Almost There!

We left Caldas de Reis under a heavy cloud cover with hopes that the rain would hold off. It started sprinkling right away and by the end of the day we had high winds and a downpour- hard rain for four solid hours. No big deal for us at this point because our goal is at hand and we are almost there! Today was different because we made no church visits/ not a single one! Everything is closed up tight with this weather and we are trying to be content with just admiring the exteriors of some pretty amazing churches as we walk by them. Pretty disappointed though! We spent a fair amount of time in the forests again but also on small country lanes and through vineyards. We stopped for lunch at a small café and had a delicious traditional Galician soup with turnip greens, quail with fries and some whitefish with potatoes and peas all for 11 Euro. It was filling and just what we needed to warm up a bit. When it was time to put our ponchos on and head out everyone in the restaurant tried to dissuade us from leaving in the weather- it was getting darker and colder at this point but we knew we needed to keep pushing forward- no taxi for us!! Despite the grey day we saw lots of flowers along the roads- this rain is greening up the countryside. There are lots of pilgrim spots as we pass through and Rick left his rock from Florida at a memorial site today- very moving. We try and pray some as we march along but honestly today was just a day where we tried to survive the elements. The wind was roaring , reportedly with 45 mph gusts, and pushing us along- it took a lot of concentration to place our feet safely with the wind blowing so hard. After 18 miles it was a relief to see our alburgue come in to sight. There was a pilgrim’s meal there tonight. Rick opted out but I went and it was so special to visit with other pilgrims and hear their stories. I know Uischi from Germany and Sanda from Slovenia already but tonight I met Deidre from the Baltic coast of Lithuania and Charles from Québec and a bunch of others who generously sang Happy Birthday to me at our table when they heard i had just turned 67- I almost cried it was so sweet. (And our meal a veggie curry was delicious too.) Going to sleep good tonight!
I saw a quote written today on a poster we passed on the trails, “ Cada paso que he dado en me vida mi ha llevado aquí, ahora”which loosely means, “Every step I have taken in my life has led me here, now”. I feel that so deeply tonight. I can’t wait until the morning when we start our final steps of this Camino- stay tuned!!Read more