Camino Day 23

The boarding school reenactment continued in the morning with breakfast exactly at 6:30, only one cup of coffee allowed and we must keep quiet. We were then sent into the chilly morning at 8 to walk across a country. First we went round the corner to the golden chapel to hear the nuns sing the morning service.

The morning was very cool and breezy but not unmanageable so we bundled up and I put my multi-use bandana around my ears for warmth. The sun was out and the sky blue and the yellow flowers waved to us in delight.

yellow flowers

Hoping for some more coffee in the first town but nothing was open so we admired motley stork babies instead and had water and a packaged cake.

On to the old Roman road for a beautiful breezy walk. It was a shorter day and my heart wasn’t ready to stop but I was hungry and Alexandra’s shins hurt a bit.

You know the crazy hotel owner “Ramon” in the movie “The Way”, I found his double at lunch. This hotel owner danced around singing as he fixed our lunch, gave the ladies all kisses and was very animated as we tried to communicate without a common language. It was all very entertaining.

We found a lovely little place with a private room and actual heating. I went about the tasks of the pilgrim. First you put you boots and poles in a central hall so you don’t make a mess of the floors.

boots and poles

Then you take your shower and change into your other set of clothes you will wear until the next afternoon. Most people sleep in these clean clothes. I usually wear my shirt and long johns to sleep in.

Sometimes there is a washer but never a dryer. Otherwise you take your dirty clothes outside to sinks and hand wash and hang to dry.

wash day

Today had a particularly nice clothesline and sunshine.

drying clothes

I had a rest and went to the store to get some food for tomorrow’s long walk without towns. Store hours in Spain are an enigma since they are open only in the morning and evening and hours are not usually posted. We think that business hours in Spain are just a suggestion of when they might be open if the sun and moon are correctly aligned and the owner might possibly feel the they could potently wish to do business with you but they aren’t quite sure.

We were in luck today and the rumor of a grocery store actually open spread like wild fire through the pilgrim community. I got there as quickly as I could to find this tiny store owner in his even tinier grocery store. I felt like an Amazon invader but he had what I needed and we had such a delightful exchange of hand signals to communicate.

tiny grocery store

A peaceful day in a sleepy town, and all is right with our tiny world.



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