,together.

The Autumn means lots to do in both the garden and the allotment…harvesting beans, celeriac potatoes, Cavolo Nero to mention a few, plus raspberries.We particularly enjoyed the marrows and squash. Also, drying bean seeds for next year.

The next, very enjoyable task is preparing for the end of year holiday in South Africa.Have managed to book tickets for a day at the Test Match, Newlands,Cape Town, South Africa versus England – a long held ambition of mine.Two excursions to Robben Island and the cable car trip up Table Mountain – all done on line and tickets printed.The holiday was booked with Trailfinders,self drive along the Garden Route from Cape Town, including the occasional wine tasting!

Looking forward to it, having purchased a Map and guide book on Amazon, too. The hire car will have a SatNav, but always have a paper back-up. So no danger of getting lost then….

It’s a cliche, I know , but you have take time “to smell the flowers” and photograph them, together with all forms of natural beauty; most of these photos, certainly the most eye-catching, were taken by Roger.

They deserve a showcase.