Saragossa

."Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience” - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Day 3 - Villatuerta to Villamayor de Monjardin
-13.1 km

7:15 am start and today was a hard day. Physically and emotionally. I definitely had a leak in my waterworks! So many times today I just cried. I am disappointed in the distances I’m walking as they are not as long as I had hoped. Disappointed in myself for gaining my weight back, not training for this and all manner of other things. And honestly, despite the beauty, the amazing people I have met and the fact I am privileged enough to be here at all, I just kept thinking “I am NOT having fun. I am NOT enjoying this”. One thought built on the other and went on repeat as I slowly worked my way up and down hills and through towns.

I rested a lot. Had breakfast in Estella at a lovely place called Namas-Te (a tea house!). As the server put my pintoxs in front of me, in walked Bill and Rip. We ate pretty quickly (wasn’t getting caught out again). They were headed on the alternate route to Luquin and I to Villamayor de Monjardin. The ladies in Namas-Te could see I was upset. More tears with them.

The blues hit me bad again on my way out of Estella. I cried and walked and cried some more. I stopped at the Irache wine fountain at the Monestario Irache. (the vineyards add 100L of wine to the fountain everyday, for pilgrims to enjoy). Carried on walking and cried some more. I was actually hating what I am doing, at that point. Rested a bit more and of course took ages to get moving again, due to the foot pain.

Made it past Irache and on to Azqueta. Lots of downhill this section which means only one thing…the uphills are coming. Rested here, cried a bit more. Got going again for the last 2km - majority of it uphill. Not steep this time - just continuous. I cried when seeing the church spire of Villamayor de Monjardin - well made the motions - I had no tears left!

Got to the Albergue at about 1:15pm. I have not made any reservations and they don’t open until 3pm on Sundays. So myself and other pilgrims sat and waited. I was desperately hoping for a bed (they only have 21!) as I knew the next town was “Completo” (fully booked already). I got lucky! Bed in a shared room of 5. Luck is subjective though…hit the shower to find I may have picked up some hitch hikers after all. Red spots all over my chest, torso and arms. Right where my long black shirt had been sitting. And the black shirt was stuffed into my backpack beside the lightweight backpack that Marie gave me back the day before :-(. Hand washed my clothes, dried in the sun and sealed in my drysack to avoid any cross contamination with my other clothes… I hope. My next stop needs to have a proper laundry and dryer so I can heat dry everything and hopefully prevent and more issues. Other than that little downer, it was a great dinner with all the other pilgrims and volunteers from the Albergue, and a quiet evening.

No more tears. Well, today anyway! I am able bodied and need to be grateful for that. Grateful for my ability to carry a pack and slog it out. Grateful that I am here. Part of my Camino is to learn to be kinder to myself and have a bit more grace - for myself and those around me. Big lessons learned today, but I am sure it won’t be the last one!

We will see what tomorrow brings. More kms I think, but I hear it is flatter. Woohoo!Read more