Day 40 -Portomarin to Palas de Rei -26km

I got the last bed at the albergue at the first one that I stopped at after a long hot day again. I was awake around 6am, but it was too early to get out of bed. I decided I might as well do my morning ritual (brush teeth, take medicine, fix hair etc.) so that when it was late enough, I could just get up and go. It really is a guessing game. I want to start early enough so to finish early before the sun is too hot, but then I don’t want to go too early and miss the scenery.

I decided I would leave the hostal and go get some breakfast before I leave. I got a chocolate croissant that I ate right away but got a sandwich to go. Peggy arrived at the cafe after a large tour group of Germans so had to wait a bit for her food. I think we ended up leaving around 7:30am. We walked together for about 2/3rds of the day. I ran into Matt (guy from LA) so I walked with him until the end. It is kind of funny now. I really don’t get a chance to walk alone too much now, but I don’t mind. There are so many people on the trail, you might as well walk with someone and talk, because that is what most are doing.

It was a long 26kms today. I was trying to get a bed before reaching here, but I knew the chances were slim, most of those in the small towns were full. I didn’t mind, as tomorrow will be a shorter day.

I am sitting waiting for my laundry to be done. I didn’t do any washing the last couple days so there would be no hiking tomorrow if I didn’t do it. I am looking forward to not having to do the hand washing laundry soon.

Ok, I am keeping this short. The scenery today was nothing spectacular, in fact, mostly boring, so not many photos and no video. Let’s hope tomorrow is nicer. I don’t have to leave until 8am so that will be nice.

TTYL

Throwback to 2009 from Julie’s Journal

Well, saying I am in a crappy mood now about sums it up. I was fine until dinner but that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I AM SO SICK OF GERMAN!!!!!!!!!!

We started out in fog again today. The ground was wet so I decided to wear my poncho to start off. It soon came off when I realized there was no rain coming and I was getting hot. We hiked to Portomorin where we stopped for coffee and groceries. Seeing the old ruins in the river was kind of neat. We stopped and had lunch in Gonzar and then continued to Ligonde. It is here where things started to go down.

The albergue in Ligonde was nice but there was nobody there and no one working there. Joerg really wanted to be with people as we were alone yesterday. I really wanted to be alone but I could tell he wanted to see people so I agreed to go one 1 km more. Well, he got his wish. We are jammed in a room with 18 beds, barely room to put bags. The showers are 2 together so you have to share the space.

The funny thing is, I didn’t mind the room (I have had worse), but I wanted some time alone so Joerg went for a beer and I went for a walk (after my shower). I kind of felt bad leaving him alone (though he was with a couple Germans) so I eventually came back to sit with him. Well, they continued to speak German so I buried my head in my guide book. When I even asked the woman a question in English (Did she like travelling alone), she answered “yes” and then proceeded to explain in German why. Holy Crap … and I was the one who asked her the question. To top it off, she spoke perfectly good English.

Well, it was time for dinner and they joined us so it was another hour of pure German and me staring out to space. I couldn’t take it anymore, I just had to leave when I finished my dessert. I went for a little walk, then just decided to go to bed early. So here I am at 7:30pm writing in my journal.

Joerg I know feels bad, but in some ways I think he should. The very least he could do is try to translate some of it for me so I don’t sit there like an idiot. Next time ... I am not going to let myself get into that … when the Germans arrive I am just going to leave.

(Excerpt from the next day in the Journal)

Well, the evening yesterday ended very nicely. Joerg came to bed all nice and drunk so I took advantage of him just like I warned him earlier. He was asking if he was the problem and I said no and we would talk about it tomorrow. And we did talk about it. I explained that sometimes I would like to be alone, simply for the reason to be alone and nothing to do with him. I also talked about the translation thing and he apologized. He usually does do a good job but there was none at dinner.Read more