Day 9 of walking from Vega de Valcarce into O Cebreiro… Our class of 7, plus our professor, have made it this far on the Camino, albeit with a few blisters, one bad knee, two horrible cases of allergies, and aching feet all around.

Inside El Refugio

This uphill day begins in a beautiful forest with a dense canopy of leaves and ends on the top of a mountain overlooking Galicia: land of Celtic roots, bagpipes, and fresh seafood. At the top of the forest segment, you’ll find a clearing with a small tienda. You may be tempted to drop by for a classic tortilla de patata, but hold out and veer left for arguably one of the best experiences the Camino has to offer: El Refugio.

Author (left) with classmates Kea, Paxton and Bobby

Gnesha guards the picnic table outside.

Here, vegetarians and meat eaters alike can enjoy a savory bowl of zucchini soup, a well-seasoned hummus crepe, or a cup of freshly squeezed watermelon juice. Before you get too distracted by the nutritious meal that awaits you, be sure to walk around the outside of El Refugio. Admire the lovely statue of Ganesh, the beautiful quote by Rumi, and most importantly, the garden that supplies your food, right across the dirt road.

When I went inside, I met Amaryllis, a woman from Belgium in her mid-20s sporting red spectacles, and Paola, a woman in her mid-30s from London with a pixie cut.

Paola handed me some baby carrots from the garden and Amaryllis gave me a green juice to try. As I talked to them, I learned that before it became a restaurant, El Refugio was an animal barn, and the loft area was inhabited by a priest who held a school for children in the area. When the students grew up and stopped coming, the priest sold the place to a German man who converted the barn into a vegetarian friendly restaurant. He has since passed it on to his son, who runs the place with his girlfriend and baby boy. You might find them in the garden greenhouse among the mint leaves, garlic, pepper, and sage.

Paola came to El Refugio in July of 2015. After her experience on the Camino in 2013, she found nothing made sense at home anymore. She subsequently quit her job, wandered around for a year, and moved with her boyfriend to El Refugio. “There are magic people and magic places everywhere,” she tells me, “but on the Camino, everyone has time to share their magic.”  Amaryllis made and sold chocolates in Belgium, but didn’t feel like she was helping enough people. “I wanted to get out of my own head,” she tells me, “and I wanted to connect more with my body,” gesturing to her heart. She searches a moment for the right words and says, “It is important to garden the mind for the right blossoms to grow. That’s what the Camino is for.”

The owner in his garden.

As I said goodbye, Amaryllis handed me a business card. “El Refugio takes volunteers from all over the world. You never know if you might come back,” she says with a knowing smile.