Muxía

I was not conformed to finish el Camino at Fisterra. Something in my heart was telling me that I must go to Muxía.

Friday, I woke up around noon. Something in my head said: Go!

I really got prepared in 10 minutes, and headed to the bus station in Santiago. There was a bus to Fisterra at 1pm. A bus!!! Oh no! But in my conscience I had walked from Santiago to Fisterra already. It would take me three days. Therefore with clean conscience I took the bus to Fisterra. We arrived in one hour. As I told you, you never know what route the driver will take.

I started walking at 2pm from Fisterra to Muxía. By 5:00, I was in Lires, the middle point. I decided to stay there for the night. It was a beautiful trail. Eucalyptus trees, pines, and ocean were enchanted. There was one or two pelegrinos coming in opposite direction, I was the only one toward going there.

On the trail, before arriving to Lires, I met Jesus working in the corn fields. I like to talk to everyone in the fields. When we finished talking, he asked me where I was going to spend the night. I told him that I did not make reservations, when he said: stay at my house, we have an albergue, and restaurant in the village. I asked for the name, and he said so proud: Casa Jesús!

I look for his restaurant in the village. It was a new modern facility super clean. I decided to eat first before going up to the albergue. Jesus’ son in law run the restaurant. I was not very impressed in how he treated the pelegrinos. I asked him: are you from this village? He said: No.

I ordered from the menu. It was very diverse. I sat outside, but the sun was in its high; therefore I moved inside. My table had the best view of the kitchen. The chef, Vicente, was and artist in the kitchen. I enjoyed watching all his hands and body movements as he season, and cooked the food.

The food arrived at my table, but something was going on. I ordered a minestrone soup, and many basic ingredients were missing. Later, as a second plate, I order “Raxo”, but all the flavor was in the onions. I said to myself, for second time, what is going on?

The chef kept cooking in the kitchen preparing other dishes, and I was fascinated with his culinary skills. Vicente’s wife was his assistance. She was from Venezuela. At one point a great smell was coming from the kitchen, when suddenly small empanadas were served in small plates as tapas. The owner of the restaurant took two, and brought them to his friends at the bar. As I was ignored, I requested one from my table. I put it in my mouth, and a explosion of flavors came out of it. I said to myself: I need to talk to the chef. As the chef and his wife took a break, they came out of the kitchen. It was my moment to ask him what had happened with my dishes. The confession of the century came! I apologize, but my boss do not want that I use the spices and ingredients necessary to prepare the dishes. The explosion came later when he said: we are departing the next week. I told him how much I had enjoyed seen him cooking from my table, and as he was returning home, he should open his own restaurant. He thanked me for my comments. Today we are friends on this blog.

I went to the albergue and fall asleep. Jesus had a beautiful house, and the rooms were adorable. I had a room for myself with private bathroom.

Next morning, I went to Muxía early in the morning. It was going to be difficult from this point on. I had to hike 300 meters up. It was a very foggy morning. Visibility was almost 0.

Many other pelegrinos were coming out from other albergues. The fog was mysterious, but beautiful. It looked like a mystery movie. I passed a women selling bananas, and other fruits in the middle of nowhere. I asked myself: how she got here. There was not a car or house close by. It was the last easy point to walk. From there on I had to hike up on a difficult terrain, but I enjoyed it. This was my last hike of el Camino. I knew I was like 5km from Muxía and it was going to be the last climb. At the 3km, I reached the highest point, and from there it was my heaven. I had to run the last 2km going down. It was paradise for me. It really was going down, down, down, and down. I passed over 30 pelegrinos that were coming in opposite direction. It was not easy for them. I stopped running as I entered the Lourido Beach. Here I walked straight to the village. I could not see the village the fog was dense. Entering the village, my noise sense was challenge by many kitchens preparing lunch. I entered a small restaurant to eat cold grilled fish with bread. Delicious! It was around 11:00am. I asked the owner at what time was mass. She told me at noon, because Saturday was the feast of Saint Michael, and they will have a great procession. I went to the church, and it was closed. A man in the cementary told me that the mass would be at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Barca. It was at the 0km. I hit there, because I needed the last stamp to get the “Muxíana”. I went to the sanctuary’s sacristy to meet the pastor, Fr. Manolo. He is 89 years old, and he has been in the village 33 years.

