I leave Sarriá behind me not long after 6 AM when it’s still dark. The first thing I meet is an express train rushing past me just by the trail! If I wasn’t fully awake before, I am now. The sunrise is particularly beautiful today, and I’m enjoying my walk. The first 10 km feels easy enough, and I rest for the first time at a café after two hours, where I have my breakfast, a coffee and a French omelette.
I ponder again the difference walking the Camino from the last time, and the community spirit I’m missing when Wilfried catches up, and we continue to walk together. At A Pena we come cross the 100 km milestone! It has a huge significance, especially to those pilgrims who have hiked about 688 km up till now all the way from St. Jean Pied de Port. But, wait a minute! This isn’t how I remember this milestone from the last time! Yes, they have made changes since then, such as making new milestones and moving the locations to be more correct.
About halfway, where I remember I sat on a stone wall to rest, we suddenly come across a bagpiper in the middle of nowhere! We stop to listen for a while and when we leave, we discover he even has his own stamp for our pilgrim passports. I remember the bagpipers in Santiago de Compostela, one of the first things you encounter when entering the big square in front of the cathedral, and I feel the first stirring of emotion at this reminder of the end not being far away now.
Then we reach Mercadorio, and I really want to stop, as I have very fond memories of staying here the last time. We decide to stay and enjoy an exquisite goat cheese salad as a late lunch. Who is sitting outside if not Teresa, whom I met earlier and then in quick succession comes Tine and after her Suzanne! Suddenly we share not only a table, but also our day and our experiences as if we’ve always known each other and in an instant, I have that Camino community feeling that I’ve been missing! The Camino doesn’t give you what you want, but what you need…
Then we reach Mercadorio, and I really want to stop, as I have very fond memories of staying here the last time. We decide to stay and enjoy an exquisite goat cheese salad as a late lunch. Who is sitting outside if not Teresa, whom I met earlier and then in quick succession comes Tine and after her Suzanne! Suddenly we share not only a table, but also our day and our experiences as if we’ve always known each other and in an instant, I have that Camino community feeling that I’ve been missing! The Camino doesn’t give you what you want, but what you need…
About halfway, where I remember I sat on a stone wall to rest, we suddenly come across a bagpiper in the middle of nowhere! We stop to listen for a while and when we leave, we discover he even has his own stamp for our pilgrim passports. I remember the bagpipers in Santiago de Compostela, one of the first things you encounter when entering the big square in front of the cathedral, and I feel the first stirring of emotion at this reminder of the end not being far away now.Then we reach Mercadorio, and I really want to stop, as I have very fond memories of staying here the last time. We decide to stay and enjoy an exquisite goat cheese salad as a late lunch. Who is sitting outside if not Teresa, whom I met earlier and then in quick succession comes Tine and after her Suzanne! Suddenly we share not only a table, but also our day and our experiences as if we’ve always known each other and in an instant, I have that Camino community feeling that I’ve been missing! The Camino doesn’t give you what you want, but what you need…