Day 9 - Shelter from the storm

“The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful.—-e. e. cummings

We hit the road at 7:30 a.m and headed out of Alvaiazere to Ansiao. It was a chilly, make that cold, raining morning and my challenge was none of the clothes I washed 2 nights ago were dry. So I had to put back on my dirty, stinky clothes and layer over my top my damp long sleeve top.

There was no cafe in sight to get breakfast to fortify us for what lay ahead. The path started out with more hills and the rain intensified and the wind kicked up at times. We plodded along and as usual our fellow pilgrims from the auberge eventually passed us by.

While there were some breaks in the rain, and thankfully one around noon, where we sat on some rocks and ate our packed lunch, it basically rained all day. Most of the path today was through woods, but the wooded path was made up of jagged rocks which were quite slippery.

Yves from France was the last one to catch up to us when we were about halfway to Ansiao. He pulls a trolly that is attached to his waist (see pics) and looks quite humorous trucking up the hills.

While the weather was miserable in a weird way it was a little fun. Reminiscent of your childhood where one loved walking in the rain and splashing in puddles

By the time we reached Ansiao, we were drenched and found a laundromat where I could re-wash all my wet clothes and dry them. Ahh the simple things like putting on clean clothes after a hot shower!

Tonight’s pilgrim meal at a local restaurant consisted of olives, vegetable soup, veal, rice, potatoes, and dessert. You could also have wine with your meal. The soup was delicious, as was the veal. At dinner we met Laurent from France. This is his 4th Camino.

One interesting observation we had is that Arlene and I have not seen any women our age on the Camino. Perhaps they have more sense? Or are starting closer to Santiago? There have been men our age or older, but mostly 20-30 something young guys. Hmmm

While the rain was fun at times today, I don’t know if that attitude will last as it is suppose to be cold and rainy for possibly the next week. But I’ll worry about that tomorrow because right now I need sleep! Boa Noite.Read more