ending at the zombie chickens

While I wrote every day on the Camino, I ended up writing mostly letters instead of blogs or essays.  I absolutely love my new trifold keyboard that enables me to write almost anywhere.  Maybe I’ll feel more like blogging now that I’m off the trail, but while I was there, I was often sending long emails or scrawling out letters in the morning and then spending the day pondering what i wrote and imagining I was walking alongside that person.  It was lovely.

I ended up walking from Obanos to Santo Domingo de la Calzada, around 75 miles. I did it slowly, purposefully, and over short days.  I only walked with other people a couple of times briefly, and I rarely listened to music or anything else.  It was such a nice reset.  I was uncertain before I came, but it ended up being just the right thing.  It was challenging but not too much.  The overall experience was decidedly different from two years ago—extremely contemplative and much less social.  I’m so glad I came.

I ended up in a town called Santo Domingo de la Calzada, which is known for its zombie chicken incident.  They even keep chickens in the cathedral!  I finished walking fairly early in the morning and was uncertain how I was going to pass more than 24 hours until my bus, but I ended up meeting a lovely Finnish woman named Miia, and we spent the afternoon and the next morning exploring the town and chatting.  It’s truly incredible how quickly people get to know each other in this community.  We climbed a clock tower, visited the zombie chickens, and happened upon a an evening concert of a beautiful children’s choir in a monastery.  The next morning, we ran into each other again—of course—and we encountered townspeople making carpets out of flowers, salt, grass, and colored salt in preparation for a procession later in the day.  I still don’t quite understand what the procession was about, but I have been interested in this tradition ever since I visited Antigua Guatemala and learned about their huge event of making these intricate flower carpets for Semana Santa.

Miia was starting her Camino in Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and I didn’t need my stick anymore, so I literally passed the baton to her, and off I went on new adventures.  

Now I find myself sipping cold drinks while sitting in front of a beautiful cathedral in Zaragoza, a city with a gorgeous, vibrant old town and really very little I feel like I am required to do.  It’s just right.  This morning I tried my hardest to sleep late enough so that there would be breakfast available (turns out that at 8:45am, I was still too early), bought yellow cherries at the market, got a manicure for my distressed hands, took a nap, browsed some stores, bought a couple of prints, had lunch, ate lemon and passionfruit gelato, took another nap, and then wandered in one of the cathedrals.  My goal tonight is to stay up late enough to watch the sun set from the bridge.  Apparently the cathedral looks nice then.  I might need another nap first . . . 

Najera

 I walked from Ventosa to Najera this morning for about 3.5 hours.  That seems to be the maximum that I can do comfortably and even then I am trudging by the end.  Now I’m sitting by the banks of the river in the sunshine at a cafe and am plotting my next move as I can’t check into my hotel for an hour and a half..

I’m thankful to be here and moving my body.  It’s just challenging enough, and now that the weather has cooled down, it is more enjoyable.  The other day I must have spent too much time in the sun or have had too little water or something because when I arrived at my destination, I began feeling cold and shivering.  I sorted myself out, though.  

This is definitely a different experience than my last Camino.  I find myself mostly uninterested in learning about the other pilgrims.  I’m more focused on the meditation of movement and on writing.  I’m thinking about taking care of my body and am paying attention to the small details of the landscape, buildings, and culture.  I like spending a bit more time in each town.  

Today I’m marveling that by the time I arrive at my destination, Spain is just waking up.  There’s a brief window between coffee and wine.  Really, really brief.  And dinner rarely starts until 8pm.  I often wonder whether Spaniards are awake early on and just not out on the streets.  How can an entire culture have a different circadian rhythm from me?  It’s fascinating.

Looking forward to a lazy day today now that I have finished walking.  I believe there’s a street market.  I need to try to locate that.  

saturday in viana

 It has been so hot that the walking can be a real challenge by the time 9am comes around.  I left early today.  I think I was out by 5:45am and was treated to a gorgeous sunrise over the hill town that I was walking away from.  I kept having to stop to look back.  I wanted to sit and enjoy it, but the mosquitoes convinced me otherwise.  

I walked without much of a break until about 11 and nearly dropped after climbing that final hill into town. I’d like to say I took a slow, leisurely approach out of joy, but really I was just struggling!  

