I am a proud owner of 130 fairy tale CDs. The fairy tales are recorded in Slovak, but the stories are from all over the world. When I grew up, I realized that there was one big lesson that I learned from the thousands of fairy tales. Things always end up well for the good characters, no surprise. However, the reason why it keeps happening will stick with me forever.
The fairy tale characters get to enjoy happily ever after because they refuse to give up in the process.
Juan and I were about to reach the highest point on the Camino Frances (1500 m). It’s a very symbolic Camino spot with a tall wooden pole and an iron cross on the top (hence the name Cruz de Ferro). The pole is surrounded by a hill that was transported to this location stone by stone by pilgrims. Some pilgrims bring rocks, many prefer locks. It’s hard to find something to lock in between the stones, but at least the locks are not removed like they are from bridges. According to the tradition, Cruz de Ferro is a place to leave a physical and a spiritual burden. We picked up some chestnuts at the start of the Camino in Saint-Jean and kept them in our pockets. I don’t think they can be considered as a burden, but we were certainly happy to place them near the hill top. There might be a chestnut tree there one day, how cool is that?
Juan enjoyed his spiritual moment – letting go of pain connected to the death of his brother. I didn’t give the task much thought. In the end, I decided to let go of my anxiety that I’m not good enough. I didn’t want to spend a lot of time on the hill, the taxigrina was approaching. She wasn’t the person I wanted to have around during spiritual moments. I didn’t feel lighter until we got lost, had an argument and I cried. I cried together with the gloomy sky, not knowing the real reason why.
I replayed an old Chinese fairy tale in my head. Once upon a time, there was a widow with two sons. One of them colored fabrics, the other one was an umbrella maker. When it rained, the widow cried: “Oh, my poor younger son, his fabrics can never dry in this weather!” She cried when the sun came out: “Oh, my poor older son, how can he sell umbrellas now?” One day she met a wise man who opened her eyes. Since that moment she smiled every day. When it rained, she was happy for her older son selling umbrellas on the market. When it was sunny, she thought of her happy younger son. I realized that I cried about the anxiety of my past and I opened my eyes to the present. A huge full arch rainbow filled the valley, for the third time that day!
The descent was difficult because of the terrain, there were large river rocks like at Alto de Perdón. We briefly met Santi on the way down. He recommended us to walk on the asphalt road and save our feet. Other pilgrims obviously had the same idea. Our goal for that day, the village Molinaseca, was still a few hours down. As we walked deeper into El Bierzo valley, the rain clouds disappeared. The temperature quickly rose and I was boiling in my black shirt with long sleeves. We sent the luggage by car, so I had no change of clothes with me.
Juan suggested: “Why don’t you just walk in a bra?” Wonderful thirty minutes of beach weather on the Camino.
Only us and one more couple stayed in Molinaseca. The remaining pilgrims continued 7 km forward to a big town Ponferrada. We followed Santi’s advice – Molinaseca is much prettier to explore than Ponferrada. Other than that, the covid situation in Ponferrada was miserable. Any day the town was about to get confined. We texted Santi and asked where he ended up staying overnight. The crushing news hit our Camino reality. Santi’s friends, with whom he stayed the previous night, all tested positive for covid. Santi took a taxi to the nearest hospital in Ponferrada and got tested.
He didn’t tell us the result, but he returned home. Second Camino Papá down.
The best way to absorb the shock was to enjoy a relaxing evening. We stayed in our favorite albergue on the Camino Frances called Señor Oso. The beds were comfy, the house was warm and the bathroom was decorated with motivational quotes.
The host was a really friendly guy who passionately told us about local attractions. The biggest attraction is a Buddha carved in a living tree. The tree usually dies after this procedure, so this time Japanese artists took a few months to carve the art to let the tree adjust. The Buddha watches over Santiago pilgrims and celebrates the connection of Camino de Santiago and 88 temple pilgrimage in Japan. Love is in the details.
Love is in the details and our albergue host knows that. He even prepared two little cushions and shoe horns on the stairs. In non-covid times, the entire albergue is usually booked out by Koreans. He also owns a bakery next door. Wow. Amazing. There would be no bakery hunt tomorrow morning.
We felt a bit sad about what happened to Santi, but it was time to eat. The restaurant that we chose for dinner was full of locals who were celebrating a grandma’s birthday. We were seated in a different room decorated with huge puzzle images made of thousands of pieces. We were told that the owner’s wife started a pandemic hobby. Party people next door didn’t want to spend time with us and risk infection, but they at least sent us a share of the birthday cake. Covid didn’t kill the generosity of the local people! I was sure we still had plenty of adventures ahead, despite the pandemic situation. Maybe Camino is not a piece of cake, but it managed to deliver two pieces of cake in the right moment.
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