Moving forward is the only way to go – Pa’lante es pa’llà.
Date: 9th June, 2024
Section: Comillas to Serdio
Region: Cantabria
Distance: 18.65 km
Average temp: 25 degrees
Time on the trail: 5.45 hours
Ascent: 420m
Decent: 334m
Staying: Serdio
Hosteria El Corralucu – Rural guest house right on the camino way. €55 for a double room with breakfast. Clean, comfortable, big rooms, a bit of noise from the room upstairs, but not crazy. A small blink and you’ll miss it town with a good cafe for dinner just a few minutes walk away called ‘La Gloria’.
Recommend, yes ✅.
Instagram: Link to extra photos and daily caption.
Today:
Yes! I am back on the camino, almost a year later and back in Comillas where I left off last time. Gosh, my toes were so injured last time that I really wasn’t sure if I would make it back. No gel polish this time (insert hand over face emoji here). It was a first for me to have to STOP, to really just stop. I wasn’t even sure if I would want to come back, but after writing up the last stage of my camino I felt the familiar call. I am not finished here, it’s still unfinished business for me. There is still some 400 odd kms to go, so here I am ready to walk another 120 of them.
I arrived last night after walking to the station from my home, training to the airport, flying into Bilbao, Alsa bus to Santander and then onto Comillas via a local bus. At the bus stop in Santander I noticed a lady that I had also seen on the plane. We started chatting – as you do when you look like you’re here for the same thing. The hiking pants, backpack and poles are a giveaway. Her name was Jenny and she was Dutch and was also making her way to Comillas where she too had left off last time. So random. She also has four kids and takes off from time to time to walk long walks. Funny don’t you think, a classic camino style coincidence and right from the get go! This is going to be interesting I thought to myself – for sure I am MEANT to be here.
We talked about where we were staying and she was planning the ‘wing’ it type camino. That is, she will just land somewhere and find a place to stay. I was doing it a bit different this time. I had pre booked the first three nights and have planned continue doing this and to have my own room rather than share with people I don’t know. In this phase of my life I just need my sleep! I also need a little more privacy to deal with being a woman in midlife who now needs HRT, glasses and space when I have walked all day. I was also very tentative about my toes – could they still do this day in day out walking. I had whole rituals prepared for this and 7 days of walking to find out.
Of course it is a little more expensive this way but I planned to be organised with food supplies and I am here for a week not a month so it is manageable. This camino I am very curious about what I like (really like) now and of what I think (really think) now. I want to practice making decisions and having a point of view that is less bendy to that of others. I want to remain flexible and spontaneous of course and open to new ideas and perspectives. But I want to be able to choose the energy I give and the energy I take with more care. Like Laurence from France who I wrote about in my last post, she was so good at that. All the strong women I met on the last stage of this camino were, it was the theme.
Naturally, the camino being the camino it didn’t give me much time before I had my first experience to test myself. Jenny was having trouble locking down a dorm room in Comillas. I could offer to share my pre booked double, but deep down I just wanted to start on my own way. There were other rooms available and she was not going to be stuck. There was also the option of staying in Santander and bussing into Comillas early the next day. Always decisions when you walk a long walk, like life. Still though, even as I write this it doesn’t sound very ‘of the camino spirit’ however, it felt like I need to to choose myself in this moment. Look, she may well not have wanted to share with a stranger but still this showed me how hard it is to choose myself sometimes and to not overthink it! I might still be overthinking it. Uuurgh.
After a delicious dinner, a good night sleep in Comillas and with a backpack loaded with fresh food and supplies for the day I was off. Off in the rain! Ha ha the rain in Spain. Of course sun in summer is not a given in the North of Spain, there is a reason it is known as ‘Green Spain’. You need rain for green. It wasn’t unpleasant, I was giddily happy to be walking again and the rain was only in the morning.
There were the firsts, the firsts of the normal things you expect on a Camino del Norte day. The first café con leche, the first ocean views and the first of the pilgrims or as I like to call them, the camino characters. And they happened all at once at my first stop at a beach cafe.
The coffee was so very welcome after 10kms of walking and just a bread roll and some fruit to start the day. The ocean views as always had me grinning from ear to ear and the pilgrims – well, they were very interesting indeed. An older couple who were Oxford University professors. You just never know who you will share a coffee with along a camino! Honestly, I don’t know where else I would randomly just have a coffee with a couple of professors, let alone from Oxford. It was a grand start.
As the walk went on, once again I was just enamoured by the overgrown every things, the animals in the paddocks, the constant of the ocean to my right and the rolling hills and farms to my left. Life is good. Dang I am glad to be back. I happily walked solo today and cherished every single moment. The milder weather made for a comfortable day of walking and as always it feels like the ultimate luxury to have this time and space to just walk. It just feels like me being me. (Note to self: maybe this is a clue for me in narrowing down my ikigai*.)
I arrived in at Sergio in the early afternoon and was so grateful my guest house was right on the camino way, this makes everything so easy! I was able to check in, shower and rest before heading out to dinner. There was only one cafe in the town, La Gloria. It was just a few minutes away, my feet are in excellent shape, toes are fine and I happily strolled down in my best evening wear – the socks and sandals. This will be no surprise to those who know me, this is my absolute favourite hiker-chic attire.
The menu of the day (menu del dia) with the local favourite bean stew was perfect for the end of this long hiking day meal. In the restaurant I got talking to Ted and Bobbie from the US and I heard a number of other accents around the cafe. Bobbie had walked this camino before and she was walking this time with husband. While I only met the two professors along the way today, this cafe stop in this tiny town showed me there are others around. I do wonder who will the camino put in my path along this walk and what lessons are in store for me this time around. No expectations, I will just walk.
Highlight:
All the firsts in that one spot on the beach. Coffee, connection and the Cantabrian sea.
Ho hum:
Imagine a place where things happen not because of an algorithm created to sell you something but because you’re out living your life!
*Ikigai: a Japanese concept that translates to “a reason for being” or “a reason to wake up in the morning.” It represents the intersection of purpose, meaning, and joy, bringing value and fulfillment to your life.
Camino Tales 