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anna-being-anna

Living in: Kimpton, United Kingdom Read more🇬🇧Kimpton
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    • anna-being-annaanna-being-annaanna on the camino

      ... and home-coming

      June 3, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

      Day 47
      One last BIG step took me back to Kimpton: home again …

      … smile! And … sigh …

      ... re-orbitting can be tricky, wouldn't you agree? It is beautiful here in this home, village, country, and world where I live, and ‘my’ people are super super people (this is you!). But like the aeroplane’s touchdown at Stansted last Monday afternoon, which left me feeling jarred and upsy-downsy for quite a while, this home-landing has its bumpy moments, and (let me be honest) my belly is churning with ‘and now … who what how?’ and all sorts of other unanswerables.

      I have had SUCH a special time - or what word suits better to describe the now 7 weeks that lie behind me? Amazing, awesome, fabulous, wonderful, beautiful, happy, delightful, super, lovely ... or just plain 'nice'? No word and no words will convey to you truly what this experience has been like for me, my pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.

      Of course, I realise that no words will adequately tell what has been going on in your life either. One thought that has returned to me again and again is that whilst I live at the centre of my own universe, so too do you; and so each tree, each cat, each splash of each wave, each stone on each footpath. Not exactly profound, is it? Yet how often I find myself thinking that it would surely be better if [x other person] should see things, do things, decide things MY way. Or that this flower is mine for the picking, this dog mine to pet, this view mine, this experience mine. Mine. About me! In each of us lies such complexity and beauty that it is unimaginable by any other, a story lived and a world inhabited only by one individual in all of history. Can I see and love what I experience without needing to claim it, influence it?
      This unattached, unjudging attitude might just be the birthplace of awe. Awe draws me. Oh for more moments of awe!!

      I kinda hope to find a space inside of me where the freedom and happiness I've been - how to express the feeling? - I've been ... bathing in for these weeks can stay safe; not guarded, not held onto, but just 'there'. Available. I want to remember again and again that 'this is what it feels like to be me'. Not needing to reminisce, however lovely the memories are, and not pining to return even if I might love to (with you, perhaps?). It's that I've so enjoyed my own company, and I really don't want to lose touch!

      Sometimes we permit other people a glimpse behind our well-constructed, well-conserved outer shell; sometimes it's cathartic to share our story; sometimes it feels like a gift, to be 'invited in'. With a few words and a few pictures I have told some of the story of my Camino, but it's hardly been a deep dive. For that you are most welcome to come for a face-to-face heart-to-heart! (And will you reciprocate?)

      The Camino is a microcosm of all of the rest of life. You will have perhaps perceived from my daily reports that although I only took a small amount of physical kit on my back, the ‘stuff’ that I carry with me at home came with me: the concerns, loves, fears, delights, anxieties: my own particular ways-of-being-me. And I don’t want my Camino de la Vida to stop! The path that is my life, that is, much more significant than a few weeks of trekking in Spain. I’m sure my reflections on my experiences of the last 7 weeks will continue, and it might be a long time before I understand all of what has happened and what might have changed in me. I hope that you will continue to be a Camino companion along the way.      Read more

    • anna-being-annaanna-being-annaanna on the camino

      A weekend's rest ...

      June 2, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

      Day 45+46
      After Fisterra we spent 2 days at a newly opened tiny retreat house just south of Fisterra. Conceived and created by 2 Italian women Ilaria and Nadia, 'daur, the middle door' arose out of the wish to support pilgrims in their reflections and reintegration following the Camino. Restful, generous, welcoming, warm, loving. Mindfulness practices, yoga and movement, and sharing. www.daurthemiddledoor.com

      Jon and Bernadette from Bristol, Anne from US, Angie from Ohio (see Monte de Gozo), Caren, Kelly (with a broken leg!), Nadia and Ilaria.
      Here the sun sets glorious in the western sky.      Read more

    • anna-being-annaanna-being-annaanna on the camino
      1

      The end of the world

      May 31, 2024 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 18 °C

      Day 44 / Day 7 Camino dos Faros
      Fisterra: the end of the world.
      We sent our rucsacs by taxi today so that our 28km path through some tough terrain, including ascents and descents totalling 800m, would be enjoyable. And it really was. It really was! It was the best possible weather from sunrise to sunset: a clear sky, a warm sun but with enough chill on the mounting breeze to keep us comfortable. No grey, no cloud, no rain! At last, a simply beautiful day.

