It is getting harder to leave in the daylight each morning. Today sunrise was at 8:51. I hit the trail about 8:15. Light was just starting to show in the sky. It was dark and misty. I could see shadows of other pilgrims ahead but navigating was hard. Slowly the light came to the sky.
Over the last few days there have been many spider webs in the trees. Some even floating through the air. In today’s fog they took on a new look. Some pretty.
Some scary.
It was foggy until nearly noon. I planned to stop early today and found a little (8 person) albergue alone in the countryside. So far I’m the only one there. We’ll see if others stop.
I chose this place because there’s an old church with connections to the Knights Templar nearby. I got the owner to make me a sandwich and I headed off for the short 2km walk. It was a church from the 13 century with some interesting carvings and frescoes.
I sat behind the church in the sun and had my sandwich. Delicious.
Only 4 people showed up at the albergue tonight. A German guy, Hank with a good sense of humor, a french woman that kept to herself and an American living in Mexico, Sheshawna. She has lots of issues including a possible case of bedbugs (plus an unhappy marriage, constantly stretching while talking to you, and menopause induced sleeping issues). We ate dinner together in the small bar (no one else was there). A good soup, fried calamari and tart Santiago (almond tart with powdered sugar), wine and bread.
Unfortunately we ate early so now I’ve got to try and pass some time before going to bed. I think this is a late sleeping group so I don’t want to go to bed too soon.
Love the reference to the woman with issues. Funny.
It is certainly a cast of characters.
I looked up Knights Templar on Wikipedia, very interesting group, seems like a great story for Hollywood. Your map shows you closing in on Santiago, are you excited or sad that the trek is winding down. The description of your fellow pilgrims was amusing, especially the bedbug lady. Do you mentally rate your nightly group for interest and humor? The Portos group was perhaps not your favorite?
John wants to know, how you are dealing with drinking water. Where do you get it and how are you carrying it? Enjoy each of these days.
Great questions. I’ll talk about approaching Santiago and water tonight. I do watch the daily group of pilgrims for interesting people. I actually did enjoy the Portos group. They were funny and interesting. Walter from Germany said he was newly retired (from jobs ranging from fashion to decommissioning a nuclear reactor) but his wife was still working back in Germany. I asked if she’d retire soon. He said she was a teacher and would retire in 6 years, these were the best years of his life! Hilarious.