The Bear and the Strawberry Tree statue at the Puerta del Sol
Madrid, capital city, is where my time in Spain began and where it will end. The city has a dignified air of government, commerce, and the arts.
Santiago to Madrid
I reserved a seat on a Renfe train in Santiago. The trip, with one stop and train change in Ourense, took two and one half hours from station to station. I boarded a commuter rail train or metro to Plaza Mayor near Puerta del Sol in the heart of central Madrid. My hostel was a ten minute walk from the stop.
I spent four days recuperating in and out of my room.
Hostel life
The hostel is a popular, bustling place. I felt like I was in a babylon of cultures represented mainly by young people. It was well run with a kitchen in the basement and bar upstairs. Across the narrow street was a mini-mart and shops all around.
My mates during this time were young women from Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. None were pilgrims. The women were traveling through Spain, Portugal, and Italy for the summer. We had a few interesting conversations about life in our countries and the state of young people.
I gave my perspective as an older woman with a little more experience in life. Most everyone I met had not heard of the camino. I spent a lot of conversations talking about and explaining the idea of a pilgrimage. That surprised me. I was more surprised that they were genuinely interested and asked questions about it.
Granted, some of the things that young people do today is surprising. It seems that many are lost. They gravitate to new trends in social media. Against their better judgment, health, and happiness they adopt ideas from people they do not know. They are simply looking for love and acceptance. Aren’t we all?
We exchanged information for cheap places to eat…
… and free admission hours or days at the museums.
Ebb and flow
One by one my roomates left the hostel for their new destinations. More young people arrived and filled the beds again. Finally, it was my turn to leave. I walked with my belongings through the streets of the central city to Atocha station and navigated the crowd. It was already full of people at 6 in the morning.
I bought my train ticket and rode an escalator to the train platform. A train arrived in a few minutes. Already, it was full. I had to stand until a seat opened up when someone got off the train along the way.
Finally, the train arrived at the airport. I stepped onto the train platform with the rest of the passengers and followed the signs to the terminal gates.
(Hmm, it seems that train is the word of the day!)
One more thing
Before I entered the station vestibule, I had one more thing to do.
I bade goodbye to my trusty walking stick.
Goodbye old friend!
Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.
– Maya Angelou
Baadaye
Shirley J ♥️
This and several posts this summer chronicled my pilgrimage in Spain where I walked the 1400 kilometer-long camino Mozárabe, the Via de la Plata, and northward to Santiago de Compostela. Read my announcement here.
My YouTube channel – Noire Pilgrim By Shirley J – features mini videos, snippets, and shorts from my pilgrimage on the camino.
