more terra chá
what’s a typical camino day like, you ask?
well, i’ll tell you, at least how it is for me. i like to think that i’m quite an organized person, so i like to start the day knowing what it will bring, in terms of weather, kilometers ahead, elevation profile, options for desayuno, meriendas, cafes con leche and vasos de leche caliente para mi hija.
so after finding what i presume was the only cafe open on good friday in vilalba, briefly catching up with the two ami girls we met at the albergue yesterday, i looked at the plan. it was cold this morning at 2°c, but expected to warm up to more than 20°c by mid-arvo.
not only i like to know, but especially our daughter needs to know whether the day will include significant climbs. today there was a bit of a hill to climb over the first four kilometers - she went ahead to get it behind herself. that’s an attitude i like.
then we walk. and walk. and walk.
whenever there is a bar or a cafe we take the opportunity to go in and either consume a bebida or a bite to eat. today we were lucky. the bar in san xuan had one of our favorites: tostada con aceite, tomate y sal. so simple, so good.
chips for our daughter, some zumo de piña, everybody is happy.
we meet the basque couple again. they seem so much in love, with each other and the camino. eskerrik asko - that’s the only basque i know, thank you for showing us how beautifully simple live can be.
it is a pleasant walk today, especially once the sun comes out and makes short work of the fog and low temps. for the last few kilometers we even have to change into shorts.
today we meet young and older dogs, horses, cats, chicken, cows, and only a very few humans. we give them names, the animals i mean.
we walk and play games, games invented by our daughter, traditional by now for the hikes on caminos.
guessing games - think of somebody or something, the other person asks questions that can be answered by yes or no, the goal being to find the thing or person as quickly as possible.
or we walk and talk. or we walk silently.
i photograph. it makes me look at the landscape differently and i really like it. not sure my photos are any good, but i also like to roughness, the beauty in the ugly, the imperfection. you get to see the raw images (but in jpeg - inside joke for photographers).
another guessing game is what the mile marker will read once we arrive at our destination. today’s best guess was our daughter’s, as so often! she guessed it accurate to 100m. tomorrow morning we will walk across the 100km mark to santiago.
sitting here freshly showered, smelling of spring blossoms (not really: in fact it is a mixture of foot cream and soap), waiting for the clock to hit 8pm, so we can go out to dinner next door and then hit the sack soon after.
the last few photos show a typical sleeping arrangement in an albergue. the one we are staying in tonight has 94 beds, but barely 10 occupied. the guy snoring yesterday in vilalba wisely chose the far corner of the room, otherwise his life would be in danger for my wife (she is usually very kind, but when you disturb her sleep you need to watch out!).
tired, over and out.