I introduced myself to him, and with a big welcoming smile in his face, he said: God has sent you, you will preside and preach today! OMG, I have heard that before, when I was a young man in Puerto Rico. My old priest at my village will ask me to help him during his preachings, because he has trout problems. Fr. Manolo touched his throat as Fr. Alberto frequented. I have flash backs of memory. Here is how El Camino will end, just as it begun…

St. Michael’s readings of the day spoke about how God spoke from the clouds or fog. Nathaniel ate from the fig tree, and early that day, I was eating figs on the trail. I am always mesmerized in how God speak to us. There were so many people at church locals and Pelegrinos. The echo of the Church was powerful. I did not need a microphone. I let the spirit to guide me. When I finished many people was crying. I just told them that even when we have so much dust on our feet from our daily walk in life, God keeps calling us from the clouds to be his holy people. We can be at the fig tree or at the house or work, he always calls us to be holly.

The procession from the sanctuary was solemn with a local band of young men and women playing the “gaitas”. We processed to the port. We could heard explosions at the distance. When we arrived to the port the fireworks started, but we only heard them. The day remain foggy. We could not see the sky or the sea. And the festivities started…

My Birthday

Yes, it was September 25…

I took Kathy and Rita, parishioners, to Fisterra. They wanted to walk part of el Camino. I have to give them a taste of the last 3km in Fisterra. We woke earlier, and went to the Bus station. You never know what route the driver is going to take or if it will be a direct ride or it will stop in different villages. We were lucky. It took all the beach coast, and only stopped three times.

They kept good spirit going up to the light house, but I was sured that they drink water from the water spring at the middle of the hill. It was cold as ice. I think they really enjoyed to make the sacrifice.

Returning to the village I met all my local old friends. Maruja greeting people on the streets, and the other Maruja at the coffee shop invited us for a drink. Two amazing ladies that welcome the strangers with open hearts.

We had a great lunch. Rita and Kathy were tested by the flavors, and the risk to try something new in their diet. It was fun, and they tried all.

We arrived to Santiago around 20:00pm. My birthday party would start 20:30pm. I told the ladies to take it easy. It was my birthday and I needed to take a shower after the long day. We arrived to the restaurant around 21:00pm. It was a lovely dinner, and the cake was delicious. We bought it on our way to the restaurant. Other friends joined us later. We eat and celebrate until they closed.

We plan to go to León the next day, but we cancelled in the morning. Reason: too much fun night before, lol! I made it to the lobby at 6:30am, but ladies stayed in bed. It was good, I went back to bed! A good day to rest.

The next day we went to Vigo. It is the largest city in the Galicia region. It is a city in a hill. We claim to the heights point. It has a beautiful park with heavenly views of the bay. We ate there some tapa, and went down to the bay to visit the “ostreras”. I am a lover of oysters, but they were not cold enough for me, and I needed horse radish. I am spoiled eating oysters. After visiting the city port, we returned to Santiago. That night we ate rabbit. We three agreed, it was deliciously grilled.

Rita and Kathy returned to Louisville.

It took me five days to reflect on the arrival to Santiago. It was a very emotional end. I run the last 100 meters with my peregrinos friends. Tears of joy came out of my eyes. I could not believed it after 1515 km! I remember screaming 59 days, and embracing my group of friends.

We celebrated day and night. We stayed in a great apartment in the historical distric. It was a colorful day. Many dancers and music groups wearing area costumes and mask of Galicia came to celebrate to Santiago the Nativity of the Blessed Mother.

Santiago is a city of arrivals and returnings, but a city of eternal friends. It is what Christ is about! A human family reaching out all the strangers on the road. All peoples come together as one! For two days, I looked for friends that stayed behind, and those who arrived earlier where looking for me. It was an encounter every second.

I met a man at the Compostela’s office that was so glad to meet me, because he heard so many stories about Padre in the Camino. I was so blessed to be part of so many peoples lives, and they were part of my life. I felt refreshed! We all cared for each other.

The time to say good bye (aka. We will see each other again…) to Mario, Alejandro, Gonzalo, Lola y Marcos came. I may go to Madrid this weekend. I hope to see many friends there.