But I am definitely getting stronger every day.  I’m looking forward to the heat breaking tomorrow so I don’t have to feel as though I’m racing against the sun.  

I wish I had an extra day planned in Logrono.  I really like that little city, but I’m carrying on because I booked ahead.  

I’ve been walking for a week now through the stunning scenery.  In some ways it feels like even more.  My daily distance is definitely shorter than most of the other pilgrims, which means I meet people one day and then say goodbye the next.  In some ways it is frustrating that I am not fit enough to walk more, but I’m enjoying myself immensely.  I think of all of the people who would love to be able to walk 10k per day, and I relish the opportunity to move my body.

Now I’m sitting outside a bar, sipping a Kalimotxo and listening to the hum of Saturday afternoon locals visiting each other.  Finally, a breeze came up.  I think I’ll go to sleep early.

breaking bread together

Quite a varied bunch at dinner tonight.  Lazslo from Hungary who is studying economics had to excuse himself to talk to his dad, who is super proud of him for walking.  He’s 27, just like Elisabeth who works in prosthetic dentistry lab in Pamplona.  Her family came to Spain from Ecuador when she was 2.  She is shyly working on her English.  I was happy to see Signe from Canada who I had talked with yesterday about some tough times with her mom.  We chatted with Mateo the pot farming accountant from Oregon and Benjamin who just quit his job at a pub in Cornwall.  Young Thomas from Hong Kong came from furthest away.  He’s a geography student, and his face lit up when he was talking about what it is like to meet people from all over the world.  Same, Thomas.  Same.

a day of convergence

Yesterday was a day of convergence on the Camino.

As I’ve been walking, I’ve reached out to pilgrims with whom I have walked in previous years.  It turns out that some of them have also come back to walk at the same time.

Friends Christian and Mena were back on the Camino celebrating having fallen in love here two years ago.  We had kept in touch, and they did me the honor of driving out of their way to reconnect and have dinner with me in the tiny town of Villamayor de Monjardin.  What a treat to catch up.

But that wasn’t the only connection yesterday!  Two years ago my South African/Aussie friend Adrie waited hours in the pouring rain for me to arrive in Santiago.  Committed to welcoming me, she was almost as drenched as I was when I finally dragged myself into town to gaze at the cathedral.  This year, she came back to the Camino to do some walking in France and then skipped ahead to do the last several days of walking into Santiago again.  

I was excited for her to arrive earlier this week on a sunny day and was feeling a little sad that I couldn’t be there to greet her.  I also knew that my other South African friends, Franklin and Pam, with whom I had walked with way back in 2007 were arriving in Santiago on their (nearly) yearly Camino walk this week.  On a lark, I sent a photo to Adrie and told her to look out for them. 
It turns out that they ran into each other and started chatting quite by accident after hearing each other’s accents and then realized that they knew me!  They sent me a smiling picture of themselves in front of the famous cathedral, and I was so tickled that the Camino had brought us all together.

I find myself wondering whether I’ll make any enduring connections this year.  For now, people wander in and out of my day—fascinating people.  

no whirring

I spent hours this morning writing letters outside at a café while drinking a giant orange juice and a café con leche and a Cola Cao. I watched Estella wake up and stretch and buy bread.  I did laundry.  I replanned my trip because I have a better Sense of Things. Then I bought 6 envelopes from the librería for 30 centavos. I found the post office and mailed 2 of the letters.  I feel rich with possibility because I have four spare envelopes and four spare stamps. 

I meandered the cobblestone streets and had a slow lunch that featured a very tasty vegan burger. I chatted with an Australian pilgrim and gave bread to a small child to distract her from licking the chair which she was intent on doing to the disgust and amusement of the collection of people who were doting on her.  I had a look at the river and then marveled at the beautiful library where I idly pulled out books to leaf through them.  I wandered around a supermarket to gaze at the various mysterious products 

At 2, the town started to shut down for siesta, so I decided to have a nap as per local tradition. Who am I to interfere with a cultural routine?  

Later, I talked to some folks on the phone and read a bit. I had a strawberry and mango ice cream while I sat on a bench and observed kids kicking balls in late afternoon sunshine of the plaza.  

