à la carte spirit by ilona fried
Camino de Santiago
Endings as Beginnings
I´m nearing the end of my walk; in less than two days, I´ll arrive at Finisterre (the end of the earth). In some ways, it is much like the beginning. Then, I started up a mountain in the midst of the Basque country, a region straddling France and Spain that, thanks to its remote location, … Continue reading
Almost there…but who is counting?
Santiago is 790 kilometers from St. Jean Pied de Port (France), where I started the Camino. Signs along the way proclaim the kilometers remaining. When the numbers were in the high triple digits, I ignored them, unlike other Pilgrims who photographed some if not all of these markers. Frankly, it was too depressing to contemplate … Continue reading
Oh, the Places You´ll Go!
There is a Jewish saying that goes something like this: Every town needs two synagogues; there is the one that you go to, and the one you´d never set foot in. At home, this dichotomy is at play in my mind when it comes to stores and restaurants. Indeed, sometimes I define myself by the places I will … Continue reading
It Takes a Village (to get a man) to Take a Shower
At one albergue in El Burgo Ranero, a village in the meseta, a hand-printed sign urged Pilgrims to shower before going to bed. Each albergue has its rules (no smoking, quiet hours, etc.) but this was a first. “Do people really need to be reminded?” I asked the volunteer hospitalera, a woman from Toronto. Who … Continue reading
How Much Can I Eat?
The Camino is about walking. And food. Without food, there is no fuel for walking. Looking over my daily expenses, the overwhelming majority is food and drink. The price of a bed and a hot shower, by comparison, is relatively low. When I was walking with the Italian teenager, we agreed that trying to save … Continue reading
à la carte spirit by ilona fried 
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