In the morning I make the decision to take a day of rest. It’s not so much my bad knee that has swollen up and still hurts that is crucial. After many intense days of walking in wonderful company, surrounded by the extraordinary spirit of community that the Camino so generously provides, I feel the need to pause and wait for my soul to catch up and reconnect with my own Camino, because in tomorrow is the day I arrive in Santiago de Compostela, and it is an important day for me.
I’m pleased to have come to this conclusion and head across the road to see if there is any breakfast to be had. Here I find Tine, who is trying to find plane tickets home, and after a while Suzanne arrives, who also has problems with her feet and is now taking shorter day stages.
Eventually I gather my belongings and head to O Castro. It turns out to be an excellent decision. My new ‘home’ is a very nice little room in a small, newly renovated stone house with a very large tree, standing a stone’s throw away from the Camino itself. I can see pilgrims passing by from my window. There’s a restaurant just 300 meters away, right next to the Camino, Fernanda who works here, tells me. So, I walk there without my hiking poles, and it feels strange at first to not have this support, which is hilarious as the trail is flat as a pancake. How quickly you get used to things…
Another large and magnificent tree stands beside the restaurant O Ceradoiro and pilgrims sit in the shade where the sunlight filters through its foliage. Here I have a delicious lunch of ratatouille and rice. James, an English pilgrim I have bumped into from time to time, is here too. He told me earlier that he makes a point of always walking alone, and only socialize with other pilgrims in the “in-between times” such as now when he’s having lunch or in the evenings at the albergues. After lunch I stroll back. What a lovely sensation to be strolling instead of hiking. Massive difference!
I spend my day in the garden. A large open barn-like construction with a fireplace faces the garden at the back. It seems to be the perfect place to have barbeques and parties. There is also a huge tree, which I sit and admire, enjoying the beauty of not doing anything at all. There is a famous saying in Italy I learnt from Nicolás, the architect I met when I was staying in Buenos Aires. ‘Il dolce con niente’, meaning ‘The sweetness of doing nothing’.
I’m grateful that I’m highly sensitive. But since I easily absorb other people’s energies, I have to be aware of ways to protect myself from being drained of my own energy. Being by myself helps me integrate my experiences on the Camino. It was a good decision to come here.
Every day we have choices. We are capable of creating new choices for ourselves, or to continue living our lives on routine. We can choose to make decisions from our intellect or from our emotions. If we choose based on our feelings, we get closer to our heart, and choosing the path of the heart rarely leads to error, rather the opposite. Being here on the Camino again comes from a decision made from the heart. I’m grateful that I was able to gift myself this experience again.
O Castro is roughly 5 m further away from O Pedrouzo, where most pilgrims choose to stay before Santiago de Compostela. I need to start walking early to be able to get to SdC and attend the pilgrim mass at 12:30.
Staying here is also a very sweet Spanish family of four. They are horrified when they find out that I intend to leave the house at 5 in the morning and walk in the dark alone. ‘But I have a very good head torch’, I protest. ‘No, we will all leave at the same time so we can keep you company’, answers the mother, who has the same name as my small town in Sweden. So, just like that, I’m part of the Camino community again. Tomorrow Santiago de Compostela!
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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.
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