Day 20 - Hospital del Orbigo to Santa Catalina de Somoza (27 km)

Today I learned what it means to 'lean on The Camino.'

After another great dinner last night, this time with young Michael from Austria, Ka (girl) and Jurgen from Germany and Bernard, the Doc and I made an early start, leaving the Albergue just before 8, with quite a few others just ahead or just behind. Another glorious morning - possibly coldest yet - with a slow sun rise lasting until well after 9. I'm no longer fooled by these cold mornings. By 10 the temperature had doubled, and kept on rising to a blistering afternoon, just as it has done every day.

It was a fairly gentle walk to Astorga where I had thought I might stay the afternoon and overnight. I walked part of the time on my own and part with Bernard but with about 10 kms to go I suggested to him that I walk ahead so he could have his last couple of hours on The Camino on his own and we would meet at the cathedral. It's a funny thing about The Camino. It's great to have company but it feels important to have time on your own. Though I noticed later that Jurgen had caught up to the Doc so not sure how much quiet time he had in the end.

As I walked the last 10 kms into Astorga I found myself becoming increasingly sad. I'd had such a wonderful 4 or 5 days with Bernard and I was realising that I'd come to rely on him as someone I could walk with when I wanted to - and vice versa - someone to discuss where we might get to the next day and where we could stop along the way, someone to share meals and decisions - where we would eat and which Albergue to choose.

I'm not sure if I've written about this before but there are not too many people on The Camino, at least that I've come across, for whom English is a first language. Although the pilgrims are open and friendly, and many speak English, there have not been many opportunities to have easy and long conversations - before the Doc the last time was with Patrick and Rosarii.

Everything on The Camino seems condensed. When you hit it off on The Camino, the bonds develop quickly. We'd had plenty of time to talk and listen, some serious discussions and a great many laughs along the way. I realised this easy friendship had become a sort of security blanket for me.

Some you meet on The Camino enrich your life - and you theirs - even though you know you may never see them again. Somehow, though you'd like to think your paths may cross again, you also see that it's not important. And it's not just the people like Patrick, Rosarii and Bernard - or Vaclev, Nina and Jens. It can be people you talk with once or twice or people you see every day with whom you exchange the same greetings day after day, the barrier of language an obstacle to anything more.

Like Michael from Austria just 21 who, before starting The Camino, walked for a month through Austria and Switzerland. At dinner last night he told us that he was entirely alone the whole time and it was the hardest thing he'd ever done. He's enjoying the comraderie and easy friendships of The Camino.

Or Ka, a girl from Germany I'd put in her mid 20s, who walked The Camino last year as well. But it was in summer and in a 'holy year' and she found it very crowded and not quite what she had hoped. She wanted to come back in autumn when it would be less crowded and more peaceful and she's so happy to have found it so. This year she is walking again the last 400 kms to Santiago de Compostela. It was wonderful to talk to Ka and she gave me some advice which will be important as I approach the last stage of my walk. I will tell you more about that when I get to Santiago.

And then there are the two Italian gentlemen I first noticed very early on in my Camino. I've included a photo I took of them today when I passed them having one of their regular stops. The older one - in the red hat, always - I know to be 73, the younger one in his 60s I'd guess. The first week or two they seemed to be doing it really tough, shuffling along with bodies at strange angles. Yet they seemed to always end up covering the same distance as me and, sure enough, staying in the same Albergue. I usually passed them by mid morning and would see them again later that evening. I worked out that they must be leaving well before sunrise and arriving a couple of hours after me.

Everyone seems to know them and we will often ask each other 'have you seen the Italian gentlemen?', looking for reassurance they are doing well. One day early on I stopped beside them for a 'shoes and socks off' break and was horrified to see the state of the older man's feet. Then a few days later he had a compression bandage around one knee and now on both. But every time I see them they both greet me with big smiles. The 'young' one is quite shy but the older one always greets me with 'Buongiorno senorina' and says goodbye with 'Ciao Bella, Buen Camino'. Tonight when I saw him he added a big bear hug. The older man and I usually exchange a few words, each in our own language, and I'm sure neither of us understands what each other is saying. But we're both all smiles and the ritual is replayed every day.

The good news is that in the past week or so they have been transformed. The worst of their injuries seem to be behind them, they are both walking with a more upright posture and a regular gait, and they seem to be leaving later and arriving earlier. They are clearly far stronger and more comfortable than just a few weeks ago. We all agree they are an inspiration.

So The Camino has a way of bringing people into your life who in a fleeting time make an enduring impression. So in hindsight it should have come as no surprise that I was sad to say goodbye to Bernard today.

I decided not to stay in Astorga. It was a bigger town than I'd anticipated but that wasn't the reason. I simply knew I needed to keep walking today and soon realised that is what's meant by 'leaning on The Camino'.

So, still a bit teary, I starting walking the 10 kms to Santa Catalina, and thinking about all that I've just written. It wasn't long before I fell into a lighter rhythm and a comfortable pace despite the heat. After 5 kms I walked through the small village of Murias de Rechivaldo where the only sign of life was a shopkeeper sitting on the bench outside her store. But what I noticed first - heard - was the classical music coming from the shop. I walked in and she followed. I told her the music was beautiful and I'm sure she understood. I made my purchase, with muchos gracias, and she wished me Buen Camino.

So with my magnum ice cream in hand (at least the Spanish equivalent and ideal comfort treat on this hot afternoon) I walked towards Santa Catalina. In less than an hour I'd covered the last 5 kms. As I came over the last rise and with my first look at this small village, I felt sure that I was where I was meant to be.

The postscript is that though I didn't stay in Astorga, I did end up with my own lovely room and bathroom in a private Albergue, El Caminante, in the peaceful village of Santa Catalina de Somoza. And I'm looking forward to Day 21 and the next stage of my Camino.

Ultreya! J x