Are You There, St. Anthony? It’s Me, Karen.

When I was having dinner last night, and once I was over my “culture shock”, I was thinking how nice it was to be sitting on the sidewalk watching non-pilgrims out going about their regular lives and having a good time. At 2:30 am when the non-pilgrims were still having a good time, and having it very loudly right outside the hostel, it wasn’t quite as nice.

I woke up (again) at 5:45 am and carried out my pack plan of moving into the common area to finalize getting everything ready. This had mixed results. The lights in the common area did not work. Each of us who walked in and saw others working in the dark tried the switches, as if they were idiots and we were the light bringers. We were not. I got the pack all zipped up, got my feet all doctored up, and left to meet Mim and Kathy at the Roman bridge.

As soon as they got there they let me know that a big group of kids was right behind them. We let them pass, which took a while since there must’ve been 50 of them. Field trip season, indeed.

The morning was really foggy, and we had cloud cover until after noon, when we were only a couple of miles out of town. It was so pleasant all morning, and there were times we could even feel the mist on us.

We were enjoying our first coffee stop when a new horde of kids came in. I think mostly they wanted a stamp, since they didn’t stay long. We let them leave, then followed, barely avoiding yet another new group. I knew it would get crowded from Sarria, but I thought it would be with adults.

The walking itself was fairly easy, so we were making good time. Our second stop was a beautiful cafe/albergue, a place I’d love to stay in. There have been many of those this past week, so I would need three weeks just to walk four miles, stay at the cute place; walk six miles, stay at the next cute place. Had it not been foggy, it would have had a spectacular view off the back deck. It also had a gift shop, something we rarely saw before O’Cebreiro.

We passed the official “100km from Santiago” marker and took the obligatory photos. After that we managed to have the woods and the path mostly to ourselves again for a few miles. As we approached Portomarín, there are two options for getting in to town, and the distance difference is negligible. As we were debating which way to go, our decision was made for us. A big group of kids came up behind us, read the signs, and went left. We went right.

This town sits above a wide river, so you walk across a long bridge to get to it. The buildings are all white, and with the sun shining it was really beautiful. We’d come down a steep hill right before the bridge, so, of course, we had to climb right back up to get into the town.

I’m staying at the Hostel el Padrino. I reserved it because it had a private room available; didn’t know anything other than that. It is Godfather themed! I am so delighted. My AP US History research paper was on the mafia, because I loved The Godfather and The Valachi Papers books so much. The room is great, and it’s just fun theming.

Unfortunately, I realized after showering that I didn’t have my hiking dress. I had shoved it in the side pocket of my pack last night when I changed for bed, meaning to put it away properly this morning. The one time I didn’t pack everything where it belongs from the start. It even flitted through my brain that that might not be a good idea, but I did it anyway. On top of which, I always move my rosary and any money to the new outfit immediately, and I hadn’t done that either. So much for my big morning plan.

I did text the hostel asking if by chance they had it, hoping it had fallen out there, as opposed to on the trail somewhere. They did! I was fully prepared to taxi back to get it, but they said to tell them where I’d be tomorrow night; they’d send it through the pack transfer service, and I could pay JacoTrans after I get there. They even sent a picture of it packaged up with the tag on it. That hostel is getting a great review from me! I could live without the dress (this town even has an outdoor store), but I’m so happy to be getting my rosary back.

I shared a pizza with Kathy and Mim for dinner, then walked around a little. We are back in a heat wave, though, so I didn’t stay out long. On Monday it’s projected to be 102 in SJPP and 96 in Roncesvalles. A month ago they were rescuing people from the snow, and now they’ll be saving people from heat stroke.

Tomorrow is a 15.5 mile day, so we’ll be starting earlier to try to beat the heat. And you can bet I’ll be packing carefully tonight!Weiterlesen