On the CaminoJournalhttp://onthecamino.squarespace.com/journal/2008-12-11T21:16:44ZSquarespaceNewshttp://onthecamino.squarespace.com/journal/2008/12/11/news.htmlDeborah2008-12-11T20:24:56Z2008-12-11T20:24:56ZDear OntheCamino Readers,

I'll be back with more episodes after the holidays.

I still promise to finish my story. I am nearing the end of my story about being on the road back then, and just like then, I feel the end approaching. It feels pretty strange. But, we'll get to that.

Thank you for another year of very nice comments, encouragements, and support. I'm grateful and very aware.

I wish all of you a very happy holiday season.

~Deb

]]>Cacabelos to Vega de Valcare, maybe - part 1http://onthecamino.squarespace.com/journal/2008/12/2/cacabelos-to-vega-de-valcare-maybe-part-1.htmlDeborah2008-12-02T16:52:26Z2008-12-02T16:52:26ZThe next morning while getting quickly dressed, it occurred to me that bundling myself up each morning had become a ritual too. To the delight of Marc, I emerged from my little orange albergue space capsule as the green frog cosmonaut once again. We gathered in the courtyard. Even in the darkness and cold those of us who where ready to go, joked and laughed in the courtyard while waiting for all of the group

]]>Al Acebo to Cacabelos - part 5http://onthecamino.squarespace.com/journal/2008/11/27/al-acebo-to-cacabelos-part-5.htmlDeborah2008-11-27T17:08:57Z2008-11-27T17:08:57ZWhen we came up on Cacabelos I really thought that we were going to keep going. To get to the albergue you cross a bridge that goes out of the little town. I had no idea where Xavier had planned to stop, so for me, we seemed headed out of the town and therefore headed onward towards Santiago stopping whenever. When we got to the church where the municipal albergue was located and we stopped,

]]>Al Acebo to Cacabelos - part 4http://onthecamino.squarespace.com/journal/2008/11/9/al-acebo-to-cacabelos-part-4.htmlDeborah2008-11-09T20:28:27Z2008-11-09T20:28:27ZWhen we caught up with the others Marc mentioned to Xavier that he could have waited two minutes. Xavier made some joke about it, and soon Marc was laughing in response. There was absolutely no reason to get mad or hurt because it was no surprise after all, and Xavier knew that Marc would call at some point. I walked with Paulo a bit while Marc and Xavier continued their little negotiations of power. Paulo summed up the situation succinctly and brilliantly when he said,

]]>Al Acebo to Cacabelos - part 3http://onthecamino.squarespace.com/journal/2008/11/5/al-acebo-to-cacabelos-part-3.htmlDeborah2008-11-05T21:29:07Z2008-11-05T21:29:07ZWhen the sun came up it was another brilliant day, the Camino gods never seemed to tire of giving us those deep blue skies. I never tired of looking up into them. The clarity was arresting; the distance between myself and that sky was a journey through perfect nothingness. Just to stand under that sky and

]]>Al Acebo to Cacabelos - part 2http://onthecamino.squarespace.com/journal/2008/10/28/al-acebo-to-cacabelos-part-2.htmlDeborah2008-10-28T18:51:21Z2008-10-28T18:51:21ZI rolled over and leaned just my head over the side of my bunk to find a slender, average sized woman with deeply tanned, olive skin and shoulder length hair which was wrapped in a bright tangerine-orange bandanna, standing next to the bunk bed below me, packing and unpacking things into white plastic bags that she was trying to get into her pack. She had on pants that went over and stopped at

]]>Al Acebo to Cacabelos - part 1http://onthecamino.squarespace.com/journal/2008/10/22/al-acebo-to-cacabelos-part-1.htmlDeborah2008-10-22T13:03:23Z2008-10-22T13:03:23ZI went back upstairs after collecting my laundry, completed all my tasks for the night, and promptly got into bed. There was still a lot of activity and noise in the room but it eased rather quickly into the usual rhythms of snoring and snorting, shuffling and creaky bunk bed tossing. I was happy to be off my feet and happy to know that in the morning

]]>Murias to Al Acebo - part 4http://onthecamino.squarespace.com/journal/2008/10/19/murias-to-al-acebo-part-4.htmlDeborah2008-10-19T22:29:00Z2008-10-19T22:29:00ZThe rest of the day's walk, which was a little over 9 kilometers, rode on the wave of the day's highs. We left La Cruz de Ferro and came to the next rather famous village of Manjarin. It is most famous for its much photographed sign which points you in all directions to famous pilgrimage sites along with their distances. It has an albergue, which is run by

]]>Murias to Al Acebo - part 3http://onthecamino.squarespace.com/journal/2008/10/6/murias-to-al-acebo-part-3.htmlDeborah2008-10-06T21:46:17Z2008-10-06T21:46:17ZLa Cruz de Ferro, one of the most well known landmarks of the Camino Francés is an uphill 2 kilometer climb after Foncébadon. If you don't already know, it is an iron cross on top of a large wooden pole. It's not so spectacular in and of itself. What is interesting is that it is a place, a monument, and a milestone along the Camino where most pilgrims

]]>Murias to Al Acebo - part 2http://onthecamino.squarespace.com/journal/2008/10/3/murias-to-al-acebo-part-2.htmlDeborah2008-10-03T21:10:39Z2008-10-03T21:10:39ZAt Foncebadón our group had expanded by one member. When we had finished singing and were back outside standing and talking with Arnaud, we saw another pilgrim arriving. It was Paulo, the Italian man we had originally met in Hontanas. We greeted him with cheers as he climbed up the mountain to where we were standing. He smiled and stretched out his arms

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