The Great Escape

Okay so I have not really sat down and blogged much about the great escape that I had in June. I do apologise for that lapse. Having said that, I hope you had also given me the allowance of letting things settle down before committing to words the events of June 2011.

The Camino to Santiago De Compostela

This was the first part of the great escape. 6 days in the Galicia region of Spain, walking 118.5 km through its wilderness, villages and towns on my own. All to fulfill a vow. I shan't elaborate much about it as you can read the whys and the hows in my Camino blog.

Perhaps the only thing that I can add here is this: I found no clear wisdom nor have I learnt anything profound. I do not have any life changing decisions to make. But it was clarifying. Would I do it again? It's a definite NO. Simply because if I do - it only means I didn't clean enough on the first attempt. And if that is the case, then perhaps the Camino is not the place to do some soul cleaning.

Ireland for Work

This trip to Ireland was a partial wash-out. Weather-wise, this was the worst I have seen in my 3 visits. Not only were the skies grey most of the time, it poured at its own whim and fancy! And when it poured, it poured! I kid you not - torrential rains in Ireland?!

I suppose I would also have to add to it that I was ill and in pain. Yup - busted my right ankle and left knee on the Camino and was hobbling about a fair bit. But it gave me time to rest up and rest indeed I did! And yes, I did complete the work that I had to do before me - so no goofing off there.

The Vacation

I suppose for most folks, this is the bit you've been waiting for. The much-talked about vacation with the heard-off-but-not-seen person in my life.

For starters, even as I got on the plane, I still wasn't sure if I would be at Dublin Terminal 2 on the night of 22nd June waiting in vain. Fortunately, it was again all just maggots in my head. Did I go flying into his arms? Nope. In fact, it was a very sedate affair overall - the airport welcome. Let's write it down to me being ill and out of sorts.

I had this immense trepidation of sharing a space with someone else, after being on my own for so many years. And the first few days of Dublin and London was just me trying to shake it off. I do not think there is another person out there as anal as I was about the whole thing. So unless you can tell me that you actually did your business in the restroom of a restaurant not because you really had to go, but because it was an opportunity to go - I win hands down!

And what would a vacation be without any tantrum throwing eh? I must say, it was a fine one that I threw the first night of London after discovering that the B&B meaning of a double-bed is actually that slightly bigger than a super-single. Add to it walking out of the bathroom to find your sleeping partner laying down beddings on the floor for the night - it was a watch me walk out the door event for sure. But I must say, Ben took it all in his stride - leaving me to heave, huff and puff out in the cold on my own, knowing that I will calm down and head back in.

So with that, I do not know why the memories of Barcelona still blows me away. How he let me sleep, went about and got dinner ready (his birthday dinner to boot!) and had a glass of proper warm tea with fresh lemon juice waiting when I woke up. Yups - warm fuzzy feeling all around now!

I suppose it was a trip that was much needed. A break from the norm of the last 3 years. He got to see sides of me that was never shown before and I got to see a side of him that I never thought existed before.

Has anything changed since we got back exactly a week ago? I really cannot say. And I shouldn't. It wasn't happiness that I was seeking from the great escape. Hence, nothing really should happen afterwards.

I was seeking to make a solid memory and boy did I succeed at it. Not only at my end but at his too!

Question that hangs now is: Where to next and when? And hey - that didn't come from me so perhaps if we really had to quantify it - that is some measure of progress then yes?