Follow Your Arrow

I left Canfranc today. I served up my last breakfast to our four overnight guests, threw my last load of bed linens into the washing machine, and handed over the keys to Jacqui, my replacement hospitalera. I said my goodbyes to the two Maria-Joses, my local contacts, and offered my last behind-the-ear scratch to Cima (pronounced “Theema”), Canfranc’s cutest pooch. Pickle is packed to the gills, having added a couple cold weather items to my stash – which seems absurd now that the temperature has climbed to 30 C. On the first day, I arrived at Canfranc it was -1C with a few snow flurries.

I feel ready to move on. The late nights and early mornings left me a bit spent. But I feel good about the care and kindness I extended to the pilgrims I hosted. One very experienced pilgrim, who walked more than 15 Camino‘s over his 78 years, said to me “I think you’re the best hoapiralera I’ve ever had.” That refilled my tank. Over the course of the next few days I will sift through these experiences and try to make a bit more sense of it.

As I sit in the Zaragosa train station, having gotten here by bus, I await my train to Madrid, the last leg of this Spanish adventure before I move on to Italy. I can’t wait to get some gelato and espresso, two delicacies that I’ve failed to find to my satisfaction here in Spain.