We left in the dark at 7:08 on this very eerie morning. Very misty, so visibility was maybe a few feet ahead of us. Sara’s headlamp helped, and we followed a few other pilgrims working their way through the fog. Even after the eastern light appeared, it remained foggy and misty for a long while.
Today’s walk will be long, over sixteen miles without services or cafes. This old stone road, built on top of an original roman road, is very flat, straight, and quite rocky. We see groups of pilgrims in front of us, and others behind. Groups often begin together, but then they disburse based on their own individual paces. We’ve learned that a great many pilgrims are walking the Camino now, so there are usually a pilgrims ahead of us and behind us throughout the day.
The Entrepreneurial Spirit:
- Realizing that pilgrims will need their rest stops along this lonely stretch, two entrepreneurs have sought to provide: one with a food truck and a kilometer later another offering coffee, sandwiches, and drinks with a grill and some tables. Both are basic and rustic, but they serve the purpose. All we need is “el bano,” bathroom.
- As pilgrims, we’re likely to stop at the first available rest stop: it may be the only one. Location is crucial. And if we make the first stop, we will just pass by the second. So the second stop owners get creative. This time the wife keeps running the rest stop while her husband drives along the path, a short distance ahead of his competitor. There he stands, greeting the hungry pilgrims to tell them of the stop coming further down the path. He has a poster with pictures making this look like a great place to rest.
- We’ve seen this strategy frequently. As we head into a town, we’re greeted by someone with advertising, sometimes pictures, sometimes handing out cards or pamphlets, to tell pilgrims that there is another place to stop, a better place, further along the path. On this day, unfortunately, we left the second spot thinking we would have been happier at the first.
For every day, the John Brierley guidebook that we use offers a spiritual reading. Sometimes we talk about them; sometimes we don’t. Today included the Gandhi quote, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” So we thought about and discussed the importance of forgiving and letting go of old hard feelings.
The Albergue today, Los Templarios, is very nice. We have loved the old places, but this one is pretty new, probably the newest places we’ve stayed at. It’s a little bit outside of town, Terradillos, along an alternate route. The only other albergue available is a very old one, right in town. Interestingly we enjoyed the fact we didn’t need to go into town for anything else. With a bar and dinner available, we could spend the rest of the day relaxing here. So we took advantage of the chance to sit and read, to catch up on a blog, and to enjoy a glass of wine, a cup of tea, or a glass of beer. And we enjoyed a pleasant dinner, at a very reasonable price, at the albergue. Life is good on the Camino!