      Fisterra, the place considered for centuries to be the far edge of the world. The zero point marker proves this! I walked 1000 kilometres over 6 weeks to be there, only to find - as Luca pointed out - that I'm always only ever, in all of my life, at the boundary between the known and the unknown. I know what's behind me, at least my one little perspective onto the experiences I have had, but I know nothing of what's in front of me. Only ... if that view of the seemingly endless sea is anything to go by, anything to take encouragement from, it's going to be beautiful. Very beautiful indeed.      Read more

    • anna-being-annaanna-being-annaanna on the camino
      1

      Quieroso

      May 30, 2024 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

      Day 43 / Day 6 Camino dos Faros
      Muxia, where we had breakfast before starting walking, is one of the 'zero points' of the traditional Caminos: many people don't finish their pilgrimage in Santiago de Compostela but walk on, to Muxia and/or to Fisterra. Our Camiño dos Faros joins these routes for the last few days.
      Although we relish taking the edge-est edge cliff paths, which increases each day's overall distance, we decided to reduce today's miles by chopping off a couple of headlands (with their lighthouses) so that we could enjoy every step we did take, and arrive at our accommodation with time to nap, wash, chill out. Another dull day of weather, but that gave a comfortable temperature for walking. There was a windy swish swash swosh at the top of the mountain range, most unexpected and puzzling: was it the wind dancing deliriously through the treelines creating a peculiar vortex, or perhaps actually an alien spaceship hovering there in the cloud? ... the sun burnt off the cloud very suddenly and the more ordinary explanation - another row of powerful wind turbines - proved to be correct. I wonder who thought to suggest that?

      A hamlet with a few dilapidated buildings, a few inhabited ordinary-looking homes and a few immaculately restored holiday places. And a gorgeous ancient mama-dog who came a-calling and a-begging for attention. Our accommodation was beautiful.

      Wonderful surprise menu for dinner, a shared bottle of wine with another guest; a happy end to the penultimate day of walking.

      Tomorrow we will go to the end of the world.      Read more

    • anna-being-annaanna-being-annaanna on the camino

      Moraime

      May 29, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

      Day 42 / Day 5 Camino dos Faros
      A dull start in terms of weather ... is a serious understatement! We walked in mist or cloud, with no panoramic views although we were in the heights again and again, until well after lunchtime ... but doesn't it feel wonderful when the sun breaks through, the perspective expands, and temperature begins to glow, and everything, absolutely everything brightens up?
      We visited the lighthouse museum at Vilán, still in the mist so no distance view, but were able to have a nap at the chapel at A Virxo da Monte just as the sun was beginning to clear the cloud and warm everything up. So a hop and a skip down to Camariñas, where we took the bus to skip the next stage and arrive at the posh Monastero de Moraime hostel. Should have been the best stay of my whole Camino, a big treat, but they somehow failed to communicate that the restaurant is not open this early in the season, and we had to get a taxi into Muxia to find food. I was sooo tired I nearly cried.
      But it was, then, actually, the superb-est meal I've had here, with gooseneck barnacles (extraordinary experience!) followed by a seafood risotto (was it not paella? It wasn't named as such) which was awesomely delicious. Relief, good wine and good company help, no doubt.

      Don't you think the wild nasturtiums on the beach look like a beach fire ... at least just a little?      Read more

    • anna-being-annaanna-being-annaanna on the camino
      11

      Arou

      May 28, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

      Day 41 / Day 4 Camino dos Faros
      Lighthouse, lighthouse, yes we are passing by every possible lighthouse on the Galician coast. It's the Camino dos Faros' , the 'Path of the Lighthouses' after all. But none of them permit visits up to the tower!

