Dinner last night was very good. I ate alone because my hotel is out of the way from the Camino and I don't want to walk back to the center of town. The passengers need a break. The only others eating at the Hotel is a group of ten women and two men. They are German. I've seen them before and my best guess is that one of the men is a Minister because I saw them after dinner a couple of nights ago and he was in front of the group lecturing about something but i don't think he's a tour guide. At dinner he sits at the head of their long table and holds court. Not what I would expect from a tour guide.
Surprise, surprise! The food is excellent. I sat there for about an hour taking my time before heading back to the room to finish the blog and to send out the photos. I went to the Farmacia on my way into town and doubled up on bandages and foot cream. After I take care of all of the passenger need's I'm dead to the world but I did get the blog posted by around 11:00. I did my best on the proof read but if I missed a bunch of errors please cut me some slack. I sleep all night and don't wake until 8:00 which is a near record for me. When I get out of bed the passengers are very quite. After breakfast and packing I head for the Camino.
When I first walk out of the Hotel I am surprised by the weather. It's foggy and cool, almost cold. I stop and make a change. The head scarf is now on duty. The weather actually is perfect for walking. It's stays that way for about the first hour and then it starts getting warmer. Another wardrobe change is needed. Speaking of wardrobes I also reduced some weight today. I left behind the go to vote shirt, it's just to heavy and a worn out pair of shorts. There will be others soon.
The walk today is really easy. Most importantly it's easy on the passengers. Flat, dry and very few Spanish Potatoes. I have lots of water and an apple so I'm good to go. I'm about half way to Carrion when I passed a young couple. Buen Camino and of course where are you from? They are from San Francisco. He started in St Jean France and she joined him in Burgos. I asked what the thought about the storm and they said that they just stayed in their hotel for three days and skipped ahead. Am I the only fool who walked that day? No, because I walked with Bill from Alaska. As I am starting to move ahead of them I also notice they have those lunch only packs. Is it me or are we all just getting soft? These two are in their twenty's. While I also agree that you do the Camino your own way there may be limits. Would it count if you drive the 500 miles? I think that's going to far afield of what the real meaning of walking the Camino is. Am I wrong?
I'm about half way and I can hear a loud voice behind me. He is getting closer. Finally he catches me. He is a big guy. He asks me where I am from and I tell him California. He says oh Californis loves the Camino. He then asks me if I have seen the film Six Ways to Santiago? Yes I have. His next question is what did I think of it? I really did not think much of it but I'm not sure if he is connected so I just go neutral and say it was okay.
He tells me that I will see the film differently when I complete the Camino. I then tell him this is my second Camino. He stops dead and just looks at me with a smile. Before he can say anything else I show him the picture I have on my phone of the snowstorm on day two and he just wants to hug me.
He then turns around and tells me to take a picture of his backpack. It turns out that he has produced, written, directed and stared in his own Camino film which was shown at a film festival in Italy. The name of the film is, Are You A Pilgrim? A film by Gian D. Ceccato.
Before he moves on he tells me to buy the movie and write a review. The next time I see him he is working the crowd at a cafe. Interesting. I will send the photo and probably buy the film on Amazon just out of curiosity. There are very few photo options today because every mile looks exactly the same.
I arrive in Carrion in less than five hours just walking at a quite pace. Time to find the hotel and get things done. I'm at the very end of town so when I do finish I walk back to town and I bump into my friends from Nova Scotia. They arrived here at 10:30 having left at 6:00am. They did find an Albergue which is managed by the Nuns.
I'm walking along with them and there is a Camino store and it's open. Rare for a Sunday. I buy my new poles. We walk across the plaza and sit for a drink. They have not yet decided but they may go on to Rome and walk part of the Roman Camino! It all depends on her hip which has been a problem since coming down the mountain on day two. Mark on the other hand looks like he could walk home from here. I'm going back to my hotel to chill and get rid of the new poles. I also bought a Camino hat. Walking around in the Calloway hat just isn't cutting it. Because I'm so far from where they are staying its unlikely that we will meet for dinner so we agree that we will catch up down the road.
I return to my hotel and take care of the passengers, antiseptic, new bandages and the Spanish version of Bengay. My plan is to just stay here for dinner but when I check the menu is not all that great and dinner does not start until 8:00, it's now 5:30. So reluctantly I start to walk back to town. I find a little restaurant which I had dinner in before and take a seat. The waiter comes and I order. At that moment a women stands in front of me and says may I join you? It's the Camino and I say sure. Her name is Vickey and she is from New Zealand. We chat about today's walk and it leads always to the same place. She asks me ...why are you here? I explain it's trip number two and then go on to tell her why I'm here. Okay your turn.
She says she does not know why she is here hesitates for just a moment and goes on to tell me that her daughter died at the age of seventeen months many years ago and then recently her sister, mother and her nephew all died in a short time. I think she just told me why she is here. With that the next thing I know is that Vickey has offered another women, who is alone, to join us and she does. Her name us Susan and she lives north of Portland. Susan than then tells us it's her second Camino. I ask when she did her first and she says May of 2013. I show her the picture on my phone of the snow storm and it turns out she started two days after me and just after the snow storm. Small world. We compare notes about this one and the first and both agree on several differences. She is using the Donkey service this time because of a back problem.
Vickey is in sandles because her blisters are acting up. She also skipped the storm days days back around Burgos. It's a fact Alaska Bill and I are just not smart enough to come in out of the rain!
It's late, I am tired so I will say good night. Tomorrow the walk will be from Carrion to Terradillos a walk of nearly 17 miles. The good news is that it's flat but there will be no shade. Oh well, it is what it is. By the way tomorrow will also bring me to the half way point!
Buen Camino.
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