And another day is done!!! I swear rememberng the names of those towns is one of the hardest things to do. The minute I leave the town (and even before), the name is gone!
Last night was a pretty exciting evening. First, we stayed in the adobe albergue which was so cool and when I went upstairs to the rooms, there is the wood slat ceiling. They just built partitions around the outer walls to create rooms, but it was all open above.
I had gone across the street for a pilgrim meal, which can be quite filling, but I still needed something for dinner. There was one Ialian, who invited eveyone to dinner. He, along with one or two others cooked pasta and we all sat around the table and chatted.
Yes - a little hard to chat when there are many languages -- Italian, Spanish, English, and French. I'm good for two of them. I met a lady from France and we had a good time chatting. Can you believe, she left everything behind --- divorce, her apartment, grown children, job and is doing the Camino to find something in her life. She's not that old, and what guts to do that!!!
I just think about basic stuff in my life as I walk!! Today was all about friend and friendship. This is such an interesting topic and I know that I didn't even put a dent in the conversation that I want/need to have with myself.
I've never had close friends and I know I'm the type that never will. Only once did I let my guard down and have - I guess what one would call a BFF. That ended in a disaster of enormous proportions and required the divorce of another friend. Can you believe that person actually asked if she could remain friends with both of us? I don't think so.
Iˋm good with not having super close friends --- thatˋs what Lexi and Murphy are for! And can you believe I actually talked to myself outl oud today?
So hereˋs the thing about the albergues -- there was only one (I think) in the town last night and by the time I left this morning, there were only two pair of shoes left. That's how you know how many people are there. By the way -- we were only about 16 for dinner last night.
There is a young high school girl and her Dad, who left shortly before I did. And there's one family of four, with the mom walking so slow, she has to be ill. They have two energetic young sons with them and I feel for them as I'm sure they could be in Santiago by now!!! The poor lady came in around 5 PM last night and she was exhausted. She doesn't seem to be limping or anything, just walking incredibly slow.
So when I left the albeque, I was by myself in the dark! I don't think anyone except the cyclscists passed me today, but I caught up to the daughter/father team and I caught up to the family of four and I caught up to another group. I'm not sure where they came from, but there were about 8 strapping big guys. I think the issue is that many people are starting to suffer -- muscle strains, sore feet, blisters, sore knees or whatever. One of the guys seemed to be less than happy. Not sure about the rest.
I think a LOT of peope will be taking a rest day in Leon!
So I basically saw only those few people I passed and then I saw no one else. It was a very quiet day, but that's OK, because I was muttering to myself about friends and then I was swearing at the flies. God -- I hate the flies!! OK-- so itˋs not that bad, but even one is one too many for me!!!!
I stopped several times along the way to eat and rest. But Iˋm manging to keep up a prety decent pace. Hey --- while the meds are working -- letˋs take advantage of all of that relatively pain-free time!!!
It was about an 18 KM walk today, which wasn't so bad and I got into town relatively early. The path followed beside the road that went from one town to the next. There was very little traffic on that road --- I think there was more farm equipemen than there were cars.
I had to dodge the irrigation system that was spouting water on the edge of the corn fields and then tried to miss the puddles of mud. My shoes are overed in dust and can you imagine if they get wet? I have to laugh because not only are my shoes covered in dust, but my socks and my legs for about 8 inches. Dust and grim!!! Yum!!!
When I arrived in the town, I went to check out the albergue. Hmmm --- it doesnˋt seem to be here! ACK!!!! This is the kind of situation where one gets that panicked feeling. But wait --- Iˋm a big girl, so letˋs think this through. I went to the town hall and the albergue is gone. OK so no big deal there are others in town.
The big issue is where is my backpack? This is the one thing that I do not like about the luggage transfer. OK -- so once I realized the albergue was closed, I sent the luggage transfer an e-mail to tell them that I wasnˋt there and ask about my luggage. Then I spotted an albergue and sent that name to the luggage tasner people.
When I went to check in, it turns out Iˋm in the hotel part of the albergue (30 Euros for the night) and Iˋm OK with that.
Now where is that luggage? I had to say that I wasnˋt too upset, but I really wanted my phone charger! I tried to call the luggage transfer company but they only spoke Spanish. So downstairs to find someone who could talk for me. I started by asking someone if they spoke English. Yes -- -then when I explained, he said he didnˋt speak Spanish, but Italian! So we got the bar person to make the call. I told the guy, he didnˋt need to hang around, but he did.
Everyone is so nice here and I really should have taken the time to learn a bit of Spanish!! Bad on me for that one!!!!
Anyway --- it turns out that the bag did get delivered to the alberegue and the bar person went and got it. YEAH!!!!! The world is good!!!! And yet again, if you believe, it all works out!!
So at last, I had a shower and now I get a quiet room to myself. I swear, that when people get up in the morning (5 AM), they have NO clue how to be quiet. It sounded like they were line dancing and the family of four, well, they took over 30 minutes to pack the backpacks. Do it at night --- you only need a few thngs in the morning.
It's amazing how inconsiderate peope are of each other!!! It's mostly the "stomping" feet. Do people not know how to walk softly? I guess not!!!!
OH-- I forgot to menion this the previous day, we passed a farm and they had plums that we could take. Hmmm --- what are these going to taste like? Sweet or sour? They were yummy,, and I had a few. Didn't want yo eat too many as I didn't need a stomach ache.
Oh -- and I should mention that when I went to the restaurant for lunh yesterday, I ordered off the blackboard in the front. I knew I was gettinig a mixed salad (ensalada mixta -- my favorite thing), but the man course? No idea --- it was pork which was OK. Then the waitress comes over with the lust of dessert which she rhymed off. Hmmm -- the only one I understand was FLAN, so that's what I had. It was delicious!!!!!
It's all definittely an adenture and the language barrier is challenging. We had all four languages going last night, with people translating from one to the other. It was a neat dinner and I'm glad I was there.
I used my walking sticks a bit more than yesterday, but that's OK. I think Iˋm getting the hang of them! Oh god ---- Iˋm such a whiner!!!!
Well, I think that covers eerything that happened today. I hope you are checking out my Facebook or Instagram to see the photos. I have more, but no way am I loading them all up. And whatˋs with Google? It keeps signing me out, so I have to go through a verification prcess every time I want to blog. Silly Google!!!!
Have a great day!!!!
Ciao!!!!
The one sentence
The path was long and straight today and ran parallel to the road. Not much change in sccenery, but I saw canals, irrigation systems, and dodged puddles along the corn fields.
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