By the end of the day, I noticed that my brain had stopped whirring like an overheated computer.  Tomorrow I’ll set out again with clean underwear. 

dancing in the streets with flaming bulls

 I had given myself an extremely short walk to a boring town on my second day, so I’m already switching it up. I decided instead to walk 14K, which I worried would be a bit of a stretch, but it ended up being tiring but enjoyable. It also got me to the city of Estella, which is celebrating their patron saint today, the Virgin of Le Puy.  So I spent a chunk of the afternoon dancing in the plaza with some elderly ladies to traditional music. So joyful!  I then took a nap so that I could return to the streets to witness my first toro de fuego, I’m currently watching throngs of children gather around a bull sculpture on wheels that is rigged up with—as of yet—unlit fireworks.  When the woman at the hostal was telling me about it, she looked deep into my eyes and said, “You have to be careful.”  Then she repeated warning three times. That just makes me more curious!  

I watched. It was fantastic. Squealing kids running around after the squealing fireworks spewing from the bull as it was pulled around the square in laps. Totally unsafe. My dad would have approved wholeheartedly. 

side quest

I’m trying to find the right way to navigate the arrows, trying to figure out what my days will look like since I am moving shorter distances.  I know that I want to write one letter per day. So early this morning I sat at a cafe and got very absorbed in doing just that. And before I knew it, more than an hour had passed, and the sun was beating down. I thought I only had a bit more to go until the next town, so I decided to travel a little side route. This route was not on the “Wise Pilgrim” app. And do you know WHY it isn’t there?  Because “wise pilgrims” do not take the scrambling, rocky up up up down down down route that is not pictured on the map.  It really was beautiful. And also fragrant due to the abundance of Scotch broom—a big yellow bush.  Once I finished my side quest, I threw myself spreadeagled on the ground and lay there for a bit before continuing onward m—and upward—in the blazing sun toward my lodging for the night. It was exhausting—and I admit—pretty fun. 

sleeping sickness

My biggest accomplishment over the past two days was that I only puked publicly one time. (Sorry gelato shop patrons).  I’ve been mostly sleeping since noon yesterday trying to settle my stomach and soothe my jet lag.  

Today I took a taxi from Pamplona to Obanos where I had booked for the night. There was no one else at the pilgrim dinner, but I managed to eat a little bit. Off to a weird start.  I hope to actually walk tomorrow!

Número cuatro

 I’m sitting outside in at a cafe in Madrid at the Plaza de Juan Goytisolo near Atocha train station.  I’m eating a delightful salad of mango, avocado, and tomato, which is a bit of a surprise.  The only thing I don’t really like about Spain is the food.  Far too much meat.  

Why am I here in Spain?

The most basic answer is that I’m here to walk on the Camino de Santiago.  

I’ve written some version of this post on three other occasions—in 2007, 2009, and 2024–to explain why I was called to walk as a pilgrim.

In 2007, I walked from just over the border of France to the sea.

In 2009, I started in Le Puy, France then realized I wasn’t all that into speaking French, then took a train to Spain and walked about three days and left after realizing it wasn’t the right thing.

In 2024, I walked about 500 miles from Pamplona to Finisterre to celebrate turning 50.  I wanted to be proud of myself and of my body.  And I was.  I wanted to kick off my 50s feeling great.  And I did.

But then came a tough couple of years at work and a tougher couple of years in the United States.  I don’t feel strong and proud anymore.  Honestly, I feel just the opposite—weak and ashamed.  

After my first Camino in 2007, I said that I didn’t need to come back except in a few defined circumstances.  I wrote this:  “I think it would also be a good place for me to return to if I was trying to work out something difficult in my life.”

So I guess that’s why I’m here.  Two years ago, I arrived ready to walk.  The preparation made me feel powerful.  This time, I haven’t trained.  But I’m ready to walk my way into feeling better about myself and our world.  

It will be a different kind of walk—very short days until I’m feeling more confident.  I’ll have lots of time for reading and thinking and visiting with other pilgrims.  I hope to write, too. (Ask me about my exciting trifold Bluetooth keyboard that works with my phone!)

I don’t really know what to expect.  Maybe it will be the right thing for right now.  Maybe it won’t be.  We’ll have to find out.  It will be an adventure either way!