After walking almost 800 kilometres across northern Spain during my leave of absence the past three months, what do you do for an encore? Return to work, I guess. What a drag!

Actually, that’s not true. I’m glad to be back. As much as enjoyed my modern day pilgrimage to Santiago Compestella and all the wonderful people I met on the long pilgrim trail, I’m glad to be back on this side of the world again where the air is a little cleaner, the water purer and the countryside a little more wild.

Not that the landscape isn’t beautiful in rural Spain. Quite the contrary. I don’t think I‘ve seen more pleasing viewscapes in my life than the rolling, green foothills of the Pyrenees surrounding Pamplona, the perfectly symmetrical vineyards of the Rioja region and the endless sea of grain on the wide Meseta plain. Not to mention, the stunning Gothic and Romanesque cathedrals with their Baroque decoration, gilded ritablos, intricate statuary, spectacular stained glass windows and vaulted domes. We simply don’t have anything like that over here.

But there are lots of things to admire here as well, and even though it may sound trite, I have to say you don’t appreciate what you have at home until you’ve been away for a while. Like family, friends and one of the most spectacular valley settings for a community anywhere. In fact, I almost teared up when I first saw Mount Fisher’s craggy profile looming over town after getting off the Greyhound from Calgary. And shortly after I got off the Airbus 330 in Cowtown, I couldn’t help getting a bit of Stampede fever as we were serenaded in the terminal lobby by a quartet of Stetson-wearing cowboys and cowgirls getting everyone in the mood for the biggest stampede on earth.

Then going out of town the Bow River caught my eye. Does that water ever sparkle, I thought to myself. It’s so clear, I bet you can see all the way to the bottom. Needless to say, there are not too many sparkling rivers in Spain. Not too many rivers at all, for that matter, although I must say they make incredibly efficient use of the water they do have to irrigate all that farmland that produces some of the best crops on earth.

I must have walked near to the former Castile Canal for almost two weeks. The canal was built in the late 1800’s as a transportation and freight corridor. But when the first steam trains began to chug down the tracks, the canal became obsolete and was converted to a viaduct, carrying much needed water to thirsty vineyards and grain fields across northern Spain. A boat hasn’t been seen on the old canal in 100 years, but it has given Spain one of the best grape growing regions on earth, so much so, that a typical Spanish meal comes with a bottle of rich, red Riojan wine even if you don’t order it. In fact, many menus ask customers if they want wine or water because some diners prefer mineral water to wine.

Another situation I was glad to return to was our relatively smoke-free environment, which couldn’t be more different than the incessant smoking culture of Spain and much of the European continent. British restaurants and pubs are now smoke-free, but in Spain one of the most common signs you see is “se fumar permitte” just to let you know that you’re welcome to come in and blow smoke in the faces of your companions to your heart’s content because they will be doing exactly the same thing to you.

But one Spanish institution I really grew to enjoy and respect was the evening “promenade” in the Plaza Mayor of every Spanish town, large or small. In the heat of the day, Plaza Mayors (main plazas) are very quiet with stores closed and tourists about the only people on the streets. But at night, it’s a totally different story as parents, kids, grandparents and the entire familia gather in the plaza mayor to talk, gossip and interact with the community. This is usually accompanied by a typically late Mediterranean meal that can continue for hours.

It’s a great scene and one that would be wonderful to emulate here. Perhaps the next warm summer evening we should all head down to Spirit Square and do it the Mediterranean way. It works in Spain.