The Albergue in Cirauqui

Charlie: Cirauqui is a pretty hill top town where we stayed. We stayed in the albergue but in a private room. They had two private rooms and 28 dormitory beds.

The place is very pretty and artistic with colorful painting, artwork and lots of quirky and interesting little touches all over (see photos above and below). It was fun to stay there.

The owner was chatting with us after the communal pilgrim dinner she provided, which was very good. She had owned the place for 10 years and was getting tired of it. She wanted to sell but the economy in Spain is very bad and selling would be hard.

She also said that the Camino had changed in those 10 years. She said that before almost everyone was there for spiritual reasons, that they wanted to rethink things and change the direction of their lives.

Now, she thought a lot of people were on the Camino just for a good time or a vacation and not to change their lives.

It is hard to know exactly what to make of this. People are always thinking that things are not as good as they used to be and not like the good old days. But I suppose she could be right and things have changed. Maybe it was mostly religious people who knew about it before. Heck, everybody and his brother are doing it now, even Charlie and Wynette! Who’d of thought it?

Actually I had been thinking of the walk as a way to reevaluate my life now that I am almost 65. And I thought maybe even someone 65 could change the direction of their life.

Clearly on a long walk you have a lot of time to think things over and think about changes.

I guess the big question that everyone faces is “What should I do with my life?” both in terms of the next few days and the next few years. Actually that is pretty much the only question if you consider both the short and the long term.

So I guess that is why I am walking the Camino.