For sleeping on a gym mat on the floor it was a surprisingly comfortable sleep, at least for me and we slept in, not getting away until about 8:00. ML and many of the others were awake much of the night with barking dogs and church bells ringing on the half hour, none of which I heard. But we got quickly ready and hit the road. The horde of which we broke away from was 8 km behind us, but was passing as we started walking in their frenzy to get to the next alberque. The bars in town were closed so we had a good 10 k to walk before our cafe con leche, and off we headed at a good clip.
Since leaving from St Jean Pied de Port ten days before there have been three distinct areas: the Pyrenees taking us to Roncesvalle; the rolling farmlands and boreal forests up to the mountain west of Pamplona; and the distinct Mediterranean feel through to Bourgos. There is a certain sameness through each of these sections, and at first glance one might think the days are the same. But there is a subtlety to the route and what appears to be the same is in fact different: the type of crop; the change in soil from a dirt brown to a bright red clay reminiscence of PEI; difference in the type of windflowers growing along the road; the decorations on the homes from village to village, and so on. If you are paying attention, it in fact is a route of constant change. Kinda like life I guess. Day to day we don't notice the difference in ourselves, or others, unless someone has made a conscious decision to remake themselves. But go home and see someone for the first time in years, you notice they have changed. Basically the same person, but different. Perceptions we may have had years ago just don't apply anymore and it would be wrong to see them through the same eyes. This is something I am hoping that the "long walk without distractions" will enhance. Seeing people as they are, not as they were.
The weather was overcast and cool for much of the day, which in fact is preferable to the stifling heat we have seen many days. Never thought I'd ever say that on vacation. We made great time because of this and we put 28 km behind us by early afternoon. Although we were originally planning of going to Villafranca Montes de Ocala, at Epinsoa del Camino a small private hospitalle crossed our path and we took the sure bed that was available. This was a decent place costing 5€, with four beds per room. Again, to our surprise this turned out to be a dandy little evening, meeting a whole new crew of interesting people.
After an afternoon of relaxing and reading we headed out to the pilgrims supper at 7:00. All ten people at the alberque were at dinner, and we set down at a table with two others. Hans is a German, recently retired from his job managing a large sports/entertainment complex. He had many stories of the personalities of music acts booked over the years, including Freddy Mercury and Elton John. His new thing was classical piano, something he had dabbled in for years, but could now could concentrate full time on it. We hit it off. Our other dining companion was a young Japanese lady, with the coolest name ever...Chi. She didn't speak much English but understood quite a bit. A very fun table.
One of my highlights of the night was from the next table when one of the guys said " I want the experience, but I need a good nights sleep". They were talking about sleeping outdoors one night on the Camino. Our table burst out laughing and I introduced myself, called him Georgia the rest of the nigh, he called me Canada. So here we were, typical I guess for the Camino, ten people who didn't know each other ( not including the two couples) having a wonderful evening like we were old friends. Quite an eclectic group:
- Canadian couple, retired German and Young Japanese lady
- Swedish opera singer, good ole boy from Georgia, and young German couple
- white haired giant from Arkansas and tiny buxom Italian woman
That my friends is the Camino.
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