Camino del Norte Day 33: Ribadeo to Lourenzá
May 22, 2025
A fresh cinnamon roll from Lento
Roses are red
Laying it all Down
As I climbed higher, I began to give things to God as if I was casting them off an overloaded ship.
“God, you can have it all,” I started.
But somehow that didn’t seem satisfactory.
”God, You can have my time. You can have my creativity. You can have my focus. You can have my money. I give You my future; it is Yours, and I trust You. I give You my relationships; they are in Your hands. I give you my violin. My gifts and my talents—I give them back to You.”
I tried to think of everything in my life that I hold dear and laid it down before God. But there was more.
“Lord, I give You my insecurities. I give You my anxiety. I give You my hopes and my worries. I give You my body. I give You my ears and my listening. I give You my words. I give You my dreams.”
Then I had to stop and make sure I was being sincere, that I wasn’t just saying these words. But the more I surrendered, the lighter I felt and the more freedom I experienced. I kept surrendering things to Him until I didn’t know what else to surrender. Then I started asking.
“Lord, would you give me Yourself?”
My burden became lighter with each item I surrendered to the Lord.
As I cut across the field, the Camino and the clouds converged at the one-perspective vanishing point on the horizon. Ideas, dreams, and plans began to flood my mind, so I used the voice recorder on my phone to catch them all.
Before Villamartín Grande, the dipped into a shallow valley before climbing steeply to the two pueblos at the top. I went off the Camino a few hundred meters to see these curious horses.
“I’m all ears.”
At the top of the hill, these heavy horses were grazing.
The shortest one was the most feisty, but I knew he actually wanted to be friends.
Uncertain but proud
When traveling life’s highways, don’t forget to stop and pet the horses.
Of course we took a selfie with each other.
Just before reaching Villamartín Grande, I passed an old man in the open doorway of his barn beside the road.
“Café just around the corner!” he called.
Those words were music to my ears! Sure enough, just around the corner I spotted backpacks and pilgrims out sunning themselves on the grass of a welcoming café. I had a tostada de aguacate for lunch as usual.
Tostada de aguacate and café con leche at Villamartín Grande
As I sat in the shade chatting with the other pilgrims, a familiar face appeared from the trail. It was the lady from London whom I had met in Deba during the first week of my journey. Here she was again! Here we both were! The entire group of pilgrims clapped and cheered as she made it up the last bit of the hill.
“It’s you!” I said.
“It’s you!” she said.
We embraced, and I about cried.
“How’s your ankle?” I asked.
“It’s much better. It hasn’t been hurting me at all! Thank you for remembering. And what’s your name?”
“Sophie,” I replied. “And yours?”
“Nicci.”
I never knew what a lovely name Nicci was until I met this lady. We talked for a while, but then it was time to go. The next time I saw her was in Santiago.
The second half of the day was over rolling fields and through planted eucalyptus forests.
The trail was mostly paved roads, but the scenery all around was breathtaking.
Gray-bottomed clouds roamed the skies like vessels in the sea. I thought of all the lift they might generate for a glider pilot.
Although the path was paved, at least it was quiet. I did not listen to any type of music in case I needed to hear that a car was coming.
Exploring Lourenzá
Monastery of Saint Salvador
Albergue Savior
Bo from Denmark and Anika and Sophie from the Netherlands preparing dinner at Albergue Savior
The table all set for breakfast in the morning
In the evening I sat outside on the western-facing patio and talked to Edina, whom I had met that morning on the road from Ribadeo. She told me about one of her favorite Camino books, and inevitably our conversation drifted to the woes of blisters and how to deal with them. A guy from Brazil told us that the best way of treating blisters was by draining them with a needle and thread. Cool.
