The Camino… THE WAY IS FOR EVERYONE! … It is very special, whether you do it for religious
reasons or just for the sake of it. You see people from all over the globe, all ready to live it.
THE WAY IS LIKE YOUR LIFE… every landscape, every change in temperature, every hill, every
descent… you encounter the unexpected rain, the inevitable blisters, the mud, the cold or the
heat, the mysterious mist, the beautiful glow of the sun between the trees, that magical
silence or those moments of solitary travel, the smile, the conversation or the help that a
pilgrim offers you, the shouts of joy or the music that some kids play, the delight of a sandwich
or a beer….
THE WAY IS A VICTORY… the victory of completing a stage, the majesty mixed with joy and
tears and much happiness upon reaching the Obradoiro square, where you embrace those
“friends” who shared it, or rather who lived it with you… and at the end the great lesson, you
realize that the grace of God is “really” everywhere, that is, THE WAY IS ALSO FAITH. Because it
is not complete until attending the Pilgrim’s Mass.
THE WAY IS A LESSON They can give you a thousand pieces of advice about the road, but “living
it” and doing it is the most important thing. If those stones or those trees could tell us the
thoughts of each pilgrim at the time of walking it, it would be, perhaps, the second most
beautiful story in the world, because the best story is the one that each one of us who walk it
takes with us. That “secret of ours”, those lessons learned, will accompany us throughout our
lives.
THE WAY IS SARRIA! I was fascinated to start the Camino in Sarria. It is not the longest, but
Sarria is “magical.” It is a town inside a forest, with its river and its very friendly people. With a
small historic centre, with those letters that say SARRIA and that unconsciously invite you to
the challenge of the Camino. With beautiful hills full of crops that you will discover along the
way, nature at its best and greatest. Sarria should have a holiday, called “pilgrim’s day.” Good
for Sarria! Figs, chestnuts, apple trees, corn, eucalyptus, cows, horses, dogs, streams and,
above all, locals, who are definitely good people. Then there are towns that you never thought
existed. They are beautiful, you find the good man who continues to live in you.
THE WAY IS GASTRONOMIC Well, you will find delicacies of Galician cuisine that if you are not
Spanish you did not know existed and that satisfy the most demanding palate, and do you
know something? You won't forget them.
THE WAY IS WISE, it makes you see ahead and behind, since you remember EVERYTHING:
where you come from, who you are and where you are going and how you are going to
achieve it.
THE WAY WILL ALWAYS ACCOMPANY YOU. Well, I'm already thinking about doing the road
once again, but really, it doesn't matter if you do it again or not. You will always remember it.
All that remains is to say GOOD WAY! BUEN CAMINO!
