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Camino De Santiago

April - June 2022
Walking the Camino Frances, 790km from St. Jean to Santiago. Read more
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  • TravelerCamino De Santiago
    1
    Day 42

    Day 42: Muxia

    June 10, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    I had hoped that I could keep my early mornings going, but it is clear after a 8am start today that I will struggle with this on my return. I feel far more rested, even in my albergue for the night. I have booked an apartment in Muxia so that I can rest today, feeling that I need some strength back so I can plan the next few weeks ahead.Read more

  • TravelerCamino De Santiago
    Day 41

    Day 41: Finisterre a Muxia

    June 9, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Goodbyes today.

    To the journey so far, to following the arrows to the sea, to friendships and to the path forward as I’ve known it for 40 days.

    The day starts with a heavy head after some red wine consumed and perhaps a few chupitos. Too late to walk today, I will take the bus to Muxia.

    I say goodbye today to some truly wonderful people, who knows what the future will hold, but I look forward to keeping them in my heart and I look back at the memories with fondness. A final Buen Camino, and I am on my way forward.

    The plan is yet to unfurl, for the first time I really have no idea where I go after tomorrow. I take the bus to Muxia and listen to music. I arrive, and it’s a beautiful little town. Quiet and peaceful, a small fishing town with few pilgrims. The day passes in the sunshine.    Read more

  • TravelerCamino De Santiago
    Day 40

    Day 40: Cee a Finisterre

    June 8, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Today is really for many, the last walking day. It is a short day of only 12km, and there is a bittersweet feeling that hangs in the air today. For most of the lovely group I’ve been sharing the last week with, this is the last stop before parting ways in different directions.

    A lovely birthday dinner was had yesterday, and a real sense of family. Like Hodges, I hope to travel onwards in life with the knowledge we will reunite at some point. It was a truly special evening.

    The day starts at a cafe, where a monolithic spread is presented and many pastries consumed. I am so surprised by my appetite, which is voracious at the moment. Ah well, plenty of time to sort that out in my ‘normal’ life. We start walking together, but all fall into a natural pace. I walk ahead with Hodges and Pien mainly, the air is humid and there is a drizzly rain that soaks you through in five minutes.

    The day is beautiful, and as soon as you see the sea there is a real sense of coming home for me. It is fresh and I am so grateful to be near the water.

    We all link up together in the town of Finisterre, and there is a real energy to the day. With every step closer to the cliffs, we are closer to the end. Pien Hodges and I walk together to the Faro in Finisterre. But we wait for Becky and for Ophelia to walk together to KM 0.

    What a moment.

    I feel truly emotional, more so than reaching Santiago. Grateful for the friendship and kinship I have shared over the last week with truly beautiful people. We pop open a bottle of champagne and I feel proud. I have covered 893km in rain, heat, sun…through fields forests and cities. And now, the end of the world. As I stare out into the ocean with my Camino family by my side, I know that this is only just the beginning of my journey.    Read more

  • TravelerCamino De Santiago
    Day 39

    Day 39: Lagos a Cee

    June 7, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    On the way to the end of the world, and three days in.

    There is a different energy to this leg of the trip. Perhaps it is me, but there is a tiredness of the body and perhaps even the soul. I leave later, my muscles are more relaxed, a drink wine for longer and I rest for longer. The knowledge that I have reached Santiago, accomplished my goal, still sinks in as I drink coffee this morning.

    I wake up around 6.30 naturally, having had a good sleep with an actual duvet, I make my way down for a coffee. I am with a lovely group, there is a close familiarity they have shared that I feel I am slightly on the outside of today, so I drink some coffee and eat a little breakfast before heading off on my own today.

    It is a fellow pilgrims birthday, and I reflect on what that experience might be like to celebrate in the company of great Camino friends. I hope to see them at my final destination and enjoy a glass of wine to celebrate.

    I stop a few times on the way today, a coffee here and a coffee there. Everything feels almost dreamlike, a slow steadiness that is unlike the energy of the last week. A natural slowing as I move closer and closer to the sea.

    The walk today is peaceful and beautiful, the familiar look of the countryside is very evocative. With eucalyptus at either side of the path, and the smell of sea salt in the air, I really do feel as if I am walking home.

    I begin to make plans for when I return, I will cut my hair, I will start screen printing, I will start to sing again. I resolve that I will continue the journey I have started to enjoy myself and my life, living it to the fullest. As this chapter comes to a close somewhat, I know it is just another page in the story. I am in a reflective mood and walk mostly in silence, although I do meet Hodges along the way!

    I arrive in Cee, crossing over a hill to the first sight of the sea. It is absolutely beautiful, and just the look of it is refreshing. I know that I get closer to finisterre, and closer to Doniños by the day.

    At the hostel I share some of my fruit with a Dutch pilgrim, who tells me he is looking to make large life changes in his marriage and his job. It is amazing that I have grown comfortable talking with people about such personal and intimate things; I think the Camino teaches you that in many ways. We are all human, and we can support each other.

