“I just finished my small lunch,” Ricardo said. I knew what he meant. He had just finished his almeurzo. If you look up the English translation, it will say, “lunch.” But in Valencia, Spain (where Ricardo lives), it is definitely not lunch. Almuerzo consists of a small sandwich accompanied by a glass of wine or…
Category: Camino
Walking Into the Unknown (aka the Camino Invierno)
In Spain, there exists a monthly magazine about the Camino de Santiago. The articles are beyond my level of Spanish comprehension, but the charts and graphs. . . those I can follow. This is how I learned that 438,000 people walked into Santiago de Compostela last year. Seventy-three percent of them arrived via the two…
A Camino Fail
Blog posts written about my first walk on the Camino de Santiago: 32 Blog posts written about my second walk on the Camino de Santiago: 0 —— My second Camino was a disaster. The route I chose was not well marked. Not that I would have seen the trail markers–it was raining so hard I…
No Deaths In The Afternoon. Or In The Morning. Or . . .
When his time comes, I prefer my father die in his sleep, at home, surrounded by his family. What I don’t want? For his death to come while walking the Camino de Santiago. I can’t recall when this possibility first crossed my mind. Probably back in the planning stages when a sibling wondered if our…
A-Camino-A-Day. . .
I snapped a picture of the Camino trail marker and laughed to myself, recalling a conversation I’d had back in 2020 with my youngest sister Meg. “Would you ever do a winter Camino?” she asked me. She had just seen the video I’d made of my first Camino with my father and I knew where…
Learning Spanish: The Lost Luggage
June, 2012: After 37 days walking Spain’s Camino de Santiago, every pilgrim knows what a mochila is. But maletas? I’d heard the word, and knew it had something to do with luggage, but I wasn’t clear on the exact definition. Until . . September, 2021: Dad and I were on our second Camino. Our bags…
Outrageous Goals
I don’t do it regularly. But every once in a while I make myself some (outrageous?) goals. I put a date on them. Put them out to the world. Take baby steps towards them. And then the world opens up, embraces my idea, gives me an avenue I’d never imagined, and hands me my wish…
A New Chapter
Just weeks into dating, Michael gave me a gift: a ceramic journey boat filled not with people or goods but with a scene. An old church sits upon a green hill, a river flows in front of it, a small stone bridge connects the churchyard to another tree-dotted hill. It was one of many precious…
Coming Home (to St. Jean-Pied-de-Port)
As I walked down the cobbled Rue de la Citadelle, I saw her standing outside her home chatting with two gray-haired men. Oh good, I thought. She’s still here. And somehow I felt like my world was coming back together. I don’t know her name. But I’ve been in her home. Three years ago I…
The Intersection of Dairy Queen and The Camino de Santiago
Steam rose from the water in the plastic measuring cup. I slipped the knife in, paused, pulled it out, then hovered a second to let the excess water drip off. Touching the tip to the center of the ice cream cake, I used all my strength to break through the hard chocolate shell. With great…
RenaissanceRebecca 