I am truly enjoying this stage. While there’s some road walking, a lot of it is along streams and thru forests. Today’s entire walk followed a rushing stream with glimpses of waterfalls along the way.
Curiously, this has also been the section of running into pilgrims from the first week. My favorite has been finding the guy from Roncesvalles who kept (And keeps!) referring to me as ‘the IT guy.’ He clearly knows I’m a woman – ‘Bob! Come meet Erin! She’s an IT guy. Maybe she can fix your phone!’ He’s Israeli and we had a spirited debat about American exceptionalism at dinner after the rescue on the mountain top. Nice guy and fun to see again.
I also ran into the preacher and his wife from the singalong at the grocery store in week one. They were dealing with injuries and covid, so had been bouncing around the route.
I had two brushes with YouTube famous today – I ran into a large-ish American youth group led by someone who posts a number of Camino related videos. They were an interesting group and judging by their discussions, I’ll be running into them for the remainder of the week.
The second brush came about 15 minutes later when I walked past a particular albergue and recognized the proprietor who was a guest on another YouTube channel with Camino specific materials. The women I’ve been having dinner with on occasion actually stayed at said albergue a couple of nights later and said it was one of the best experiences she’s had on the trip.
I am really finding my joy on a daily basis now. Yeah, the walk is still work sometimes, but I’m finding myself smiling more often than not now. I’m not sure if this is because my days are shorter or I’m getting more comfortable, or because this section of the Camino is just so beautiful. All I know is that I’m grateful!
As I wandered around town before dinner tonight, I encountered this:
I’ve seen these with frequency on this trip. I know that it’s for the village residents ’cause no gyms out here in the sticks. However, I find myself giggling everytime I walk past one at the thought of a pilgrim hopping on one of the machines “Yeah, I just didn’t get enough of a work out today! Time to blast those biceps!”
I’ve also been fascinated by the mascots in various towns. They seem to be either for the town itself or for the Camino. I’m not really sure where this guy fits –
I’m choosing to believe that he’s wishing me luck. Tomorrow’s the last big climb of the trip. Leaving the León region and headed into Galicia by crossing the hill/mountain range that delineates the two areas. I was actually considering sending my pack along for the first time on this trip, but in the end, decided that I carried it this far, what’s another 1100m in elevation. Fingers crossed that the weather remains clear!
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