One year ago today my brother and I were hiking 18.32 miles from Villafranca de Bierzo to Laguna del Castilla in Spain. 43,336 steps, give or take. We started early in the morning, before sunrise, with lights strapped to our heads as we walked along the Spanish highway through the pouring rain. It remained raining most of the day, as we passed through several villages and fellow pilgrims passed us. At one point we heard a very loud and unrecognizable noise above the sound of the rainfall, only to realize it was a honking donkey strutting by. And I can only imagine that at some point during our walk, my brother and I got into a spat about something silly, like that he was talking too much or that he ate more than his fair share of tortilla. After a slippery incline at the end of the cold, fall-like day, we finally arrived at our tiny town—no more than a single hostel and a restaurant—before settling in for the night, watching the movie Twister in Spanish as it played on the restaurant’s TV. Continue reading “El Camino de Santiago: One Year Later”
