Arca

I am very happy to say that I loved today’s walk! I could pretend this was a triumph of mind over body but the miraculous truth is that my ankle felt much better this morning and for most of today’s walk I could almost forget there was anything wrong with it at all.
We left before 7 and walked 3kms to the first town, Aruza, arriving in golden light, as some pilgrims who’d stopped overnight there were still eating their breakfast. I’m not saying we were smug but there is a satisfaction in getting a head start over people who walked further than you the day before!
There is a lot of marginally uncharitable talk among veteran pilgrims who have walked all the way from St Jean about how busy the route gets in these final days, crowded with lightweights who only do 100km and don’t even carry their own rucksacks!! Top of the list for this polite criticism are the Spanish teenagers who do the Camino as our children do D of E. Today we spotted what looked like a little army of them. At one point I got stuck behind them and was touched by how polite they all were, with 14 year old boys wishing me a ‘Buen Camino’ as I passed.
Today’s walking was lovely - we were shaded a lot of the time by trees and surrounded by beauty on all sides. I am going to miss so many things about this trip - the daily visual feast with its vibrant mix of greens and blues is definitely going to be hard to replicate in Kingston.
This afternoon when we reached O Pedrousa we found a pool where we could pay 6 euros to swim. I’m hoping it’ll help my ankle again because I really think that swimming yesterday made a difference. Beside its medicinal value, it was really relaxing to laze around by a pool for a while.
Our own accommodation may not have a pool but it does have a washing machine and, not wishing to look a gift horse in the eye, we were tempted to use it. At the pool, people had been saying that they felt the need to arrive in Santiago in clean clothes and the idea took hold. Unfortunately our eco wash lasted more then an hour and a half and, for some while, prevented us going out to eat. Currently everything I need to wear in the morning is hanging on a clothes line in our room, still pretty damp. (We do have the ability to turn the nicest accommodation into a slum dwelling). When we did venture out to eat (clothes still trapped on the longest wash cycle in history) we were surprised to find ourselves eating a Mexican meal - unexpected because we thought we’d chosen an Italian restaurant. It was good though. We intended to go to mass afterwards. I dashed back to hang up the benighted wash but we all missed the service because we got the time wrong. However we were then entertained by a group of young people giving an open air concert and so we stopped for a while to listen. I love the way everything seems more relaxed in a climate where you can hold these events outdoors in the evening. Finally, at the concert, Fiona spotted our first Spanish redhead. I had been telling Patrick about Gallicia’s celtic identity and he expressed a desire to see this evidenced in hair colour. Tonight I was pleased to fulfil this task and just in the nick of time.
Tomorrow we’re planning to set out pretty early. Not sure how I’ll feel about walking the final 20kms. I’m immensely grateful to be doing it without pain, very content to finish the route but I expect it will be bitter-sweet to reach the end of the road. Fiona, like most of our friends here, will be going on to Finnesterre so it won’t be over for her. But for me, the Camino is very close to being done.Read more