El Duo Camino - Day Four
Today’s walk from Arzua to La Rua was filled with signs from nature, strangers and loved ones no longer with us. The driver dropped us off at yesterday’s endpoint for us to continue our walk. It was a late start for us, since we were still recuperating from the 18 miles done yesterday. Before we started our walk, we stretched (thank you Eleni for reminding us how important it is to do this) when this nun came out and pointed to the west saying, El Camino para ya. We decided to take a picture of her and when we went back to see the picture later on, what stood out was the ray of Light!
This would not be the last time someone pointed us in the right direction on Day 4 of El Camino. Early into the walk, we came upon a fork in the path that ended at a food spot and without realizing it, we took the wrong route. We hadn’t even noticed the very well marked scallop shell and arrow. We stopped within minutes wondering if we were going in the right direction, when the cook from the food spot came out to signal to us, El Camino es para ya, pointing in the opposite direction. It is these acts along The Way that fill you with immense love and gratitude. We began reflecting on these last few days and the generosity that we’ve encountered from strangers. People leaving water for us, prayer cards, an Indiana couple who were volunteering this last week only to stamp the Credencial for los peregrinos, a fellow peregrino offering his cherries that he had just bought from a vendor on the side of the highway, to messages and quotes taped on old cottages encouraging and blessing the peregrinos.
And then we have the signs of nature. Birds have been singing loudly since Day 1 but today it was a continuous symphony. As we are blogging, they are still performing, this time outside our window. These birds gave us one of the things we enjoy most, MUSIC. We were not just accompanied by birds but at some point during El Camino, we’ve had white small butterflies follow alongside us as well, dancing to the chirping of the birds. Bibi even had a butterfly land on her face, most likely she just wanted to give her a kiss.
My mom, Lola has been with me throughout this journey but today, in true Lola fashion, she made her presence known. During our walk in the middle of no where, we stumbled upon this sign, “Farmacia”. Some might say it is just a coincidence but for us we know this was a ‘God’incidence. 🧡
There have been an abundance of moments throughout this journey where we have heard, seen and felt messages from above. At this particular area of the walk, I heard someone say ‘Bibi.’ I took a moment to stop, take in the moment and say a prayer under this tree, for my uncle.
We just can’t get enough of the amazing flowers we have seen in the countryside of Galicia. These flowers are growing wild and free and we are blessed to have been surrounded by their beauty.
Bueno, this wouldn’t be a Ana and Bibi blog without food pics. Today’s lunch was a chorizo and queso bocadillo and what a bocadillo it was! Of course, Spaniards don’t believe in water, so we washed it down with the next best thing, two canas. (yes, we still haven’t figured out the accento so by now, you shouldn’t have to wonder anymore). We also treated ourselves to the most creamiest ice cream. We happened to discover them yesterday and now it’s a must in our daily food intake.
This picture reminds us of the thousands upon thousands of peregrinos who have walked this path before us and the reminder of where our end destination will be.
Today’s walk, what a difference a day makes!
Tomorrow is our walk into Santiago de Compostela. We can’t express how excited, blessed, and thankful we are to be doing this walk. On our walk today, we talked about how these last few days we haven not worn any makeup (not that we wear a lot to begin with), no perfume, no hair blow-out (of course that reference is for Bibi), no cute outfits and for one of us no deodorant and the other no bra post walk but we wouldn’t have it any other way. This might all change after tomorrow but for now we will enjoy this simplicity. Thank you for the messages thus far, we love reading them, the prayers sent our way as this has been another ultimate sign for us and know that tomorrow while in the pilgrims mass at Santiago de Compostela, we too will be praying for everyone’s intentions. ✝