This year the Camino called me again…
The first time I walked part of the Camino to Santiago de Compostela was 2012. At that time, I was living in Malmö in the south of Sweden and working at IKEA Communications, the in-house marketing agency of IKEA. This meant that I had to join the ranks of IKEA’s many commuting employees, spending a good three hours on the train every day, starting at the crack of dawn. The upside of this was that I got to know and become friends with a good many of my co-workers.
Anyway, one Friday evening in May, while we commuted back to Malmö, Gen, one of my interior designer friends from Quebec told me about walking the whole 800 km stretch of the Camino when she was in her twenties. Something struck a chord inside of me when I listened to her story. The whole of the next day I thought about it and the next day I found myself at my computer Googling away. On Monday when we met up again, I told her I too was going to walk the Camino. What! she exclaimed. People spend years and years planning before they eventually go. Well, that may be, I replied, but I’m going anyway this summer. And so I did, and what a good decision it was because I had the most amazing and magical experience!
Me in front of the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela July 2012, after I had completed my Camino.
So, I was curious if I would have the same wonderful experience eleven years later. Of course, this time I was planning to be better prepared, as I would have the time to train well in advance to build up my strength gradually with longer and longer walks. Not like the last time when I only had time to try on my new backpack while strolling the length of my living room and walking in my new boots at the airport of Barcelona. Or so I thought. Instead it turned out that I worked silly hours of the day (and night) for months, not even taking normal everyday walks, and I was more exhausted than ever even before started this strenuous undertaking. I wouldn’t recommend this approach…
Last time I wanted to start on top of a mountain, so I chose O Cebreiro, about 163 km from Santiago de Compostela.
Posing in front of the statue of the medieval pilgrim outside Liñares in 2012, with the staff I inherited from a group of Spanish pilgrims who had just completed their camino. One of them gave me his staff which had the name Ishmael engraved on it, which he in turn had inherited, so it was Ishmael and I who were adventuring together.
This time I decided to start and end with a cathedral and chose the town of Astorga in the Castilla y León region, 269 km from Santiago de Compostela. It was a good decision, but Astorga is also the end of the plains, and the start of the Montés de León, the mountains, so this didn’t exactly make things any easier. The first really steep one, Foncebadon being some 1500 meters high and O Cebreiro at the border to Galicia is 1300 meters high.
Anyway, still blissfully unaware of the practical implications of this, I arrived in Astorga by bus in the afternoon, from Madrid where I had stayed the night before, and was overjoyed by this pretty little town.
I was fortunate to stay in a wonderful old house in the very heart of the town, which has belonged to the same family for over 200 years. It has a beautiful courtyard with a fountain, framed by the house on two sides and greenery by the others, and it was blissful to sit there and listen to the doves cooing and the water splashing. Balm for frayed nerves and travel fatigue. Just listen!
The Bishop’s Palace
But soon enough I wanted to see a bit more of the town in general and the cathedral in particular, so I set out to explore. The place is steeped in history. The cathedral, Catedral de Santa María de Astorga, is even older than the one in León, and has Gothic, Neo-Classicist, Baroque and Renaissance features. At the Plaza Cathedral, Gaudí designed the rather sensational building known as the Bishop’s Palace, which looks like something out of a Disney movie. St. Francis of Assisi allegedly came here on his pilgrimage to Santiago in 1212, and there is a church named after him, to mention a few.
I chose to explore the cathedral which also has a museum, packed to the brim with artworks, sculptures and precious artefacts and jewels. But it was the cathedral itself that I enjoyed visiting. There is something about cathedrals with their soaring heights and intricate detailing that is truly impressive but also gives room for reflection and contemplation, and it was a good place to set the tone for my Camino.
Walked past this mural on a house gable that reminded me that I was ravenous, as I had hardly eaten anything all day.
I always like to inquire the locals about their favourite haunts, so I asked the friendly people I was staying with about theirs, and was pointed in the direction of the restaurant Serrano where I tucked in and ate so heartily that the chef himself came out to greet me when I had polished of the last morsel on my plate.
I’m not exaggerating, this was a big helping with a green salad as a starter and a little treat as a complimentary starter, and I licked the platter clean!
Happy and satisfied I went back to my lovely lodgings to have an early night. Tomorrow, I start my Camino!
My Camino stages from Astorga to Santiago de Compostela. I had a different approach this time, where I now have fixed day stages, as opposed to last time when I took each day as it came and only booked the first two days, as availability of beds on top of O Cebreiro always is limited. Better or worse? Let´s see.
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All photos copyright Anita Martinez Beijer © All rights reserved
The Camino de Santiago is a pilgrimage rooted in medieval origins. It leads to the tomb believed to be that of the Apostle Saint James the Greater, in the crypt of Santiago de Compostela Cathedral. The Camino was, and still is, Europe’s oldest, busiest, and most well-known route.
Bohemialife 