“It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for – and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.” – Oriah Mountain Dreamer – This was the quote associated with my Myers–Briggs test. More on that later.
Today’s walk was lovely. The weather was cool and cloudy. I think we walked about 18-20k. I really don’t know or care except for the fact that the tendinitis or shin splint or whatever this pain is, is causing me to limp. Ugh. Lots of rest and an ice pack tonight. We all walked fairly close together today. We met up at a café around noon and had coffee and sandwiches. I really like this group of people. They are very relaxed and easy to get along with. Yunli is new to the group and pretty quiet but she seems very kind. We are also still walking with Jakob & Caroline. I enjoy their company immensely.
A cat ran up to me today begging to be petted. That’s the first cat that’s done that on the entire trip…or on any Camino ever. The dogs seek me out while the cats usually scatter or don’t move because they are enjoying the sunshine. Meow.
We met some Americans from California at the café. They are retired and this is their first trip to Spain. They seemed thrilled to be here. They said they are really enjoying the Camino. Another highlight for them was, the woman’s (apologies I forgot her name) great grandmother was from a little town just off the trail. So they took a day trip to visit the town and see if they could find her home. As it turned out, they went into the church and the oldest woman in the village was there to receive communion and knew the house that her great grandmother had lived in! She said it was such luck that they crossed paths otherwise they probably wouldn’t have found it. That’s some Camino Magic!
Stephen expanded his music selection today to include…
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Fleetwood Mac’s – Gypsy
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Dire Straits – Walk Of Life
Which then lead to a discussion about Stephen’s Gite (hostel) that he plans to buy in France next year. He is going to call it the Kangaroo Gite but said the “Walk of Life” would be a good name too. He shared his dreams for this place. It will be donation only. It will have 6 washers and 6 dryers – quick wash/dry only so there is no waiting around (donation for those too), 20 beds with curtains, no top bunks, nice hot showers (no push button), multiple hair dryers, a bar and seating for 100 outside. Whatever the pilgrims want or need, he will have available. Sounds like a good place to stay to me.
Dora and I were discussing how our bodies have changed over the last month. I said,” my boobs are gone.” She said hers are too. And at the same time we both said, “but the butt remains!” This hike is not working in our favor.
I found out from the Americans that Tom from Germany (I haven’t mentioned him but we did meet him at a hostel in passing a week or so ago) is a HUGE Kansas City Chiefs fan. Apparently, he has the NFL package, watches all the games and even owns a Mahomes jersey. He also has a friend in Germany who is a Packers fan so they watch all the games together. The games are on in the middle of the night in Germany but they still get together to enjoy. I wish I would have known this when I met him. It would have made for a fun discussion. Fingers crossed our paths intertwine again.
I met a new pilgrim named Jo, from Belgium. He is 49, works in finance, is married and has a son. He is reading this. Hi Jo.
I told him I haven’t met many people from Belgium but 20 years ago, Squint and I met two Belgium guys in a bar when we were roommates in Prague. I explained how these two men left a long lasting impression on both of us. They worked for what would be our version of the FBI in Belgium as handwriting analysts. So on a bar napkin they had us write a few sentences and our signature. The got both of our personalities spot in. It was incredible. Plus, they told us a lot about how to catch a criminal just by reading a note left that had been left behind. It was wild!
Our hostel tonight is run by the government. It’s very weird. The showers are just stalls with no shower curtain. Hmmm. They have a room for a kitchen but they don’t have anything in there but a sink. No, stove or fridge, no plates, cups or silverware. We ate out and I had another amazing salad…for 7€.
Hyekyung wanted us to get her some beer before the market closed. Most everything (supermarkets, banks, etc) close from 2-4/6pm here and then reopens from 4/6-9pm. We just grabbed a random bottle. Turned out it is made in Valencia – basically local. It was 1 liter, it cost 1.20€, and was 4.5% alcohol. Now that’s a cheap drink.
Sadly there were no cups in the hostel so every time she tried to drink it, the fizz filled her mouth and went up her nose.
Since there was no silverware, Stephen ate his yogurt with potato chips and a knife. 🤦♀️ You just have to make do on the Camino sometimes. It all works out in the end.
We were all tired, a little bored and not ready to shower so we sat around eating unhealthy snacks and taking free personality tests. Myers Briggs, Enneagram, human design and 5 love languages to see how we matched up. Ha! Guilty pleasures.
I found out I am an ENFP, #7, 6/2 role model/ hermit, and I’m a tie between personal touch and quality time with my love languages. I’d say they were all pretty accurate. Dora is a #9 and an ENFP as well. Which is why we are Camino besties. Hyekyung discovered that she is an 8 enneagram and so is Trump…she lost her sh*t. She was not happy about that comparison. Haha!
Dora is a big kid. She loves chocolate milk and donuts. It’s the sweetest thing ever.
Stephen said I’ve dropped to #15 on his “ranking of pilgrims” because yesterday I took off first thing and didn’t even “send him a text to say goodbye, I still love ya, Stephen. See ya when you get there.” He is such a baby. In my defense, I only slept for 3 hours, I had a lot on my mind and I just wanted to get there because it was raining. I was focused.
I met another new pilgrim at dinner. Her name is Maria. She is Spanish but lives in Holland. She is beautiful and has this way of looking at you when you speak that shows that she is fully engaged and nothing else in the world matters in that moment but what you are saying. What a gift. It’s really touching.
We met some more fun dogs. Including another little yippie one that was trying to see over the fence.
Quote of the day: Stephen offered to go get me an ice pack for my leg at the bar next door. He came back a minute later and said, “how do you say ice in Spanish? I don’t want to end up bringing back hot water.” Thankfully he got it. He used Google translate and wrote “a young woman hurt her leg and is CRYING. She needs ice,” because it was a male bartender. He says guys always give free stuff when the chick is crying.
We have hit the 100km mark! It’s all downhill from here…minus that one hill in the middle.
I’ve included a funny meme about a hiker just because I couldn’t stop laughing when I read it.
Vilalba – Baamonde – 18.6km
Goodnight and much love from Spain.
