Day 27 June 15 Melide to Arzua

9 miles 21,153 steps

Santiago Apostle right across the street from Pension Rua where we stayed last year. 

A walk in the park- 8 miles

Perfect weather

Walking like EMDR

Walking alone- difficult to sync

Slept late

Albuergue with semi-private rooms

35 Euros

Washing machine

Arzua- cheese

No memory of being here before 

Can't make any sense of the news

Where have all the peregrinos gone? 

Social life here takes place outside.  People together in parks, bars. Is loneliness and isolation a cultural issue? Old and young mix here. Children can hang out in bars. Babies in strollers out late. Grandparents around. Need more thinking about this.  

We attended this cultural performance last night. 

Have videos. 

Food! Potatoes, onions, and garlic. Lots and lots of potatoes. Fries with every meal. 

The Sunday market

It's like one big treasure hunt! Look for the yellow arrows! 

Storing corn. They are atill used. 

Family run business. 8 years old and she runs the restaurant! 

Dinner: cheese made here in Arzua.  Well deserved after all the cow pies we walk through!  Padron peppers.  

25 miles to Santiago! 2 more walking days. 

Even though over 230,000 pilgrims walk yearly now, in the Middle Ages, there were even more.

Up early again tomorrow.  14 miles. 

Day 26 June 14 Eirexe de Ligonde to Melide

14.42 miles 33,856 steps

Hospedaje de Parrilados de Molino

Up at 6am this morning and out the door at 6:30 before the dawn.  Walking in the cool of the day with a breeze blowing. We arrived by 1:30 and now we soak up the relaxation for the rest of the day.  The weather is perfect, the town is in between the ones that are the usual route so we appear to have avoided the crowds walking into Santiago. 

Signs of economic growth are all around and the Brierley Guide will be hard pressed to keep up with the numbers of new establishments catering to peregrinos of all kinds.  

Delightful owner of last night's room

Ready to be transported to the next Albuergue.  

Sharing the road. 

Same place, new year

A couple things I've learned along the way :

1. The Dalai Lama gets his yearly check-ups at the Mayo Clinic. 

2.  What MAMILs are:

Middle Aged men in Lycra

About Craig

He's a dream machine of a Camino Companero and here's why:

Massages my feet

Accepts my bathtub floor flooding behaviors

Carries my backpack up the stairs

Holds it like a coat for me to put on

Has immense patience for my pace walking since I appear to make frequent stops for all the little adjustments along the way- hat on, hat off, bathroom stops , photo stops 

Picks up my poles every time they have a habit of falling over

Laughter!!

"He's a rock , " my mom once said. 

And that is the translation of my father's Jewish name

But we will dismiss any Jungian analysis- I'm leaving that mumble jumble on the Camino

And finally, at the end of a 14 mile trek, when I am flat out not moving, he dances a little jig around the room. 

I am a lucky girl. 

Day 24 June 12 Sarria to Portomarin

 14.81 miles 32,377 steps

Familiar in a general sense. Enchanted land. Language. Slugs are back! 

Different time of year. Very hot now. Rainy before. Vegetation has grown up. Gardens bountiful. Many more peregrinos.

Good to have a destination 

Woman injured walking 30+ k every day. 

Shin splints/tendinitis 

Early misty morning. Seems like the Northwest. 

All is provided. 

Another way to travel

Oh Galicia! 

Until the temperature reached 90 and the shade was gone.... 

Tempting at times 

A pathetic amount of food! 

 A tour bus arrives.  The Camino means different things for different people. 

Peregrino lunch stop. It's busy! 

The Camino means different things for different people

Oh Galicia. You have my heart. 

Meeting Phil and Kathy for dinner soon. 

And here they are with Chuck from Spokane. We became fast friends but who knows if our paths will cross again?

Day 25. June 13 Portomarin to Eirexe

12 miles 25,072 steps

85 degrees 

Pension Eirexe

Could it be all about the weather?

Walking today, over the same path we walked last year, how different it all seems bathed in sunshine with farmers not planting their fields but bailing the hay. 

We are still walking - at our own pace. We stopped early today for it is hot and there are many peregrinos on the trail. We found the sweetest pension in a tiny hamlet. Sunshine, breeze, rest. By stopping here, we deviate from the  usual track so there are just a few of us. Nice way to continue. Camino on the fly! Glad we don't make reservations in advance. 

These are the thoughts I was having while walking today.

