Camino de Santiago Primitivo
Day 30
This is a camino of gratitude for me. Each day, I choose something I am grateful for in my life and think and journal about it throughout the day. I will share an excerpt from my journal entries at the end of each day’s post.
Day 30: A Fonsagrada—Cadavo ~ 15 miles
23 October 2017
I stayed three nights in A Fonsagrada. The last several days of walking had just about worn my body out and my right hip was really bothering me. The best solution was rest. I also got some work done on a book design I was working on for a client.
Albergue Cantabrico was a comfortable place to stay—clean with comfortable beds and a very nice kitchen to work in. The only problem was that the cleaning lady started stripping beds at 8:00 am, waking up anyone who was thinking of making a later start than usual. Also, she tried to clean the kitchen while people were preparing their breakfast. The cleanliness of the place reflected her industry, but it was a bit annoying.
Now that I was in Galacia, there were kilometer markers telling us how far we were from Santiago. 95 miles to go!
I passed the ruins of another pilgrim’s “hospital” that had been in use until the early 1900s. These were the precursors to the albergues—providing rest and food for pilgrims since medieval times.
At one rest stop, I came upon Nicolai, a young pilgrim I had met a few times before. We talked a while over our coffee. We talked about temporary friendships and missing people. You make a lot of temporary friends on the Camino. Because I had stayed in A Fonsagrada extra days, I would never see the group of friends I had made during the last week. I doubted that I would ever see Caitlin and Gerry Browne, who I had met at La Vega.
It is funny, I don’t tend to miss people much—that is probably why I can be gone from home for months on end. But I sometimes feel guilty because I think I should miss people more—like I am not being a very good friend. But Nicolai turned this around for me. He believes that people who are comfortable in their own skin, do not need the attachment of other people in their lives. This gave me a lot to think about for several days.
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Soon, I came to the place where the Camino Primitivo splits from the Camino del Norte. It is a weighty decision for me to choose to do the Primitivo. Most pilgrims who start on the coastal path, stay on the del Norte all the way; some choose the Primitivo. The official start of the Primitivo is actually in Oviedo (two more days walking), but this is the place where pilgrims coming from the del Norte must decide.
Camino: Days 14–15
David, the hospitero, greeted me warmly, and unlike in most albergues who begin the registration process right away, he said, “First things first…Sit down. Would you like tea? Café? He asked where I was from, how my day was and I felt like he was truly interested. I ended up in a room of four beds by myself.
Camino: Days 21–23
But I got to thinking about how taking advantage of this refuge fit in with my gratitude choice for the day—being appreciative of things that happen in my life. If you are appreciative for the offer of a gift or opportunity and accept it, then you honor the giver.
1 thought on “Camino: Day 30”
Hello Cathleen, Sweet, well written with a meaningful message. just enough!