Happy Friday!

I am back in Miami after 1.5 months walking and biking the Camino from the border of France and Spain to the ‘end of the world,’ Finisterre, on the West coast of Spain in the Galicia region. Today, the Camino is a pilgrimage traveled by a quarter of a million people each year. The original pilgrims were actually pagans and Celts searching for the land’s end and the resting place of the sun. The Christians, the churches and the religious pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela came much later. While the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela is the end of the Camino for people walking for religious purposes, the fact remains, there was a pre-Christian necropolis on the site where the church now stands. I found that most interesting.

My friends and I embarked on this journey to get closer to nature and to walk the same path as the pagans and Celts. I am still unclear as to why these ancient peoples 1000 years before Christ walked 500+ miles along the Milky Way to perform various ceremonies and rituals at the land’s end. While I do not yet have the answer, I know it had to do with female energy and fertility, not just in the biological sense but fertility of life and the world. I had some great books on the subject but unloaded them my first week to lighten my pack. The knees were hurtin’! As they say, one’s camino (journey) begins when the Camino ends. A spark of fascination with goddesses, pagans and Celts who walked this way thousands of years ago has ignited inside of me. I am now on a path to learn more about these ancient peoples and the female role in shaping not only this pilgrimage, but also the world. This is just the beginning. My witchy side is eager to know more.

Our Camino was grueling at times- 6-10 hours a day of exercise, with some steep uphills and hot temperatures with 15-pound packs on our backs. We switched to mountain bikes at the halfway point of the trip and had our bags sent ahead. As it turns out, that form of exercise is not much easier! However, much of the scenery was breathtakingly beautiful and the company could not have been better. I got through the tough parts knowing there was food and wine at the end of the day.

This was not a journey of suffering for us and we were not there to repent our sins. #lesssufferingmorejoy became our Camino mantra and my favorite Instagram hashtag. I literally ate my way through Spain and then Portugal where we rested for 4 days before flying back to Miami. Six weeks of being away from home and looking forward to my next meal turned out to be stress free but not necessarily my healthiest moment.

My girlfriends who accompanied me will attest to the fact that I love food and wine to the point of madness and that I love animals even more. My affection for animals has led me to a mostly vegan lifestyle. Eating vegan, never mind organic and healthy on this trip was difficult but not impossible. On the other hand, finding good wine (for 1.60 euros a glass – less than $2) was never an issue. See photo to the right, “one who comes and does not drink wine, why come?” Amen.

gaining muscle but also fat – the unhealthy side of things

I had kind of assumed that all the exercise would cancel out the excessive amount of food and wine I indulged in on a daily basis. However, that was not the case and I was never able to button – nor even zip – my jeans brought by my friend who joined us for the second half of the trip. White bread, cheese and tortilla Espanola (Omelette filled with fried potatoes) were our staple foods at the start of our journey. They even make a sandwich with white bread and the tortilla inside. As we were eating vegetarian as opposed to vegan, we had hoped the cheese and eggs came from local farms, happy cows and chickens and that the fruits and vegetables were free of chemicals. Unfortunately, neither was the case as we later discovered.  I will not get into the details of what we saw and experienced but suffice it to say that my desire to live an organic, vegan lifestyle and help others do more of the same has only been furthered as a result of my time in Spain. Thankfully, many of the albergues (hostels) offered tasty dishes of lentils or garbanzos and salads. We were in heaven on those days.

the art of the picnic

The supermarkets did not have much in the way of organic food, however, we often found decent health food stores in the bigger cities. We would load up on bio (organic) vegan sausages, nuts, avocados, rice cakes, vegetable patés, hummus and green peppers. Our rice cake sandwich picnics saved us and brought us back to health. Living and eating this way gave us a sense of community. None of us alone had the makings of a good meal but when we emptied our packs and pooled our resources together, we found we had not just a meal, but a feast. We learned that many locals had their own organic gardens and would share their fruits and vegetables with neighbors, family and friends. I think the world would be a different place if more of us started growing our own food. I know the world would be a different place if we not only grew our own food but also shared it with the members of our community. 

happy animals made us happy campers aka pilgrims

Unfortunately, animals were not always treated well or with respect along the Camino and pilgrims have complained about the welfare of the animals they saw along the way. It was common for people to have chained, nameless dogs presumably for protection purposes only. It is my profound hope that with more awareness, the situation will improve. We did have the pleasure of meeting some happy animals on our journey and gave love to donkeys, cats, dogs, a litter of puppies, horses and even a pigeon.

trail angels and trail magic

On our way home from dinner our last night in Spain, we found a pigeon who needed our help. Some intoxicated men had her feet bound and were dunking her head in alcohol from what we could tell. I literally pushed the guy who had her. The group of men pleaded ignorance and said they were trying to help the bird. Whatever, the let her go without a fight. I put her in a box and gave her a quiet place to rest for the night in my hotel room. Birds, like all living creatures, have unique personalities and the capacity to feel love and pain. This poor little thing had been through an ordeal and needed some attention.

After a peaceful night, I took her to Retiro Park in the morning before my flight. I met some kind, gentle park workers/animal lovers who were eager to help me remove the tight string wound around her foot, which had prevented her from walking properly. While I found this bird in the hands of some unkind people the night before, my faith in humanity was restored when I met these trail angels – Javi, Pili and Pili who thought it perfectly normal to show kindness to a pigeon in need. We even gave her a name- Paloma, which means “dove.” A happy ending to a magical trip.

My camino

The Camino started for me in June of 2016 when my dear friend Pelican wrote to a few friends about joining her on the Camino de Santiago the next year. The Camino we took ended up being something completely different than I had expected and more wonderful than I could have imagined. I was fortunate enough to be completely free of obligations for 45 days and given the time to think and to contemplate life. I furthered the bonds of friendship, indulged in food and wine and thoroughly enjoyed the art of relaxation. I did not experience one tension headache on this trip, something I am prone to in my normal, daily life. That says something. There was the occasional hangover of course –  that good Spanish wine was free-flowing and I flowed with it.

My biggest Camino takeaways-

1) An animal sanctuary is definitely in my future – whether or not I open one or become more involved in one or many, time will tell. Now, I follow and donate.

2) A good metabolism was something I always took for granted but the truth of the matter is that exercise and healthy eating go hand in hand. As today is day 5 back home and eating clean, I may attempt to zip up my jeans. I should probably go for a run first if I have any hope of buttoning them again. That’s the nice thing about living a 90/10 healthy lifestyle – you can go off the wagon 10% of the time and jump back on for the other 90%.

gratitude

One of my routines is to give gratitude before I go to bed each night. It is so healing and sets me up for a good night of sleep. I am bursting with gratitude as a result of this trip. I am thankful for the Camino, the nature, the beings I met along the way – Sita, Orian, Christina, Anne, Jorge, Rye, Paloma, the amazing friends at home who made it all possible and my gorgeous friends Peli and Sheri with whom I walked, biked, ate, drank, laughed and even snorted with on more than one occasion.

Buen Camino and Buena Vida! The journey of life continues…