    I am invited to eat spaghetti with some Italians at the hostel, and there is a birthday dinner to celebrate also! I hope I can do both.    Read more

  • TravelerCamino De Santiago
    1
    1
    Day 34

    Day 34: Ribadiso a O Pedrouzo

    June 2, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    I try to sneak out a little early today, to get some time on my own. This was not possible, and I and up leaving with Kevin. Today my ankle is very sore, and everything is still a little damp from yesterday. It seems likely I have developed the same affliction as Kevin which is tendinitis in my left foot.

    Each footstep on the uneven pebbles brings me one step closer to Santiago. Today, I don’t have a plan. The rain threatens in the horizon, and in my mind I feel I might continue on as far as 36km today - so that I can enjoy a leisurely start tomorrow. My body has other plans, and it becomes clear after traversing up and down hill after hill that I need to rethink.

    I ask Kevin for some alone time, he is happy to oblige. Although I walk as fast as I can to get a little distance, the two of us are hobbling at the same speed. We end up linking back up, and walking the remainder of the way together. We stop just before the rain in a town 19km from our starting point. The forecast doesn’t look good, and we decide to stay at the next town. We end up booking the same albergue, and Kevin mentions it would be his honour to walk in with me to Santiago in the morning.

    I feel conflicted, as most of me really wants to walk this final day alone. But, I know it would mean a great deal to Kevin not to be alone. Perhaps this is a Camino kindness I must do. I still haven’t decided. I’m now in a quiet hamlet about 22km from the cathedral in Santiago. Kevin would like to walk the way with me, I want to leave early to ensure I can get there when the pilgrims office opens at 10.

    I feel a bit distracted to be fully present in the experience, perhaps the overwhelm of the situation or the uncertainty about how I will feel tomorrow. Either way, tomorrow I arrive.

    I go to dinner (Kevin is there too!) and enjoy a peaceful setting with some wine. Kevin tells me his plan to create a Camino tattoo, with the initials of all of the important people he has met on the way. He has said he will put A for a girl called Anouk that he started with, and M for me, as we will walk in together. I am touched by this, and also by his honesty and vulnerability. We should all be a little more Kevin I feel.

    I make the decision to walk in with Kevin tomorrow, as perhaps it will be an important moment that will be nice to share. Who knows. I have an early night, in preparation for an early start tomorrow at 5. I will keep all posted, and I will have completed the way by the next time I write!    Read more

  • TravelerCamino De Santiago
    Day 33

    Day 33: Palas de Rei a Ribadiso

    June 1, 2022 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    I wake up leisurely in my private room with Kevin, at around 7am - yesterday we ate some snacks in the hostel and had a long conversation for dinner.

    Yesterday evening, everywhere was very loud with lots of pilgrims all connecting vocally in every restaurant and bar throughout the small town. I found it all overwhelming (Doesn’t take much it would seem!), so I was grateful for something lower key.

    Kevin mentions that he thought it was a nice touch that I turned my phone off for dinner, and he wanted to mention that he felt I would be a special friend in his life. I felt honoured.

    We leave in the morning after a sugary breakfast of yoghurt and pastries and make our way out around 8am. The day starts off with promise, even if the way is extremely busy. Kevin is experiencing some severe foot pain, and I am feeling tired still. Lacking in the energy of the earlier days, thoughts of the experience being over begin to flicker in my mind like a small flame. Showers, cups of tea with Chris, exhibitions in London, walks in England…start to flood my mind. Perhaps there is a feeling of my life rushing back to the surface, after many weeks of being at the back of my mind. I feel perhaps some longing for that, but a desire to also bring some changes back with me. I am unsure how I will feel in a few days, but I can only feel what I feel, and accept it.

    The skies begin to cloud over, we keep walking. However after stopping for some coffee the sky threatens even more. We decide to get rain packs and rain jackets on. Timely, as once we start again the heavens open. A biblical deluge of rain, which soaks me through completely in about five minutes. We make it about ten minutes before we huddle under a roof to get out more rain gear. I try on (for the first time) my rain poncho, which I have carried since SJPDP, and I tell Kevin I will keep going.

    We walk together further, he is surprised that I didn’t give up! We are smiling, or at least I am, as I feel that I hadn’t really experienced any rain to this point so - how lucky am I?!

    I walk 10km in the pouring rain to Melide, which is where I plan to stop for lunch. I am completely soaked, feet are drenched and the rain doesn’t stop. I get lured in to a famous Pulpo restaurant and I order for a family of 6, which of course I can’t eat! Best tasting octopus but I later tell Chris that I will be a vegetarian when I return for at least 3 months to offset all of the meat and fish I have consumed on this walk.

    I tell Kevin that I need to walk alone, he reserves at the same albergue as me, so I need some time to myself. He says he admires that in me, and I leave happy that I have set a boundary!

    The last 10km are sunshine, which I am beyond ecstatic about. I listen to albums from my childhood, walking through familiar smells and singing along. I probably look insane, but I feel great on this last bit of the walk today.

    I arrive at the albergue in a small town, most pilgrims will go further today, so the room is quiet. I manage to do some laundry and make dinner plans with Kevin.

    I start to plan my final real walking day tomorrow, it hasn’t really sunk in yet. I will go on to Finisterre, but the French Camino will end on Friday. I will have walked 780km.

    Over and out from me today, I love you all.    Read more

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