Day 19: Camino Part Two

I tried to walk this morning. I left at 7:07am, it was light out, warm, and peaceful = everyone had already gone! There were no boots left in the shoe rack at all! I left town, got as far as the fields outside, and realized it wasn't going to work. My left shin muscle wasn't going to cooperate. So I turned around, deciding to take a rest day back in Hospital de Orbigo. The hospitaleras here are lovely and kind, there's free wi-fi, and it will also be good to catch up on sleep by having a nice afternoon nap. It might even ease my sore throat (I'm really falling apart!).

My amigos left at 6:30am again. They have gone over to the Dark Side and joined the Bed Race, trying to rack up as many kilometers a day as possible. I wish them luck, and Buen Camino, but that's not how I wish to walk, so it all works out in the end.

There's a whole other group of pilgrims here now that I've remained a day in one place. I had been moving in one 'pack' since Sahagun and had recognized many faces. Now I must learn anew who talks the loudest, who hogs the showers, who snores...

There's a little Frenchman here who's a dead ringer for Eli Wallach, all 4' and 80 years of him... It turns out Eli (aka Ricardo from Italy), is quite the ladies man. He's asking all the women their names, and writes them down in his tiny notebook so he can remember. After a little chat about where we were from, I asked him for a photo - I think he practically squeezed right through to the other side of me, he was holding me so close!

There are several Canadians here: 2 sisters from Ontario, a couple also from Ontario that started walking 2 days ago on her birthday, and 2 ladies from Calgary. There are others too of my language, though I didn't actually meet them, but I've heard more English spoken tonight than I have the whole trip (conversations with Mike aside).

The sisters cooked up a traveler's meal of rice and veggies, so with a contributed bottle of wine, bag of chips, and a baguette, we had a fun little meal.

It's 8pm and a gaggle of German men are just finishing their meal in the kitchen; Elisa (Polish lady who's never done any real biking until this trip) and I are sitting in the lounge sipping tea and watching pilgrims disappear up to bed. The heavens have opened up and the few unlikely walkers who had hung their laundry out to dry in the garden while they went off to dinner are hurrying back to rescue their sodden clothes...

An interesting start to the second half of my Camino...

Thanks, Allison
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