Seara

Short, wet day but finally in full countryside. And so many pilgrims! On their own, in groups, parents with their young adult children, another group of sisters, several groups of women, and probably more young walkers than I have ever seen before. There were not many chances for coffee today, and so everyone funnelled into the same places. A chair opens up, a new person sits down.

The morning started with drizzle, but I lolled about in my room long enough that the rain had stopped by the time I got started. The exit from Ponte de Lima goes through a semi-natural park where I would want to walk the dog. Then it followed, on an elevated stone pathway, a small stream to the first real mud of the trip! From the weather report, which is predicting rain every day until I leave, I expect it won’t be the last. Towards the end of the day there were two places where the Camino is the best place for water to run. At this point it was mostly possible to keep from getting a soaker, but after even another day or two I would think not.

One big hill with a trail full of rocks felt like hiking at home. Very thankful,as always, for my poles!

It rained off and on all day. Hood on, hood off. Eventually it poured. Then it stopped. Then it drizzled. Etc. It’s so great to know the day will not end with me in a wet tent!

Tonight I am staying at a very communal private albergue. When I arrived, I opened the door to a table of about ten people drinking wine. Marlene, the woman who owns it, was not here, so a Portuguese man( who is also staying here) showed me where the free beds were and I ended up with a private room. Big bonus! I guess there were supposed to be more people staying, but they did not all show up. I’m happy with that! It sounds like there is a lot of conviviality going on in the part of the house where the other beds are!

Very nice communal meal. I can’t imagine cooking for 15 or 20 people every night. Lots of food, lots of vinho verde and port. Married Ukrainian couple, 2 friends from Czech Republic, a Dutch man, a guy from Montreal, a woman from Quebec who lives in BC, 3 German men, two together, one alone, a woman from Japan, who is married to a Swiss-Canadian, travels on a Swiss passport but now has citizenship in Spain, a Portuguese man and his son (who is studying sport science and will be taking sport history and sport sociology next year), a young Portuguese woman, one man at the far end of the table whom I did not meet, and me. And a cute little scruffy dog.

I still have small blisters - I think they would’ve gone away today if I had worn my sandals, but that did not seem like a good idea in the rain. But they’re not too bad.

Tomorrow a short day to Valença.Read more