Mondoñedo to As Paredes

We had an interesting beginning to our day. When we got to the reception area leaving the building, Moriah dropped our key in the slot at the same moment I was about to open the door. However, I couldn't get the door unlocked! That's when we saw the sign that read, "Attention: Open the door before leaving the keys." We were locked inside a quiet, seemingly deserted 16th century building. Fortunately, we had passed a man at the elevator and Moriah remembered which door he had entered, so we went in search of him. We found an elderly priest fixing his breakfast, explained our dilemma (thanks to Google Translate), and he let us out. I felt guilty that he had to walk those long hallways with his walker, but he was very cheerful and kind about it.

We walked 12.3 miles and took the mountain route, which was the steepest climb on our entire Camino. We were dreading it, but took it anyway because it was 3 miles shorter. As it turned out, it wasn't as bad as we had anticipated and we were glad we did it.

We walked for quite a while with a young man from Switzerland who we have met repeatedly along the way. We had quite a discussion about our faith, when we realized we were all Christians. God has given us many opportunities to share or faith with people of all backgrounds.

We expect rain tomorrow and for the rest of our walk. Tomorrow should be a shorter day, though.Read more