Praza Constitucion

Yesterday when I went into the grocery store I asked the woman at the fruit counter about the bagpiper statue. That was like turning on a switch. It turns out that Soutelo de Montes is home to many of Spain’s finest bagpipers, and their band world renowned — in fact, they had been invited to play in NYC’s Saint Patrick’s Day parade in 2020. You can guess what happened to that invitation. I learned that the woman herself really had never been very attracted to the traditional music, but she told me that when her adopted son (born in Siberia) was six or seven, he just got the bug. He is now 18 and a member of the band. She is now a huge fan and showed me lots of videos. And she said something like — it’s funny how it took someone born thousands of kilometers from here to make me feel connected to the place that is my home.

When I got back to my hotel room I thought I should send a WhatsApp to confirm my reservation for today. I got a response from the owner of the Casa Rural saying that he was flying home tomorrow and would not be arriving until at least 5 PM, so that I would have to sit outside and wait for him. Well that was kind of a dealbreaker, so I decided to turn what was supposed to be a short 20 km day into a 33 km day. Since I arrived at my destination well before five, I figure it was time well spent.

Whoever put this walk together today had an amazing ability to string little bits and pieces together. The Camino went from village to village on dirt paths, through little rocky green tunnels, through forested land and through wide-open fields. With a few short stretches on paved but on traveled roads. It was really very enjoyable.

Not sure where tomorrow will take me, but I am getting close to Santiago.Read more