Author: Anita Martinez Beijer

Day 5 Camino to Santiago de Compostela – from Las Herreías to O Cebreiro

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I overslept! Gah! Woke up at 6:45am after the best sleep I’ve had in weeks! But of all the days to do this, did it need to happen today when I had a date to walk with others. Well, the good thing is that I probably needed it because I’ve been sleeping very little for far too long.  Left Las Herrerías at 07:20 and though I was the last pilgrim out, but of course I wasn’t. The climb is steep at first, but wonderful. The forest is refreshing and has a sweet scent of leaves, bark, and soil, and I’m incredibly happy to be in Galicia again! Well, technically I’m still in Castilla y León. The border to Galicia is a bit further on up the mountain, but mentally I’m already there. As I have anticipated this climb to be difficult, I’m booked to stay in the village of O Cebreiro at the top of the mountain, so I can take it easy and walk at my own pace. It’s going to be fun to …

Day 4 Camino to Santiago de Compostela – from Villafranca del Bierzo to Las Herrerías

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Not quite the 05.30 departure I had in mind, but 06.15. I’m getting there if slowly. The town sleeps but is pretty with all the lights. Don’t see anyone else around and it will be a while before I run into other pilgrims. I chose the Pereje route which is relatively flat. For the more fit and seasoned walkers, there are two other routes, one that takes you over Alto Pradela and the other longer one over Alto Dragonete.  Villafranca del Bierzo in the distance Today I’m heading to Las Herrerías, which makes it a 20,3 km day, a more suitable length for me. If you follow different forums and groups, as I have done this second time around, you’ll discover there are about as many opinions as people. My tip for you would be, read them but then follow your own instincts. Someone wrote that he thought this particular stretch was boring as it’s next to a highway, so you might as well take a taxi…I myself enjoy the walk. Sunrise behind the mountain …

Day 3 Camino to Santiago de Compostela – from Molinaseca to Villafranca del Bierzo

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Good morning! I aimed to leave at 6 o’clock, but it’s 6.30 before I begin walking. The town is quiet, but eventually new hikers appear and silently exit the town, each in their own thoughts. I’m starting to enjoy these early mornings and being able to see the sun rise. The air is fresh, and it feels incredible for a die-hard night owl like me to be part of the awakening of a new day. The first leg down to the large town of Ponferrada is very steep, and as my poor knees and feet haven’t quite recovered from yesterday, I stop at the very first café that is open at the outskirts of the town to have a little rest and my morning coffee. I haven’t very high expectations of this modern metropolis with a population of 69 000, but it surprises me in a good way. The route I follow takes me though the medieval part and some of the main historic sites such as the XIIthC Templar Castle, Castillo de los Templarios. …

Day 2 Camino to Santiago de Compostela – from Rabanal de Camino to Molinaseca

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Wake up early and collect my now dry clothes from the clothesline, get dressed and out of the door at around six thirty. Today’s walk is 25,6 km, but it’s the steep descent down mountainside that’s going to be the challenge. Typical pilgrim shadow in the morning The first part is wonderfully cool and walking up the mountain is no problem at all. Beautiful nature and wildflowers and the higher I get, of course, a wonderful view, once I pass the fog. I take my morning coffee in the small village of Foncebadón, just before the peak experience for most pilgrims, the large cross, Cruz de Ferro, standing 1,504 meters above sea level on a large mound of stones and pebbles. Pilgrims traditionally leave a small stone at the Cruz de Ferro, to symbolize leaving all their burdens behind. I find myself unexpectedly unmoved by this iconic place, both physically and spiritually. Perhaps it’s because I expected it to be on the very peak of the mountain with uninterrupted views, but it’s surrounded by high pines, and …

Day 1 Camino to Santiago de Compostela – from Astorga to Rabanal de Camino

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I follow the French Way or The Way of St. James which this ancient pilgrim path is also known as, just like the last time, but this time starting in the region of Castilla y León that borders to Galicia at O Cebreiro. It will be fun to discover a new part of the Camino.  It’s a beautiful start and feels wonderfully flat! In reality it’s a steady ascent from Santa Catalina to Rabanal, however I stop every 5 km as I had planned, for a coffee, lunch or something to drink, and luckily there are cafes evenly distributed along the trail.   Passing pretty and very rustic doors on the way. I knew that there has been a tremendous rise of pilgrims since my last Camino in 2012. The statistics show a staggering 438,589 thousand people finished the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in 2022, as opposed to 192,488 in 2012, and indeed, there are a lot of pilgrims on the trail today. However, I enjoy having brief chats with people from many parts of the …

My Camino to Santiago de Compostella 2023 – Arriving in Astorga

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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 …

The Design Sheppard’s book review

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I’m delighted that brilliant blogger Stacey Sheppard wrote a great review about the book Home Life Around the World. Her award winning blog, The Design Sheppard, is one of the leading interior design blogs in the UK. Her blog has been appointed by Vuelio as one of the top 10 interior design blogs in the UK, every year since 2015. I’m honoured. I’m also over the moon that she so totally gets what the book is all about! Read her review here: Book Review : Home Life Around The World

Slow living

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The hectic lifestyle of modern society is fast-paced and many times stressful. As we struggle to keep on top of everything, we are often left feeling drained, overwhelmed and disconnected from the important values in life. Our basic needs today though are the same as they always have been. We still need to be seen, appreciated and to connect in a meaningful way with each other. To be emotionally close, to be cared for and care for others and to love. Is it possible to step back and create a lifestyle that has a more relaxed and leisurely pace, in able to achieve a peace of mind and happiness? Can our homes help us with this? Several of the homes in the book Home Life Around the World reflect a lifestyle known as “slow living”. Slow living emphasizes a slower approach to aspects of everyday life and started with the slow food movement as a reaction to fast food. Well-being, simplicity, a sustainable lifestyle and consciousness are some of the qualities that define this lifestyle. “Slow down …

How to embrace autumn

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Autumn has arrived in my part of the world and I feel my spirits lift on my walks, when I take in the beautiful scenery of leaves that are turning into every shade of red and yellow. The mornings are becoming crisp and even though the weather is mild at the moment, one has the feeling that in no time at all it’s time for wooly mittens, scarves and coats and summer is a mere memory. How do I approach the change of the seasons? As I’ve mentioned earlier I became inspired by Wabi Sabi, when I visited the home of Elissa in New York, on my travels to explore what a home means to people*. Wabi Sabi is a Japanese philosophy that embraces the transience of life, whether nature’s changes, the different phases of human existence or the imperfections found in objects. The keyword that has worked for me is the word embrace. I do so love that word! I found that in actively changing my thoughts about a change I don’t particularly like or …

Colour of the year 2019

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UK paint brand Dulux has appointed ‘Spiced Honey’ as the colour of the year 2019, as part of the brand’s industry-acclaimed ColourFutures trend forecast. Spriced Honey is a versatile shade filled with warm and inviting tones of amber and rich caramel. “2018 was an unsettling and unpredictable time,’ says Dulux. ‘We were overwhelmed by the deluge of news, choices and demands upon our time, causing us to close up and retreat into spaces where we feel safe and cocooned. We pressed pause and took time to regroup.” “As we move forward into 2019, we find this pause has given people time to re-energise and deal with the sense of unpredictability with positive action, optimism and purpose. If the unpredictability of last year forced people to retreat and regroup, 2019 is the time for their awakening. We are ready to ‘Let in the Light’.” Other paint brands such as Jotun have similar shades in their new colour palette for 2019. Jotun’s RAW-Palette we find warm earth colors, neutral gray shades and burnt reddish tones. LADY 12085 Rural LADY Pure Color 20118 …