Camino Via de la Plata

Weather: 11 - 21 degrees. Still, sun, a dot of rain in the afternoon with cooler gentle breeze from the south.
Clothes: short sleeve merino, light wind fleece, trekking pants. Walked in the t-shirt in the afternoon as it got lovely and warm.
This morning
Well! Here I sit in the town square waiting for the sun to rise or for the next Pilgrim from the albergue to come along. Why?
I walked through the town, saw the Camino sign on the outskirts and started along a dark dirt track. Then a looming foreboding giant dark shape appeared ahead like it was floating in the sky - it was the ruin of the 16th century hermitage Santa Maria de Castillo ( I read about it last night but had forgotten). I felt like the skittish horse that just won’t / can’t go past that spooky thing. Then the path became less distinct and muddy. I was completely creeped out! I couldn’t take another step.
So the body just turned around and took me back to this lovely square till the sun rises.
I hadn’t planned to leave early. Now I know why.
I then re- read some of the route notes that said if the lake is full you need to use the main bridge. Well that was it - spooky ruins, dark, muddy track …. I started to head towards the main bridge.
And would you believe it - two men coming my way - Pilgrims - heading towards the spooky path. We exchanged greetings and I followed them. By then it was getting light and with three torches all of a sudden the path seemed easier and more manageable.
However the Church ruins remained creepy - on a hill and seemingly inaccessible. I was bit sorry I hadn’t gone there yesterday afternoon.
This led me to thinking why some towns and ruins don’t feel so good and others seem filled with light and peace. Last night another Pilgrim shared online that one of the towns I missed a few weeks ago was the site of a massacre of its citizens during the Spanish Civil War. I wondered if this church / town ( remember I didn’t feel good in the albergue last night) had something nasty in its history - the Inquisition sprang to mind. I tried to find out more online but got nothing.

So on with the day. After the stormy time yesterday I found myself walking at a slower and more relaxed pace - over the flat slightly undulating plain. There were fields of wheat stubble, some newly ploughed and others showing the green shoots of the next crop. I walked past two giant piggeries - all the poor animals kept inside unlike the free range black pigs of the south. My heart went out to them.
I also walked past the ruins of the abandoned village of Castrotorafe. It looked familiar. I have had a number of deja vu experiences on this Camino. My interpretation is that I’m where I’m meant to be.
This is my last day on the Via de la Plata which continues north following the old Roman road to Astorga on the Camino Frances. Having walked the Frances in 2007, tomorrow I will turn left onto the Camino Sanabres and on to Santiago. There was something satisfying about the completion of this section. It helped me stay in the day.
I kept remembering a quote a friend sent me the other day.
Australian Indigenous writer, Paul Callaghan, said:
“This isn’t about getting to a destination. That’s one of the problems with the Western world: everyone is in a rush to get to a place. The Aboriginal world is the total opposite. It’s, “I am in the right place, right now. I don’t need to go anywhere. How about I just focus on where I am and gratitude for where I am right now.”
I also realised how hard I have been on myself - too slow, not organised, others are doing it better and more easily etc etc. So I spent some time speaking to myself as if I were talking to a dearly loved friend. What different messages - you are doing great, look how far you have come already, carrying your own pack, managing your foot injury so well ….. leading to a much more relaxed and calm state of being.
The albergue here is attached to the local bar which is common, and with the best Menu del Dia for quite a few days. Rich lentil soup (just what I had been longing for) followed by pork steaks with lots of salad (poor piggies). And plain yogurt with a sachet of sugar for desert. I added a bit of sugar - delicious. The albergue and town seem a delight.
I realised that I often journal about what I have eaten. I understand now that the right food at the right time is critical for body and mind to function effectively on Camino - and through all of life. I have set an intention for when I get home, to take more care of the food I cook and eat - and being in Spain with simple nutritious food is something I think I can replicate.
Pilgrims.
My two Camino angels of this morning are in a hostel - I saw them at lunch and I think they asked if they would see me later - and at the albergue we have the lovely quiet Spanish man and the noisy French man from yesterday.
I am sitting on a step in the street catching the last of the sun. And then I need to get ready for 25 km tomorrow with only one tiny village along the way. Off to the shops for some supplies.

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