(Distance: 21.1 kms Time: 6.5 hours)
Last night we had a pilgrim meal with some of our friends along with about 20 other pilgrims. The wine served with the meal got the party going and we all had a great time ... almost too good. The albergues close their doors and have lights out at 10pm. We (all 25 of us) arrived at our albergue at 10:20 ... oops! After a few mins of banging on the door and making noise they let us in ... probably a better alternative than us waking up the whole town.
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| our "dinner party" |
The Day: This week appears to be a special festival time in Spain. At 6am (yes I was up and moving) a group of musicians were at the door of the albergue singing to the pilgrims celebrating a feast day of the Virgin Mary called the "Festival of Grace". We actually left at 6:30 but stopped just down the road at a "mini mart / gas station" and had our morning coffee and pastry. Then off to go walk "a few" miles. Maybe it was the dinner the night before, but neither one of us could find our rhythm all day and we struggled. The terrain for the most part was open farm land and it was hot. Having heard that their was a special event happening in Los Arcos today, we called ahead and made a reservation in a recommended albergue ... and good thing we did because many pilgrims ended up sleeping outdoors. The special event was their annual town festival and the "running with the bulls". Mass was even cancelled that evening so that the Priest could participate. It was all fun to watch but ended up mostly a town party.
The People: We had a drink in the town square in the afternoon with new friends ... Ruth, Claire and Alice from Ireland, and Cherry from NYC. Today was the last day on the camino for Ruth, Claire and Alice but Cherry hopes to make it to Santiago by Sep 14. Patrick and our path continue to cross and he is becoming a really good friend. We had dinner with Aaron from Arizona and Arc from Brazil ... to my surprise he had also worked for IBM but was recently "RA'd" (for my non IBM readers that means they were let go)
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| Patrick, Claire, Cherry, Alice, Ruth and Betsy |