Only Dani, Ana, and me continue the three days journey to Finisterra. The espectacular sea views from the hills inspired me to continue. There were 90 more kilometers to discover. We departed earlier under a dense fog. Arriving to Negreira, we entered a new dimension of reality. From the middle of nowhere two single line of people (around 25) possed by what kind of spirits? we don’t know, passed by us. It was the most spooky moment of El Camiño. Now we were on the Pagans Way. It is how is called by the locals. As they passed by the three of us we felt chills in the bones. Their faces, their clothes, there way of walking was, the way they looked to us, scared us so much that we walked almost 10km in one hour. We still talking today… what was that?

Vilaserio was supposed to be our salvation. When we arrived to the municipal albergue, it was an abandoned place with mattresses on the floor, and not water, but was cleaned. There was not a person in charge. An Australian young woman was coming out of the building, when we arrived. We walked back to the village and stayed in a nice place, where we ate good.

Ana decided to teach yoga, and she had three students. I watched from the distance.

The next morning was so dark. It was like we passsed hundreds of times by the same place in circles. Currents of warm and cold air hit our faces that we could not understand what was happening with nature. Dani and the Australian girl stayed behind, and Ana lead the way. I just followed. Entering in a small village a dog came from no where and surprised us with his barking. We pull up our sticks, and kept walking.

It was a beautiful sunrise by the corn fields. It was not in the map. It looked that it will be all flat, but we found many high mountains to hike. There were not a place to eat till Lagos. There we were received in a wonderful tinny restaurant, and we ate everything.

Few minutes later Dani arrived with a face… We laughed for ever, after listening to his story. He walked into the house next to the restaurant with all the restaurant signs. There he asked for the menu, when a man coming out from a room told him that it was not a restaurant, but his house. He was already in the kitchen table.

It was a long day. After 25 km, I stopped at St. Peter the martyr for fresh water. It was at the top of the mountain before Cee. There I found forest workers sleeping on the grass, and two German ladies filling their bottles. The water was so cold that I drink a bottle there.

We met a great character on the way. His name was Chris, from England. He is in his 70-80’s. He loves to walk on El Camino. He walks with his hands crossed, but his legs go in turbo position. He was fast. I only passed him, when I was running down the hills. He wanted to walk with us as a group, but that was impossible at his speed. He will be waiting for us at some points. I arrived to Cee before him, it was 3km down hill. I run it all! We lost him the next morning. By now we think he is by Paris.

Our day at Cee was out of this world. I waited more of half hour for Ana and Dani at a local bar with the best chicken wings in Spain. No like Spring Street Bar, but almost there. There was a group of young people at a table not too far from me. I was mesmerized by their conversation. It was all about their devotions to God and the Blessed Mother. When to bring flowers to church, and how much money they should give as a donation. I could not believed it. They knew all the feast days and local church celebrations in the area. They talked about the parishes picnics. And they all knew very well the Senegalese priest with 10 parishes in the area.

Ana, and Dani arrived, and we ordered more tapas. When… Adrian arrived! He was the best host of town. He is running for mayor, for a party that does not exist. But he got our votes! He made us buy an octopus from the local fishermen. He took it to a local restaurant that prepared it for us. We had a great dinner that evening. As the octopus was prepared, he took us to the beach. The water was cold, but he warmed us with his great personality and humor. I took a long nap on the sand.

Fisterra was our last destination. KM 0 was waiting for us. I enjoyed the long runs, and the beach breeze. I took the coast road. At some point I got out of the walkers path. I asked information to an old couple walking on the road. They told me that the trail was up by the other side, but they told me to stay on the road, because it will take me to the same place. I hit the trail again. It was like going down a straight cliff. I could not run it. It cannot describe how difficult it was. Reaching the end, the beach smile to us, and invited us to take a bath. I paused to enjoy the beauty. You can walk next to the beach or continue the path. I stayed on the path by the shade. Arriving to Fenisterra, I contacted Dani and Ana. They were behind. I wanted to be sure if they want to reach with me KM 0 or they wanted to do it alone. I stopped at KM 2. They wanted to walk together. It was a very powerful moment. I have no words! We embraced each other. The tourists clap their hands and congratulated us. They started to ask so many questions about our journey. It was 1605 Km behind, and so many ahead! We walked to the cliff, where one more step could not be taken. I found a place to cry. I stayed there for so long. We later sat together to laugh and cry.

