Camino de Santiago: Disfrutar de la energía

I am in Burgos to start walking the Camino from where I left off. I had a short stop in Madrid, stocked up on snacks and was warmed by the hospitality and Rioja wine at Cervecería Pepe. A warm embrace. I am feeling very fortunate to slip back into the Spanish way of living, and back onto the Camino. I even received my first “Buen Camino” as I checked out of my Madrid hotel with my loaded backpack and Camino necklace (with the shell crafted from iron) around my neck.

When I was walking in September a woman running a rest stop shared this advice with me: Disfrutar de la energía. Enjoy the energy. These words float back into my mind as I ready myself to step back onto the Way.

It was my last day of walking. On that warm sunny day she handed me a slice of juicy watermelon. Her rest stop was decorated with hammocks and log benches painted in colourful designs. Bright and cheery like her. Another pilgrim stopped at the table for a cup of Coca Cola. He gulped it quickly, left a generous donativo, and was off. I stayed and slurped my melon. She told me about the four stages of the Camino.

• El Nacimiento (birth) – over the Pyrenees to Pamplona
• La Juventud (youth) – Pamplona to Burgos
• El Muerte (death) – Burgos to Leon
• La Resurrección (resurrection) – Leon to Santiago de Compostela

I told her I was stopping in Burgos.

“Ah no! El Muerte!” she said laughing.

I assured her I would be back. I was loving my days on the Camino. I didn’t really want to stop. The Coca Cola pilgrim rushed back to find his phone. It was on the table beside us. Phew, off he went again.

“Es muy special,” she said. “La energía”. There’s a special energy on the Camino. After two weeks of walking I was starting to appreciate this. Starting to. I was still in my youth after all.

“Disfrutar de la energía,” she said.

Enjoy the energy. Soak it in. Savor it.

These were her parting words. Good advice for me now.