Camino 2024 – A Pilgrim Short Story from the Camino

An invented short story from the Camino: Wolfgang Janowsky tells of a pilgrim who, after one sip too many from the wine fountain at Irache, dreams of a thoroughly commercialised Camino of the future.

A pilgrim in the middle of life had already covered many kilometres on the Camino. For long stretches he walked alone or in the company of individual pilgrims, men or women, and enjoyed peace and conversation, searching for and finding the way, solitude and a manageable sense of togetherness on the way and in the various albergues, most of them run in a very personal and warm-hearted way.

In the late morning he walked from Estella to the monastery of Irache.

A small sign by the way pointing to a “Fuente del Vino” briefly caught his attention, but then he went back to musing on his experiences: this way – so far he had mostly been one of the youngest among the pilgrims – should surely also be a wonderful experience for young people at the start of their independent lives. Perhaps the many uncertainties and difficulties – how do I find the way, how do I find good accommodation? Will I hold out physically, how do I look after myself? – were an obstacle for young people.

When he saw another signpost to the Fuente del Vino, he looked for it and found a water tap and a tap from which wine flowed! Both were fixed into the upturned bottom of an old barrel, a little shabby, rather inconspicuous and without much fuss – but the wine was excellent, and so he perhaps drank a sip or two more than was good for him.

The midday heat did the rest as he walked on, and so, as he walked, he sank into his thoughts once more…

A Camino with every comfort

The way widened, was levelled and stretched like an inviting ribbon through the hilly landscape. Big signposts in bright blue with clear yellow arrows showed him the way without his having to pay them much attention. Again and again there were small, prettily laid-out and shady oases.

It got louder as he came to one of the bars announced with great fanfare – well, actually it was more of a snazzy service area on the autovía to Santiago. Internet, games, drinks, food and every tourist need could be met. There was even the promise that you wouldn’t need a backpack, since every 4 km a rest station would look after the pilgrim. Even massages were offered time and again.

To his astonishment, the pilgrim noticed that many young people were cheerfully on their way here too: in search of “adventure” and “fun” – even the word “chilling” came up. He also found a plan of many new recreation centres, called “albergue”, for hundreds of pilgrims in modern 2–3-bed rooms with soundproof walls. You could log in directly, choose with a mouse click and reserve for the night.

So in the early evening he arrived with a lively stream of pilgrims at “his albergue” – a big welcome with a cocktail and the first pool party – wicked! Top-notch room and first-class bathrooms, plus a flyer for the evening and night entertainment programme: please log in via the intranet on your room TV. Sadly, he found nothing on offer of a spiritual or religious nature. So he decided to end the day quietly and reflectively on his own.

But he had reckoned without the entertainers – speaking of reckoning: he found the accommodation surprisingly expensive. They kept inviting him to sessions, meetings, fun and parties.

He didn’t want to be a spoilsport and went along with it.

Most of the pilgrims were only on the road for one or two weeks – all inclusive – looking for fun with the others, and smiled a little at him, who had been walking for so long and also prayed regularly.

When, at half past two in the morning, they were to head into the soundproof pilgrim disco for the ultimate chill-out, he bailed out and almost fled to his room, where, completely frazzled and exhausted in a way quite different from all the days before, he let himself fall onto his automatically freshly made bed… and on hitting the mattress realised with a start that he had now been walking for over 2 hours in the blazing sun without drinking – the wine of Irache had been the last thing. He must have been daydreaming; by gracious guidance he hadn’t lost his way, and he found a lonely but gloriously shady tree to rest under – and the Lord sent him a cool breeze!

Back on his own way

No, this wasn’t how he had imagined it. His Camino and his experiences evidently depended on the lack of perfection and on the difficulties, the detours, the searching – and finding!, the joy and the spirituality of the simple kind. He ate a little from his backpack and drank the water from the last fountain, which had by now become a little warm. He read in his guidebook that the next albergue, a very small one, was still about 8 km away, and decided to stay there.

It turned out to be hard going, quite tiring and sweaty; he found only an old café with a few locals to fortify himself, but he was happy when he arrived at the albergue. Here too he was immediately given something to drink, a cool, refreshing water with a mint leaf, and learned that there would be a shared meal. He sensed at once that this albergue had a very special aura and a spiritual, religious character. He enjoyed the shower, and even more the shared meal and the good conversations in a small circle of like-minded people.

So he was quite content and recognised that perhaps not everyone could or should walk the way. He enjoyed the quiet of the night – and because it was so lovely, he treated himself to a day’s rest at this albergue to collect himself a little and put his things in order at leisure.

This is one of three pilgrim short stories by Wolfgang Janowsky. The other two are The Little Hat and Santiago’s Canary.