It was time to come down and find a place to spend the night. We got the Finesterra note, and had lunch in an amazing restaurant run by locals with fresh fish. Next door was a small grocery store where we bought pasta and clams for dinner.

Praia Mar de Fóra, was the beach west of Finisterra. It was behind our albergue. We went there to see the sunset. It was the best act created by God that I have witnessed. Because there were not so many people there, we jumped in God’s creation! After sunset, we returned to prepared dinner. It was delicious. We bought three bottles of white wine for 4.50! The best wine ever!!! It was about 11pm, when we finished dinner, and decided to visit town at night. We had a great time with other pelegrinos that we have met before.

We returned in the morning to Santiago. Dani had to jump into a taxi as soon as he got out of the bus to go to the airport. Ana and me went to the center to get an albergue for the night. Next day, I had to go to train station at 5am.

I am in Madrid now. The past few days here have been very emotional. The people, the places, the memories. Reflecting back El Camino is not an easy experience.

I thank Mario who opened his house for me here. Tomorrow I go to Murcia to visit Ana, and Thursday to Cartagena to visit Lola.

Arzúa: Party Time

It was all going to Melide to eat the best octopus. It was! Our great group left Palas de Rei around 7:30am, because we wanted to be in Melide for lunch. The octopus man was on his spot by the window. He would pull the octopus out of the hot water and give you a sample. Your reaction is, stop and order a larger plate! We stayed there 3 hours eating, talking, singing, and testing good white wine: Ribeiro.

On these three hours, we have an encounter we all the peregrinos of the past. It was a time to share our joys and sorrows of el Camiño. The time there was precious.

After Melide, I went to Arzúa. Danny from Mallorca followed me. At some point he disappeared. Later, I discovered that he jumped in the river, when he walked to the albergue with wet cloths. It was ridiculous funny. Gonzalo, Alex, and Mario arrived later according to their particular joys of life. These trio of friends is amazing!!! I am so glad to be a new friend in their life. Where is Marcos and Lola? We did not have a clue until later. Lola found the way, but Marcos could not find his phone charger and went back to Melide. He arrived after I have started the Puerto Rican dinner of the night: Arroz con habichuelas y lomo. All of them had been singing the song: La Gozadera. Where it says: the rice and beans dish is a gift from Puerto Rico.

We were 12 at the table. The seven of us, and 5 Italians that have kept our steps. It was a miracle that all tasted like in Puerto Rico without the ingredients. Thanks God I find great spices at the local grocery store. My satisfaction, they ate it all!!!

It was a night that I will never forget. We are at one day from Santiago, but we’re going to divide it in two. Our rival is going to be Sept 8 on the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Sarria – Portomarin – Palas de Rei

Galicia is an enchanted region of Spain with a Celtic tradition. The mountains, and rivers bring a different dimension to El Camino.

Chemim in France, Camino in northern Spain, now I entered the Camiño in Galicia.

It can sound hard to many lovers of El Camino, but El Camino ends in Sarria. After walking 1400 km, I can say that. I am so happy that I stopped in Samos to see their monastery. The last reflection for a long spiritual journey.

Alejandro, Mario, Marcos, Gonzalo and Lola have brought me great moments of joy that I will never forget. What a group! All doing the Camiño searching for a moment where life is revealed itself to them. Every second, every minute, every hour, our encounter has had a heavenly intercession.

Why Sarria is the end of El Camino? Arriving to Sarria I was suffocated by tourism. Buses, taxis, people every where. After 15 km walking and see people with clean shoes, invisible backpacks, dropped everywhere. They were dropped in the city, in every intersection, in El Camiño. Taxis waiting for people just 100 meters from where they were dropped to go 10 km up el Camiño to continue. It just take away the essence of El Camiño.

Today, after 20 km walking from Portomarin to Palas de Rei, a bus passed me full of tourists and dropped them 125 meters in front of me. I kept my speed but because they are so many, they did not care to let you keep your speed. Many times I had to say: excuse me. It is critical when you have been walking all day (30-40km) and you need a bed to sleep. Those in taxis and buses are picked up before the villages, and then dropped by the albergues. I have been lucky to find a place to sleep, but I have seen others with no such a luck. They have to continue walking to the next village or pay for an expensive place.

