Hello. I’m back!

From the Camino de Santiago and also back here writing again after a few weeks of silence.

There is so much happening that I hardly know where to start so I will just dive in and let it flow.

I had to stop walking when I reached Astorga because of tendinitis in my right foot. This was a surprise as my old tendon problem was on the left side and this problem was new.  I spent five days in a hotel in Astorga trying to get better but even after ice, rest, painkillers, acupuncture, massage, stretching and lots of love, it was still impossible to put my weight on it so I caught a direct train home to Barcelona.  I had walked 445 kilometres.

While I was in Astorga I had time to read news on the internet and that was when I found out that an American woman had gone missing on the Camino. She was last seen on April 5th in Astorga – a couple of weeks before I arrived there – and her brother had raised the alarm after hearing nothing from her for a long time. Since then there has been a massive police search of the area and several disturbing stories have appeared about women being threatened on this part of the Camino.  Denise – the American pilgrim – is still missing.

Perhaps this sounds weird but I am sort of thanking my foot that it stopped me from walking alone on that stretch of road where she disappeared. And I am checking every day for news of her. It’s very very sad and worrying.

I came back to Granollers and found that somehow, almost without knowing it, I had made a big decision.

We are going to live in Cornwall for a year.

How do you make a decision without knowing that it is happening?

If you have read this blog since the beginning you will probably know several important things about my life here in Catalunya.

Firstly that I have never felt completely at home in Granollers.  While I have been happy here I never felt the house where we live is my real home, mainly because it isn’t!

Secondly that one of the major challenges I have faced here is being a reluctant stepmother to an equally reluctant stepson. There has always been tension in the house ranging from awkwardness to outright hostility.

I still have my house in Cornwall and last summer when I was visiting I felt a strong need to get it back. Why have a beautiful home in a fabulous place and not be able to live in it?   My tenant left in May and somehow, without really planning to do it, I am going back.  I never really tied up all my loose ends in Cornwall and now I want to go back and sort things out.

But what about the Resident Adolescent?  Not so likely that he would want to join us in the Cornish countryside, far from the city lights and his musical interests. Then something amazing happened – his mother returned from Brazil and she is going to work in London. He will go with her. He wants to go!

Isn’t it incredible how something that felt so stuck and impossible to resolve can suddenly start to flow, like a river that had been iced over for winter and begins to melt in the spring warmth?  First a trickle of change and then it gathers pace and suddenly there is such a strong current that all you can do is let go and be carried along, hopefully exhilarated by the ride rather than clinging on for dear life or frantically trying to paddle back upstream.

Does the Camino de Santiago really change your life?

It seems that it can and in rather unexpected ways.  I am still rather stunned which is why I haven’t written anything here. On Sunday I am having a party here in Granollers – in the top flat which we only recently decorated as part of an other attempt to make me feel at home. It was going to be a Camino celebration party but now it seems like a farewell. I can’t even tell you how I am feeling – all I know is that a change had to happen and I am happy to see what comes next.

Now that I have this news out in the open I can return next time with stories from the Camino. It was a wonderful experience and I want to write about it.

Also I have two more incredible balnearis to describe to you – one that we visited last week for my birthday.

And lastly, plans for the future of The Catalan Way. What will I be writing about when I am no longer living here?

All coming soon. Exciting times. Thanks as always for reading!

love Kate