Today the Primitivo seemed different. Mark said it was because we were now walking the
Frances, but Nathan, the young doctor from the Netherlands pointed out that the Primitivo is
older. So technically, it is the pilgrims walking the Frances who have joined a new trail.
Semantics aside, it felt different.
Nathan met us at our albergue at 7 am and we walked out of town. It was dark and raining, so
we veered off trail once but quickly corrected. We walked 35 km and checked in at the
Albergue Cruceiro de Pedrouzo at 4:30 pm. Yes it was a long day but remember, the Camino
is about stopping and we did our fair share today.
We saw very few pilgrims and couldn’t find an open bar for breakfast. Come 9 am, we started
seeing pilgrims and our breakfast luck changed. We warmed up in a small bar and ate tortilla.
The owner, in an effort to control the overuse of his facilities, had a button behind the counter
that buzzed patrons into the washrooms. It seems a much more sanitary solution than a key
chained to slice of hockey stick, common in gas stations at home. Along this stretch of trail we
passed a bar or restaurant almost every 5 minutes. No exaggeration. Our second stop was
for cafe com leches and Santiago tart, a dense almond based dessert dusted with icing sugar.
Lunch was at a modern little restaurant where I enjoyed a Caesar salad. One more stop was
for Lemon Fanta. These stops gave us a break from the rain and a rest for our legs, but also
gave us time to continue our walking conversations. We compared and contrasted Dutch and
Canadian electoral systems, explored the idea of truth versus fact, and few other topics. The
kilometres fly by when your mind is engaged in other pursuits.
Scarlet, a pilgrim from Hong Kong, told us she was going to an albergue with a spa today. As
soon as she said it, Nathan’s curiosity was peaked. Twice before he has been fooled by
albergue advertising that promised a spa only to find they were closed or no longer existed.
He phoned to confirm the rumour, and sure enough, it existed and was open. That settled it;
we were going to the same albergue. When we arrived Mark and Nathan headed to the spa
for two hours of relaxed happiness. I didn’t bring shorts so I had to settle for the shower.
We now see many new faces. Some have walked longer than us and others have just started,
but we are all just 19 km from our destination. Tomorrow will be an exciting day. Here’s hoping
the sun shines on Santiago for all of us.