Every time I think about this particular day on the Camino, I break out into a big grin.
Had Muriel and I been driven, mileage-obsessed pilgrims, we would have missed so much delight, so much serendipity.
Continue reading “Day 19: Happiness from Hornillos to Hontanas”
From my journal:
“Things I’ve lost so far: My SPF lip balm, my utility tool, 2 hair ties. My sticks I’ve almost left behind twice, but so far so good.”
Lessons in letting go
I pared down before I left. I even sent a box home from Saint Jean Pied de Port. However, as I traveled, the Universe divested me of yet more things by accident or design.
Continue reading “Day 18: Letting go — Burgos to Hornillos del Camino”
Finishing is hardly ever a cut-and-dried event for me. I completed my Camino in stages, like layers of an onion, narrowing down toward the essence of the journey. Arriving in Santiago was the first layer, then arriving in the cathedral square, then attending Mass and receiving my compostella certificate, but the walk for me was always about Finisterre. The true end of the road.
I’ll write more about that actual arrival in a later post, but these last seven weeks I have been reading my journal from last year, day by day, remembering as much detail as I can. This past Sunday was the day Meg and I walked out to the tiny spit of land, piles of massive stones jutting out into the Atlantic. There, my Camino journey came to an end.
Unless you go back to the 12th century Codex Calixtinus, there are no official stages of the Camino, but to me it felt like there were chapters. In terms of topography, the second stage of my pilgrimage moved from the mountainous first stage to the flatter terrain of the meseta. On a personal level, I gradually turned my attention from my peers to the inner workings of my heart and spirit.
In the 11 days of my second stage, I felt stronger every day. The newness and excitement of being on the Camino faded into the background and walking became my job and my focus. However, I remained in relative denial that I’d eaten up almost three of my six weeks to walk to Santiago — and was only one-third of the way there. Continue reading “Reflections on my second stage of the Camino: Pamplona to Burgos”
Gorgeous. Enchanting. Beautiful. Stunning. Magical.
Any of these words could describe the best of my days on the Camino. Yet none of them really scratch the surface. Because a good writer is supposed to “show, not tell,” I’ll try my best to describe this superlative day, among my very favorites on the Camino.
It was early and not yet bright as we prepared to leave the albergue in Atapuerca. I laced up my shoes on the outdoor patio while the girls were getting ready. While I waited, I took a short stroll alone down a side street that ended in a pasture, and was treated to a front row seat of the early morning sunrise. The air was alive with birdsong in every direction. The dark blue sky seemed huge above me. On the horizon, the clouds lay in swaths of deep purple and pink, shot through with slivers of gold from below.
Continue reading “Day 17: Atapuerca to Burgos – Beauty breaking the stone of my heart”
From my journal: “My feet are only sort-of sore instead of falling-off sore.” This was progress!
The walk to Atapuerca today lifted my spirits. I could have sung from the top of my lungs, I felt so happy. The sun shone brightly in the crisp air as we left the castle-like hotel-albergue and headed straight up the steep hillside — the first of three. I stopped for a moment to look back and was treated to views of distant, snow-covered mountains and rolling oak-covered hills, barely budding green, with wisps of ground fog settled into the far-away valleys.
Continue reading “Day 16: Villafranca Montes de Oca to Atapuerca — Thin places on the Camino”
The theme for the next two days of walking was consistent: foot misery in the daytime and, when the walking was over, recovery and camaraderie in the evenings.
This expected physical pain lasted for almost a week it encompassed all my thoughts during the day, and at night, I worried about the next day’s walk. It colored the entire experience. My journal entries are short but list specific pains in great detail.
I’ll spare you the minutia of blisters and aches and, for the sake of brevity, am condensing the two days into one entry.
I’d been working up to it for almost two weeks: today I would ask for what I wanted. I came to do the Camino alone yet I had been walking with friends since the beginning. At last I stood in my truth and the most delightful things happened.
When I woke up in the morning, I knew I was ready for a rest day. I told Katrin this and suggested that, if she wanted, we could meet the next day in front of the church in Santo Domingo de la Calzada. I felt so good about this decision. Suddenly, I felt free to choose my own path. I wasn’t sure how was going to meet her, but I was open to all possibilities.
Not only is this my 100th post, but…
Imagine my surprise and delight when I learned that my blog has received a Libester Award from Samantha and Samuel from the blog, A Couple of Backpackers! It’s a special honor since I really love their blog — it inspires me to set my sites on pilgrimages beyond Santiago in the future!
You would think that staying well-fed wouldn’t be an issue on the Camino with places to stop for a snack or a café con leche every few miles, but today I managed to get so hungry I couldn’t think.
Before we left this morning, we checked on Lies to see how she was feeling. The patient looked much better and her fever had gone down dramatically. Not perfect, but good reason to be relieved and even a little hopeful. I felt torn between wanting to keep her company and needing to go my own way.
Continue reading “Day 12: Navarette to Nàjera — Eating to walk, walking to eat”
Jen's Journey - Camino de Santiago 2013, 2016, & 2019 