Day 0 on the Camino - Vía de la Plata

Sevilla

Well, I made it to Sevilla, Spain, and I start walking bright and early tomorrow morning.

As I was getting my pack ready to go, a hawk landed on my balcony ledge.

I took that to be a good omen, and aside from feeling devastated (yes, devastated) at leaving my cat, Tiger, I left my cozy little apartment feeling a little nervous but mostly excited for my next Camino adventure.

After a long journey, getting dropped off in a random corner of Sevilla and finding my way to my aptly named Nomad Hostel, I settled in for the evening. I had decided to treat myself and booked a private room for my first night in the city. After finding a place that specialized in ready-to-order tortilla española (Spain’s famous potato and egg dish), I headed back to my lovely private room where I also had my very own (free) bottle of wine waiting for me! To top off my first night in Spain, I settled in with The Way, which I had downloaded to my phone, and my wine.

Pilgrims have been walking the Camino de Santiago since the 9th century, when the tomb of St. James was said to be discovered in Galicia. There are routes all over the world now, and people walk it, bike it, or even travel by horseback for all sorts of reasons. The first time I walked the Camino de Santiago was 13 years ago, when I made the 800 km trek starting in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France, crossed the Pyrenees, and continued across Spain.

I had heard about the Camino from my mom, who had done her own pilgrimage a few years earlier. When she came home, she seemed brighter and rejuvenated after a long career as a high school teacher and raising me. I didn’t fully understand her experience, but I knew I wanted to share it. So I chose the main route, the Camino Francés, and made it to Santiago in 32 days. Along the way, I met people from all over the world and assembled what’s called a Camino Family. Reaching the end with two of my newfound friends from Germany was the experience of a lifetime.

A few years later, before a big trip to Africa to hike Mount Kilimanjaro, I walked part of Portugal from Porto to Santiago and had another amazing time. After reaching the cathedral in Santiago (where the tomb of St. James is said to be), my friend and I continued on to Fisterra and Muxía.

It’s hard to truly describe what this pilgrimage really is, so if you’re interested, I would recommend watching The Way, written, produced, and directed by Emilio Estevez and starring his real-life dad, Martin Sheen. The Estevez family once ran an albergue just off the Camino Francés (not sure if they still do), and the film was shot on location along the Camino in Spain. For anyone as continuity-conscious as me, it wasn’t filmed in order - one minute they’re in the Pyrenees, the next they’re in a café in Burgos! Still, The Way is full of beautiful stories about flawed individuals, each on their own journey of self-discovery. It gives the viewer a very good sense of the essence of the Camino.

Today, after a somewhat restless sleep, I headed out for my café con leche and then embarked on a recon walk out of the city for tomorrow. I was so excited to find my first yellow arrow, which is how the Camino is waymarked, and after about 20 minutes of walking, I spotted my first and second arrows, unceremoniously slapped on a signpost and a garbage can!

After about 10 more minutes of following the arrows out of the city, I knew I was where I’m meant to be. I realized, as I took a photo of an arrow on which someone had written “Buen Camino!,” that I was completely at peace. I feel most like myself when I am following those little yellow arrows that you might miss if you weren’t looking (and even sometimes when you are).

After my recon walk, I explored the market, sampled some Spanish seafood, and checked out the Catedral de Santa María de la Sede. Completed in the 16th century, the cathedral is enormous, taking up at least one city block, and is said to be the largest Gothic cathedral in the world.

Tonight I rest in Sevilla. Tomorrow, the real journey begins, as I set off on Day 1 of my Camino de Santiago, following the Vía de la Plata route, a 1000km path winding up through Spain to Santiago

Hasta la próxima vez!