Today begins a seven-day odyssey walking the Camino Ingles (The English Route) from Ferrol to Santiago de Compostela.
This is a Camino I’ve wanted to do for a while, because the entire thing is in the exquisitely, beautiful province of Galicia, one of the greenest, mistiest, and most enchanting parts of Spain that I have encountered thus far. it’s 112 km, total, and I will divide it into 6 or 7 days, depending on how my body is feeling.
Galicia has a long history of out- migration, women-headed farms and households, a strong Celtic connection, and a deep and rich musical tradition. In addition to Spanish, Galicians also speak Gallego, which, for many is their mother tongue. Being surrounded by sea, the cuisine is highly seafood based, including the amazing razor clams known as Navajas, fresh, sweetsea scallops, and zamburiños, or scallops that come in a striking red and white shell. Wine in this region, as across Spin, is plentiful, although directly around the city of Ferrol there is no winemaking (a local proprietor told me it was too wet to grow wine).
For red wines last night in Ferrol I could choose from rivera, mencia, and also rioja. For whites, there is Albariño, Ribeiro, and Godello (see photo below with prices and offerings at the local neighborhood bar). What is amazing to me is that, even within these categories, you’ll see a number of different wines to choose from.
Last year, I attended Womex, a global music expo, in another city in the same province, in the beautiful city of a Coruña, with the fabulous April Goltz, who is also the logistics coordinator for Songs of Santiago retreats. My memory is that it was exquisite, that we ate like queens, and that it rained every 15 minutes, alternating with bright sun. I even invested in a pair of all rubber galoshes, just to make it through. April and I bought new umbrellas, and joyfully splashed through the puddles as we attended phenomenal, concerts in old art deco theaters across the city.
Today I will walk around 17 km, to the village of Neda, and to an Albergue that is well-loved on this Camino, and that exists on its own and is not in a specific town. These are often my favorite ones: they exist unto themselves, their own little islands of international connection, spontaneous music-making, and community building.
I just finished leading a two week songwriting retreat on the Camino Francés for Sing Me Back Home Retreats, and this – walking alone, with obligation and responsibility to no one – is my reward to myself for a job well done. I love the rhythm, the fresh air in my lungs, and the solace as a mechanism for processing with my backpack on my back. Once I arrive in Santiago, I will return to Madrid and then back to Albuquerque,where my wonderful partner and my love, John, will be waiting for me.
We are excited about the possibility of bringing home a new puppy when I return, something that has been sorely missing in our lives since the passing of Nira Jacobsen a year ago.
As on previous Camino walks, I’ll be blogging daily, using voice to text as I walk so that you can be walking with me in spirit, and in real time, as much as possible. This means there will also be minimal editing, since perfectionism becomes a deterrent to posting. So, once more, I will give myself permission to publish and post, in the spirit of capturing the moments as they unfold, which at present is at around 9:30 in the morning, rain, free and with sun peeking out over the port as I skirt the edges of the city and wind my way out of town.
Finally, while April Goltz will be offering some in-depth posts in the coming days on our two weeks of walking with songwriters on another Camino, here I want to say here that facilitating retreats that combine mindful walking, beast, cultural aversion, gastronomy, and community building is one of the deepest honors of my life. 10 songwriters, three continents and four countries, came together this year to create songs inspired by the intense communion and connection to nature in place that is the historic Camino de Santiago.
Each year, the group is different, and each unique and special and hilarious and quirky and joy filled in different ways.showing up fully for these facilitating moments feels like some of my best and deepest work. And I am profoundly privileged to get to facilitate and guide others – writers, musicians, poets, writers, scholars, – on this journey.
More, anon!
#caminoinglés #galicia #Singmeback home #SongsofSantiago #ethnogrqphicsongwriting #spanishcuisine #songwritingretreats
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