      Today's most impressive feature was the enormous rock forests. That's my word for it. I have always absolutely loved leaping from rock to rock, learned on the beaches of Wales in childhood holidays, and I'm very happy to find that I can do it again, now I've become strong in my legs and hips and back. And even with my heavy pack on my back!

      I also love a quick dip in the cold sea on a hot day. After a grand climb climb climb in the heat of the day we were suddenly presented with the fabulungus view you see here, and although the currents were strong and the outgoing tide's pull out to sea palpably dangerous, the far end of the beach was calm enough to have a quick dive and a splash - both of us! - before trudging on.

      Accommodation in a little apartment with sea views, hosted by a gorgeous little old lady who seemed utterly delighted to have us in her home.      Read more

    • anna-being-annaanna-being-annaanna on the camino

      Laxe

      May 27, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

      Day 40 / Day 3 Camino dos Faros
      Today was really challenging with its rock-clambering heights and depths, not a path for the faint-hearted in terms of precipitous steepnesses and vertiginous edges, but I guess we must be tough-enough cookies. To be honest, at times I just don't look. At others I look, see, and judge that I can just lean left a little to make myself feel a little easier!
      And a little earlier on the route than planned, because of the creaking knees after the challenging terrain, we took a bus to our hotel - yes, today a 'proper' hotel, not something I've seen much, despite being accommodated daily in guesthouses throughout Northern Spain.
      Too tired to even notice much of the town we were in, but a delicious dinner of fish and new favourite side of padron peppers, with my go to 'radler' (European shandy) restored some verve. We could hear distant bagpipes and drums being played well into the night.      Read more

    • anna-being-annaanna-being-annaanna on the camino

      Niñons

      May 26, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

      Day 39 / Day 2 Camino dos Faros
      This is wild, rough, rugged ... and GLORIOUS. The paths are narrow, and in places one step to the right (the sea is always on our right) could be fatal; we chamber up and down over huge rocks, and stumble in places, but oh it's wonderful!
      It helps that the sun shines nearly all day!

      The homestay accommodation was sweet, alongside Brian and Nicole from Philadelphia, US. Home cooked tortilla a speciality!      Read more

    • anna-being-annaanna-being-annaanna on the camino

      Malpica

      May 25, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

      Day 38 / Day 1 Camino dos Faros
      Malpica is the start of the 'Camiño dos Faros' which I will be walking with Luca for a week.

      Heike popped up again (from Basel) this weekend, after I took a day off (Day 37) to rest and explore the city, to help celebrate my successful Camino! She heroically hired a car so we could fetch Luca from A Coruña airport (only 5 hours delay, flying in from Milan (grimace)) and take us all to Malpica for the night.

      The cherubs in Santiago cathedral, which we whizzed through in the morning after breakfast, have a very unfair division of labour. Some have to prop up a huge ceiling decoration for all eternity - doesn't it look uncomfortable? - while some get to play with garden hoses and have water fights! How is that right? Apologies to those reading this who take cathedral decor seriously. I find it both intriguing and uncomfortable, and have to seek out things that I CAN enjoy: often what others wouldn't notice, and rarely what gets praised in the guidebooks.
      On the other hand, finding evidence of a different subculture - the members not walking on water but apparently flying on broomsticks - is always most entertaining and never incongruent at all.

      I liked the house-higglepiggle in Malpica.      Read more

    • anna-being-annaanna-being-annaanna on the camino
      3

      Santiago de Compostela

      May 23, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

      Day 36
      I have arrived.
      It feels ordinary, a lot like most of the journey has been: I'm me, I'm here, this is what I'm doing right now, nothing special to say!
      Probably the reflections will follow on behind (or do they await me ahead?). Perhaps the emotions too.

      I'm glad, glad at it all. Glad about it all. Aren't I lucky?      Read more

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