“There is a price to pay for following your heart. But that’s part of the process. You might lose old habits, comfort, belief systems, material things, your ego, the approval of others and sometimes even friends. Do it anyhow.” – Brooke Hampton
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: After 5 weeks of playing the lottery, Stephen finally won 10€. 🎉 Winner, winner, someone is buying the chicken dinner.
When asked what he was going to do with the winnings, he said, “Well buy more lottery tickets of course. We are going for the millions!”
The walk today was gorgeous. We hiked through mostly forest area and little villages with barely any people or traffic. It was very zen like. We walked together as a group for part of it but then my leg was hurting really bad so I took it very slow. Gotta honor the body. I fell behind the group quite a good distance. It was okay because as I said, the walk was absolutely stunning and I really got a chance to look at everything around me. Anyway, at one point I called Stephen to see where they were at and how far the next café and our hostel was from the km marker I was near. He gave me an update. At the conclusion of our phone call he said, “Okay, goodbye Melanie, we’ll save a seat for ya” and hung up the phone. People, it is DAY 37. How does this man not know my name? He isn’t joking. It’s crazy. We’ve walked together every single day….except for one day when I walked alone. We have eaten every meal together. We’ve slept in the same room (with many other people) for 37 days. 37 days. 3-7 DAYS! How is this possible? Geez!
While we were still in a group walking through the forest, a dog came running over the hill at us and made a beeline for me. He was a pretty big dog and I thought he was going to jump and knock me down but he was just super friendly and wanted to play with all of us. The owner was really kind and asked us where we were from. He said there are many pilgrims from the US this year…much more than normal. He meets at least 4-5 a day. Huh? I found this interesting and not what I’ve experienced on the other Camino’s. It’s exciting to know though! The more pilgrims the better the world will be! The dog’s name was Panjute (I’m guessing the spelling on this one).
The flowers still smell amazing! ❤️
We did see the American couple from California again today. They seems to be having a really enjoyable time together on the Camino.
We walked through a eucalyptus forest and it smelled amazing. It was a nice break from the farm animal smells.
Our hostel is very nice and looks brand new. Everything is great except the showers don’t drain well so it was like the flood Noah experienced…we needed an Ark to get out of there.
I got a voice message from Mattia today. He is one day ahead of us on the trail again. He has super long legs and is young and fit so he can go much further distances than us. He has become a bit of a Reconnaissance Man for us. He tells us what’s in the town, restaurants, good places to stay and what to watch out for. It’s good to have a guy like this in your circle. Tomorrow we will stay at a monastery, it has a nice kitchen and there is a supermarket. He said the frozen pizza is not bad for the price…I was stunned to hear this from an Italian! But he is 28 so frozen food is probably easy for him to make. Haha! He also said there is a guy who is working at the monastery that the women should watch out for. He is looking for a girlfriend. Good job looking out for us, Mattia.
We watched a very well trained dog herd his flock of sheep and goats while hanging out at the hostel. Good boy!
Maria, the pilgrim (Spanish but lives in Holland) I met yesterday was beyond helpful today. We are in a really tiny village and they don’t have any resources nearby. I want to ship my bag because my leg is not good and the last big hill is tomorrow. Apparently, we have to use the post office service to transfer it. I had no idea. She was so patient and sat with me while I processed it online to make sure it will end up at the correct destination. Camino Angel.
Jakob and Caroline were telling me about the famous pastry in Denmark, Tebirkes. I would love to try it but I’m not convinced it will be better than the chocolate croissant…known as a napolitana here in Spain. Here is a recipe for anyone who wants to try and make a Tebirkes. It’s ranked in the “difficult” category to make. Let me know when it’s ready and I’ll be over for a taste test.
https://skandibaking.com/tebirkes-danish-pastry-with-poppy-seeds/
There wasn’t an actual 100km (62.13 miles) marker so some pilgrims have made one out of rocks. Yet just a few steps away, there is an official marker that says 99,994km. Why did they do this?
We saw a cow parade walk by the restaurant during our dinner! I love a good cow parade.
Four more days of hiking until Santiago. It’s getting exciting knowing that we are so close. I feel like it’s time to arrive. I’m ready.
I’m sending this one off early because I don’t have much phone service and the WiFi is only in the café and not the bedrooms. Not sure what the remainder of the day has in store but I’m guessing you’re not going to miss out on anything.
Baamonde – Miraz – 15.0km
Goodnight and much love from Spain.