Gonzalo told me today that I should talk today about the beauty of El Camiño experience, but the above is a reality too. Many times today as I walked and run the hills of Galicia, and I had to fight this in my mind. Tourists were a negative distraction. No everyone that say to you, I did El Camino has done it. No from taxis, no from buses. It is not only 100km. It is a life!

O Cebreiro to Samos

O Cebreiro will give you the most espectacular view of El Camino. It was a village in the clouds. Saying that implies that this morning I was descending for almost 20 km. I run all the descending with Marcos. Oscar, Fernando, and Oscar stayed behind. Only Gonzalo, Alex, and Mario kept behind us, but made it to our albergue at Samos. We took the alternative route that would take us to the older Benedictine monastery in Spain.

Galicia is a beautiful Region. The mountains, and the natural terrain make the area a perfect walk. Running this are was a perfect event.

Arriving to Samos by a hill, you will have a awesome view of the monastery. The walls of rock made through the years introduce you to the valley.

We went to the monastery but at the wrong time. Therefore, we went to the monastery albergue. It opened at 1pm.

A “hospitalero” from Montana received us, and took our information. It was a “donativo” shelter. I put my donativo in the box, and proceeded to my bed. When I moved the pillow in my bed, bed bugs run away. Marcos experience was worst. He found thicks. We looked each other, and walk out. We told the hospitalero that we will be back, but we decided to found another place to stay.

Gonzalo, Mario, and Alex where arriving to town, and heard our story. We all stayed in a good place across the street of the monastery. It had a nice view. The five of us went to eat lunch in a great place. If you want more they will serve you more, at the same price. This restaurant is in my top list of el Camino. We all took a nap till 6pm.

Before dinner, we went to the next door bar. The topic of the conversation was the sacraments of baptism and confessions. I ended giving a quick class of both sacraments. I was amazed by their reception to listen and understanding. I truly enjoyed their companionship.

For dinner a Italian man invited all the guest to eat a great Italian dinner. We just paid for drinks.

It was a great night of conversations, dinner, beer, and wine.

Villafranca del Bierzo

Hills of red grapes welcomed me to the village. I was tempted to taste the grapes, and I did! They were sweet, sweet, and sweet. The wine growers were working in the fields. It was like Tuscany in Spain.

The beautiful mountains of Galicia served as a natural drapery in the distance. The houses’ style was more Mediterranean than from the north of Spain. It gave me a flash back to Italy.

Marcos and me had a great time running down the hills. We are fast walker, therefore, we always arrive early to the albergue.

There are merchants that visit the small villages with products. They horn loud that people can know about their arrival. They are frequently selling bread or produce. Today we were surprise to see a man selling all kind of fresh fish and calamari. I had to take a picture of it. It was a beautiful presentation to the costumers.

Villafranca was a medieval village with a beach. The locals have created a beautiful beach at the river. Hundred of people and walkers met there in the afternoon to enjoy the refreshing waters after a long walk.

The real test for all walkers was after Villafranca. After ascending between mountains on the road, we were challenged to reach the highest point of El Camino in Spain. Marcos, Oscar, and me started walking at 6:15 am. Marcos and me at one point started running that Oscar was left behind. The ascension to O Cebreiro was brutal. We had breakfast in the village Ambasmestas before the ascension. It was a real test of endurance. Marcos was 100 meters in front of me at all time. I arrived around noon, and Oscar follow. He got the first blisters today on his second day.

The albergue opened at 1pm. Marcos went out for lunch, and I stayed at the door of the albergue getting some rest.

Javier and Fernando from Madrid, Oscar and me went for lunch at an amazing restaurant . The food was delicious.

In the afternoon I went to mass, and enjoyed the evening with a group of Italians that know how to have fun playing guitar and singing.

Foncebadón: we are high…

It was a wonderful ascending to a mountaintop. I thank Marcos for he orujos that we drank last night before going to bed. These herbs drinks are magic.

From Astorga to Rabanal the scene changed. It was more green and the vegetation had more volume. I was getting bored by the dried land before.

We stopped at El Ganso for breakfast, after St. Catalina de Somoza.

