» On the way there is all I need, when I need it ».
This morning, I wake up feeling tired. Despite the short walking day yesterday, the evening has been tiring: the Albergue was full, the kitchen very small and the people rather noisy. I even decline the invitation of my companions for breakfast: the TV background noise irritates me. Instead I prefer to have my breakfast in the peaceful dinning room, sitting by myself. Today, it is decided I walk alone!
Once on the way, my mood improves considerably. Today the wind is blowing strongly, it is chasing the rain from the day before and above all drying the muddy soil. In my head the ideas of articles are flourishing and I can’t wait to reach the next village, stop in a coffee and write.
At the entrance of Castrojeriz, I meet Finja with who I walked yesterday. We enter the village together, while sharing our impressions of the last evening and our plans for the day. After few meters, a house catches my attention. On the door it is written « House of silence, for pilgrims. Open ». I show it to Finja and share my intention to enter. We say good bye to each other and I open the door.
I enter, close the door behind me and a sentence I am saying and sharing often since I started to walk comes to my mind: » On the way there is all I need, when I need it ». Today again this sentence proves to be true.
The place I entered is magical: inside the first room there is a picture exhibition with an inspirational quotes or a philosophical sentences under each of them. I carry on my visit and discover a kitchen, facing a living room and a conservatory with a wood burner. The house is decorated with taste, everything is in monastic simplicity and evokes a sense of journeys to fare away lands. The background music is relaxing and invites to contemplate and meditate. There are little places to sit, in every corners. It feels good to be there and I can see by the window a nice garden with the floor covered by autumn leaves.
I go through the rest of the house more quickly. A nice staircase covered with floor-tile leads to the first floor. A well of light brings some natural light inside. It is painted in yellow and I can see some bird shadows soaring up to the sky. Upstairs, there is a little chapel, very simple: a cross on the wall, a carpet and a cushion to sit on it. Opposite to it, a meditation room with Spanish texts written by hand in colourful sheets of paper left to the eyes of the visitor on the little carpet. In between theses 2 rooms, the bathroom in which big bouquets of rosmary and lavender are drying. I give a glance to the last room: a multilingual library with great books, chosen with taste.
I go back downstairs, it is decided I am spending the rest of the morning here! I remove my shoes, my rain trousers and jacket. And I adventure again in this quiet and comfortable space. This time, I take my time to decide where to sit.
On the table of the first living room there is a table with tea, biscuits and dark chocolate on it. On a little piece of paper it says « Help yourself ». The cups are in Chinese porcelain and I even find a Genmaïcha tea bag, one of my favourite with green tea and roasted rice. I help myself, take out my phone and sit comfortably in the conservatory to write.
Half an hour later an Asian girl entre from the garden and joins to sit right in opposite to me. We sight to greet each other. She observes me during few minutes, and to my surprise breaks the silence to tell me that the phones are strictly forbidden in that house. And that the creator of this place is positive: he doesn’t want to see it. Stopped in my momentum, I leave my writing project to later.
I stand up to clean my cup, I climb upstairs and try to read a bit in the library. Then, I make an attempt of meditation in the chapel. I hear the wind blowing outside, I feel my energy bubbling inside me and my mind getting agitated. It is the call of the camino! It is time to leave the silence to return in the autumn wind. I can’t wait to share my discovery with my travel companions !
