Paderne

"Even though I complain, sometimes it's because I'm the heart of a person, and people's hearts are that way." - *The Alchemist*

I complained so much the past three days 🫣, but that's because I am a person in search of my personal legend, and people do that sometimes.

What a blessing today was after three miserable rainy days 🥰. I honestly felt like it was a day off. I walked 10 miles, but it was mostly downhill or rolling hills. I walked through gorgeous pine forests on either dirt roads or single trails. I stopped for a late morning tortilla y cortado, and the waitress was an absolute gem!💞 As I was walking down the trail so joyfully, I was thinking about the best song for this afternoon, and "I Can See Clearly Now" by Johnny Nash came to mind. I put it on as I was walking up to the front steps of the albergue, smiling ear to ear. I saw one of my English friends, Das, sitting outside the door. I started to sing to him the lyrics and rejoiced that today was absolutely nothing like the past three days! 😃

I am staying at the most luxurious albergue on the Camino. It's called A Pocina de Muniz, and it feels like a wellness retreat. I must be honest... I like being a pilgrim and being a bit dirty and basic, but I REALLY like being pampered and being in beautiful spaces 🫣😬. The interior of this albergue is all stone and giant wood beams. One of my favorite design elements is spaces that only use natural materials like wood, stone, and copper. It feels very grounding 🧘🏼‍♀️. The shower here feels like being in a spa, and the kitchen made me gasp when I saw it! 😍 There's a garden outside with hammocks, swing chairs, and zero gravity lounge chairs. There are also farm animals (cows and chickens) and a vegetable garden! Two doggies and many farm cats. 😌 I'm strongly considering staying two nights here to recuperate my energy for the final push! 🙃

This afternoon, I relaxed in the garden and took a much-needed siesta in the hammock under the Spanish sunshine ☺️. I could never have imagined a better afternoon! I was completely content. We ate a fabulous community dinner here, made by the most lovely Spanish grandma and her daughter, who own the albergue. We had a beautiful soup with greens and potatoes, followed by a fresh garden salad, and then the most tender beef roast with potatoes. For dessert, we had quince jam on top of a creamy slice of cheese! My heart and tummy were full. We sat around the table together, laughing and sharing stories for the next few hours. Even the Spanish grandma came to sit with us, still wearing her little apron! 🥹 one of the main topics of conversation was watching the kitty cat lounging on the barn roof keep getting up every 10 minutes and slowly moving up the roof to stay laying in the sunshine! 😻

This day was the Camino's way of apologizing for being such an asshole the last three days! 😂 And I forgive and forget so easily. 💞Read more