I laced up my hiking boots and packed my backpack again on May 2nd; this time firmly resolved to reach Santiago de Compostela. It’s hard to describe the feelings and emotions that I experienced during the next 26 days and 560 km – what I did (other than walking), who I met, and what I saw; so, thanks to a little inspiration from a few Camino friends, I’ve decided to use the alphabet to describe my adventure to Santiago. I used both English and Spanish extensively throughout this journey and, since some words have a stronger pull in one language versus the other, I’m going to cheat a little and write my Camino ABCs in Spanglish. And since I’ve discovered that I have a lot to say, I’m breaking this into two sections.
Albergue – The pilgrim hostel; think huge dorm rooms, but where everyone is in bed by 10 pm and awake by 6 am. Each one is a different. My favorite albergue was the one located in San Anton, about 35 or so km west of Burgos in the region of Castilla y Leon. It was built in the ruins of an old monastery and was beyond peaceful and quiet. My words and pictures won’t do it justice. I should also mention that there was no electricity – that’s right, a really cold shower for me that day!
Boots / Blisters – I am extremely grateful to Mamma Bear, my Colorado roommate’s mom, who was so excited about my journey that she bought me my Camino boots. Every time I laced up the boots I couldn’t help but smile and think of her and my roomie. Blisters were the most common ailment and were usually due to boots and the many kilometers pilgrims walk day after day. I was lucky; I only got two blisters and that was early on in my adventure.
Café / Cortado and Cerveza / Caña – My go to drinks on the Camino. I had one and/or the other just about every day. A cortado is an espresso cut with a small amount of warm milk (in Logrono, it’s most popular among the older gentlemen). While I am not a coffee drinker (I like to say that I am naturally perky first thing in the morning), I usually had cortado with my second breakfast; I appreciated the jolt of energy and warmth. A caña is about 200 ml of draught beer. At lunchtime or after settling in at the albergue, it was nice to sit out on the terrace and drink a caña or three.
Days – After so much walking, you tend to lose track of the days. Every day had the same structure: wake up early, pack up, breakfast, walk, 2nd breakfast, walk, lunch, walk, find the albergue, shower, wash clothes, dinner, and finally go to bed. There was comfort in the routine, a bit of constancy despite waking up each morning in a new town.
End – To be honest, reaching Santiago was a little anticlimactic. I’m not sure what I expected – maybe some big revelation or a strong feeling of accomplishment. If anything, I felt a little empty and sad upon finally reaching the end of my journey. In the days and weeks since I’ve come to realize that there is no ‘end’, cheesy as it may sound, I will always be on the Camino – not looking to reach ‘Santiago’, but walking with an open mind, heart and spirit.
Fear(lessness) – It takes a little fearlessness to walk the Camino alone. It is a decision don’t regret. Still, sometimes I had to push through the fear that would creep up in my mind and tell me that danger was lurking at each turn.
Galicia – My favorite and least favorite stage of the Camino. After hearing so many great things about the beauty of this last stage, I was super excited about reaching Galicia. It didn’t disappoint; the mountains and lush, green landscapes made me feel like I was in a forest. Unfortunately, once you reach Galicia, you are 5 or 6 days from Santiago and the number of pilgrims dramatically increases. Those last few days I struggled to reconcile the beauty of Galicia with the busy and, often, noisy trails.
Hospitalero – The awesome people that run the albergues. I was lucky enough to stay at a few where the hospitalero(s) had done the Camino. The atmosphere and sense of community was just amazing thanks to these folks.
Iglesias – There were churches everywhere on the Camino. Unfortunately, they don’t keep pilgrim friendly hours, so, I only saw the inside of a few. Still, I loved spending a few quiet minutes in a church whenever I could. Many of the village churches had a rope for the church bells and I may or may not have done my fair share of bell ringing.
Jabalí – A few days into the adventure, I was walking through the Burgos region of Castilla y Leon. I’d slowed down to let a pilgrim get ahead of me and was walking along a dirt road surrounded by grass on both sides. All of a sudden, I heard hoofs and huffing noises. As I begin to discern a large animal moving through the grass to my left, I stopped dead in my tracks. The animal ran past and came out of the grass and onto the dirt path just ahead of me, between myself and the pilgrim. It was a large, wild boar and it just kind of stood there for a few seconds. I completely froze; I had no idea what to do and could only think to stay completely still and not say a word as I stared at its pointy canine teeth. The pilgrim ahead of me, also unsettled by the noise, stopped and slowly turned around. The boar kind of looked at us before, thankfully, deciding to continue on into the grass on my right. As the other pilgrim and I stared at it as it quickly disappeared from view, I let out the breath I’d been holding.
Km – 1,582: the number of steps I take to walk a kilometer. At one point I became obsessed with kilometers; trying to keep up with fellow pilgrims and even feeling disappointed on days when my body refused to meet my ‘goal’. It took a really bad day of knee pain for me to learn to be grateful for days that I was able to push more than 25 km and to be mindful of my body on days when I could do no more than 12.
Lluvia – I got caught in a horrible rainstorm around day 7. I was so stubborn about not “losing a day” that I headed out despite the forecast of early showers. I thought I was prepared but, within a couple of km, my poncho ripped and water started soaking my pants. Unfortunately, on this particularly cold, rainy day there were 17 km until the next town and only two minuscule places for shelter. By the time I reached the town, almost 5 hours later, my pants, boots and socks had been soaked through. The rain stopped and the sun came out, I kid you not, minutes after a checked in to the albergue. Had I waited like some of the other pilgrims, I would have arrived in half the time and completely dry.
Mud – May was a rainy month on the Camino; I frequently had to choose the path of least resistance through the mud. Though I never fell, I frequently had to readjust my balance. Sometimes I would make progress only to encounter a pond of water that forced me to retrace my steps and take the muddier path.
Gabi's Footprints 