We were four of us, and the conversation was animated by sins and confessions. The Church history dominated the conversation, but her sins were juicy. I listened, agreed and defended.

Arriving to Foncebadón was a shock for Marcos who has been here 4 times. The village has changed from a traditional town with old homes and stones streets to a comercial center for peregrinos, and paved streets. There is a lot of new shelters now, and the old buildings have been repaired for businesses.

We had a great lunch at a local old medieval restaurant. It was delicious. The portions were so big that we did not have dinner.

I returned to 30 km/day walk. I have plenty days to reach Compostela, but the company is priceless. Therefore, I walk with a nice group of people. I may reach Santiago de Compostela before my plans, but I need to reach Fisterra and Fatima too. I may go all around the world and come back to Santiago for my birthday.

Hospital de Orbigo, solitary beauty.

The majority of this stage is a solitary path where you enter into yourself and let God speak to you. Every thing started from La Virgen del Camino and passing by Villadangos del Páramo, where I stayed last night at the albergue located at the old school at the entrance of the village.

Only 6 of us stayed there last night. It was very quiet, therefore I decided to walk by the village which really had two streets. I run to the pharmacy to get some feet lotion and toiletries. Then I went to the local grocery store to get some lunch to eat. The owner of the groceries store was a very welcoming young man. He had done El Camino in previous years and recommended me some good small villages where the food was delicious, and I should stop by.

Today, the section was flat and easy to cover. Arriving to Hospital del Orbigo, the beauty of the historical Orbigo bridge makes you stop to enjoy the magnificent architecture of the XIII Century. I will stay here today at the Parochial albergue. Mass will be at 8pm, and the local priests has a presentation at 9pm in our place.

Now I am going to tour the village and get some lunch.

La Virgen del Camino Basilica

It was a very especial weekend in León, Spain. Gelo, Marjorie, and little Luis joined me. Gelo and Marjorie were married at St. Joseph 4 years ago. They have little Luis, who I baptized in Madrid. It was a true family reunion. We met at the Cathedral plaza, an little Luis recognized me as the day I baptized him. We walked around the city, and When Luis saw the tourist train, he wanted a ride of course! We ate in a local rest across the Cathedral and enjoyed a great conversation about married life, which is 180 degrees similar to priestly life, but 100% similar about negotiations in life. Any way, we laughed, and enjoyed our time together. At night we went for tapas. It was fun, difficult to find a place in any restaurant. The whole city came out to eat. After eating tapas, they went to their hotel, and I returned to my hostal in a different way. You know me, I wanted to see the other side! By that way, there was a great restaurant full of seniors. And I asserted, they have the best menu. I ordered callos and a drink. Three seniors next to me started a conversation with me about how good they were there, they ended ordering callos too.

I rushed to my hostal to see the video presentation that is showed on the walls of St. Isidoro Basilica, across from my hostal every Saturday at 11:30pm. There were around 500 people there. It was a colorful show of León history.

Today we met at Plaza Mayor. Gelo and little Luis were waiting for me. Marjorie stayed at hotel. Gelo brought me a little present. A little bottle of Woodford to taste on my bday the next month. We had a great time talking and drinking coffee. Luisito is an amazing smart kid. We walked from Plaza Mayor to their hotel. Then Marjorie walked with me back to have lunch with Luisito as Gelo moved their car closer to city center. We had a great lunch that went for three hours. It was almost 4pm when I started el Camino again. It was hard for me to say goodbye to them. They had to drive back 4 hours to Madrid. I just love them as part of family.

I was not sure if staying in León one more night. It was real late to start walking, but I went for 6 more km. The Sun was in front of me, and a big hill was ready to embrace me. Crossing the river, I passed three suburbs of León: the green, the blue, and the white. At the top of the hill was the village of La Virgen the Camino, where I found the first visible shelter. There I went to the Basilica and concelebrate mass at 8:30pm with a wonderful Dominican Order priest.

Returning to the albergue for peregrinos, I found a Brazilian man struggling with his feet. I offered to heal his blisters, and anoint his feet with balm. He accepted my offer, and we chat about his Brazilian City, close to Uruguay. He asked me at the end, how much was my service. I told him to go to church and give a donation in his return to Brazil. Now it is time to go to bed…