Day 29 – San Martín Del Camino to Astorga
24km by bus. Every day that seems normal I am grateful for these days. Decided to take it easy today and rest the kidney. I hopped on a bus to Astorga after asking in broken Spanish where the bus stop was. Let me tell you: there’s no way you would know it’s a bus stop. Hop skip and a jump to Astorga. What took some people 6 hours, I was there in 20 mins. I visited the tourist info booth and got my bearings of the town. Super cute and not many people around. I headed to the albergue of choice, dropped my bag and set off for the chocolate factory. It was a little anticlimactic. Then to the palace of Gaudi. Gaudi seems to be a pretty regular name around these parts. An architect before his time that was taken out by a street car?! Seems so unfair. Did the slang term “gawdy” come from “Gaudi”? I wonder. Anyway, I took the side road back along the fortress wall. So quiet and peaceful and it ended up in a little park beside my albergue. I sat there for a couple of hours, eating, sorting out the next few days, watching Stephen Colbert (sometimes you just need a good laugh). I went back to the albergue and my kidney started aching again. Then I met up with Monica from Germany for dinner. We drank and ate and had a great conversation. I walked back and saw Pedro from yesterday in the park with Oscar. We had a wonderful conversation about the things we think we’ve learned along the way. I have a feeling I’ll be running into these guys again all the way to the end. Tomorrow I send my pack forward (first time) and I walk 19km. I am making sure I don’t do too much too quickly after passing the stone. Feeling good to be on my way to the finish line. I still amaze myself when I successfully navigate getting from place to place #thatswhatlucisfor Tomorrow Rabanal. #
Day 30 – Astorga to Rabanal
22 km. We packed up and took off around 7:30. Still dark. Guess who tripped and fell over a small raise in the sidewalk? Yep. Me. Landed on knees and hands and mouth. What hurts the most now is my lip. It’s puffy and turning a nice shade of purple. Sigh… I was thinking about SmashMouth earlier and the song “I get knocked down but I get up again, you’re never going to keep me down…” definitely my theme song. just one more thing to add to the book I’m going to write. Luckily I sent my bag forward otherwise I’m sure with that weight I would have broken my nose. It was a nice walk today. Mostly flat. We passed a cowboy bar which was pretty neat. I’m seeing the same people over and over again. Got a new extended Camino family these days. I walked for a lot of the day with Monica and Jörg. We ended up in Rabanal. My kidney is aching still. Double sigh. I will send my pack forward again tomorrow and walk 20km to Riego de Ambros. 3 sleeps until I see Luc. I’m so excited! I’m done doing this alone and ready for some partnership and help. #
Day 31 – Rabal to Riego De Ambros
22km. Wow 30 days I’ve been out here doing this! Seems appropriate to visit the iron cross today. As you can see from the last photo it was an up and then down down down. Probably the worst down I’ve done. I walked with Monica and Jörg for a bit but then I left them at the iron cross and they are one town back. At the iron cross you leave a stone behind-it’s meant to represent whatever burden you want to release from carrying. I think I read somewhere to please only bring one rock. My rock was thrown out with the backpack so I got a new one to leave behind. I thought about if I wanted to share the burdens I released and I think I do. I’m not journaling anywhere else and I’m practicing vulnerability so I will. I sat in the sun and closed my eyes and held the rock. What came up for me was this: “I release the burden of suffering. I release the burden of shame. I release the burden of judgement both being judged and judging others. I release the burden of having to get it right. I release the burden of not being good enough. I release the burden of fear. I release the burden of the kidney stone. I release the burden of losing my backpack. I release the burden of my past.” As I walked down the hill, I felt an incredible peace and freedom come over me. I felt lighter and that I will remember this day as today was a day of peace and love and inner joy. Contentment. Today was a great day.
Thanks again for the wonderful glimpse. From your experience, and those you’ve talked too, how much time should one budget for the Camino?
Hey Greg! You can do it in as little as 32 days but I would say that you would want to go for as long as you possibly can. You can also bike it if you want. Part of the Camino is about slowing down and what I found was that people who rushed didn’t take it all in and also got injured way more! You’ll find your own pace as well out there so if you have a short amount of time to do it then you’ll always feel rushed.
Slow appeals to me. I will likely chunk it or wait for retirement.
Friends of mine acknowledge their different styles and are splitting up to do the Camino. Pierre is starting in Leon and looking for good food, new friends and cheer. The hedonistic tour. April, who has a heart condition, is staying in nice hotels with baggage service. She is going with a small exclusive group (she had to pass an interview) led by a theologian.
A lot of people chunked it out. A couple of weeks every year.
And wow about April! I had no idea that people were interviewed and there were exclusive groups. I feel like Pierre might have more of an authentic experience but to each their own really. 🙂