Again like last year I think about the fallacies inherent in dualistic thinking. I asked Crsig if he had a sense of how far he could walk if he had no choice. He had no clue. That's the thing . We don't know our limits. There is strength and perseverance that develops resilience and empowerment in body and spirit.  Yet, there's wisdom in knowing when to stop, to seek assistance, to rest. 

The physical /mental- so entwined. The Camino again teaches this.  I must be a slow learner. 

And then I recalled someone years ago telling me that the best gift to give kids=model of healthy adult relationships. I've broadened this meaning to include relationship with self. 

My Camino, My pace, My listening

My time My prayer - I'm a lucky girl

As we approach Santiago, how will I feel when it's over?

Friends and family pull us back. G'children tug even harder. Little ones. Thankful for wifi for frequent contact- 

Will we return ? So many do. We just met a couple from California who are walking the entire Camino. They seem even older than us. It's their third time. 

The Camino now in June is more

crowded, feels more like a social event than an inner journey. We find our balance. 

It's a lot of fun  to meet different people, even if there are many, many Americans. 

And when we get to Santiago, once again our sins will be forgiven and we will have clean slates.  And once again, I'll confess my sin of not flossing for this trip!!

Misty morning walk

Another way to travel

Quintessential Galicia 

Craig's gem 

Country cemetery

Eye candy 

Craig found his calling.  Of course the señora thought he was so cute!! 

Day 23 June 11Burgos to Sarria by train

Met North Dakota clan

Met Phil and Kathy! 

Back in Galicia

Day 22 June 10 villa Franca to Burgos!

21 miles 39,749 steps

We made it!!!  We're in Burgos completing the Camino!  170 miles this year.  We just kept walking and walking.  

Tomorrow we take the train to Sarria and from there, hopefully life will allow us to walk the last 100 kilometers into Santiago before we depart for home.  

We discovered today that people over 60 ride the rails in Spain for 40 percent discount.  

Too exhausted to write much about the day except that CC kept the energy up at the end by singing marching songs in his style. He would NOT give me the camera!! 

Monument to the Spanish Civil War

A different type of Albuergue 

Las mochilas en Burgos! 

Day 21 June 9 Belorado to Villafrance

7.68 miles 17,785 steps

Hot, windy

Today oh today!!

We slept in. Then we dumped our packs out on each bed andscrutinized their   contents for all unnecessary and heretofore unused items. Seems no matter how mindfully we pack, a moment arises where we feel we are carrying useless weight.  Admittedly, it is seemingly much easier to rid our packs of this weight than our bodies but we're working on that as well. 

The results?

Almost exactly the same for each of us: 5 pounds sent away to our hotel in Madrid to be collected at the end of this journey. 

The bag to go. 

Kilos

Adios!! 

How delightful to lose 5 pounds. My feet are happy and when my feet are happy...

We reflected that this paring down affected us more than physically- a lighter spirit prevails. 

Along the Camino, fountains abound and most of them have drinkable water, especially for peregrinos to refill water containers. Here we encounter Craig dunking his necktie to be worn close to the skin to cool body temperature. They really work.  A great invention that pilgrims of old did not possess.  

Today we stay in an Albuergue but in a private room with all the comforts of a converted 12th century pilgrims hospital.  

Above is a photo of the multi-jetted shower with a molded seat- perfect for sitting and washing clothes while recovering from the rigors of the day.

Not exactly a river or a washboard but stomping them clean seems quite effective.  

The view from our window

On this second Camino we've made several new discoveries. One of them involves a new and more efficient way to stop to pee along the Way. In the past, in order to save my knees, I would have to take off my backpack.  Now, Craig simply holds it up and takes the weight off and I'm good to go.  

It's the little things. 

20 miles to Burgos- and we will have completed the entire Camino from St. Jean Pied de Port to the ocean- Finesterre. But let's not count our chickens. 

Craig talking to someone from South Dakota.  He grew up in Woonsocket, about 15 miles away from Wessington Springs and his mother lives in Wessington Springs. Go Spartans! 

Dinner tonight with Katie (again). Her friend Jill walked separately and took a longer day. The other couple are reporters for Minnesota Public Radio and the gentleman in the foreground is from Germany and has already walked 1000 kilometers starting at home and following the Le Puy route in France.  A lively mix of people and conversation, enhanced by bottles of wine. All for $12 euros each. 

Will we see each other again? Who can know?