“You can’t do anything about the length of your life. But you can do something about its width and depth.” – Evan Esar
Today was a great day for hiking minus the last hour which left us soggy from the rain. But even that was a little fun and adventurous. The weather was overcast but the breeze was just warm enough that we weren’t cold.
We’ve officially left the province of Asturias and entered Galicia. Home of the famous dish, Pulpo (octopus). According to our guidebook today was also the last day for coastal views. We are making a hard left and heading over the mountains towards Santiago. I’m going to miss this coastline and getting to stare at the ocean everyday. It’s been a real treat to get to walk this part of the country.
I’ve decided there are (at least) three themes for this Camino.
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We are in the land of forgotten items….which are sometimes returned and sometimes not.
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Damp laundry is a perpetual concern.
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We must walk at least 500 meters or more out of our way each day for no apparent reason at all. Otherwise the day isn’t complete.
Stephen almost left his favorite socks on the clothes line at the hostel this morning but “we” noticed them on the way out. He did forget his two bananas and cherries in the fridge though. Dora forgot her white shirt at the hostel…she just bought it last week in Oviedo. It was a sad day for fruit and t-shirts.
We convinced Graham from the UK to participate in a traffic mirror photo.
We met a new pilgrim today, Cecil (this is not how you spell it in Spanish but he said this is the English version) from Barcelona. He is 63 and this is his second Camino. He is at our hostel tonight, joined us for dinner and is fitting in well with the crew. He is helping me learn Spanish. Today’s lesson, pequeno vs poco (small vs. short).
When we arrived in Ribadeo, we rounded a corner and ran into Cute Pilgrim. He walked with us to our hostel. He arrived two days ago but took a rest day today so he joined us for dinner this evening. His name is Mattia, he is from Italy. I confessed to calling him Cute Pilgrim in my updates which made him blush a little bit.
Today we had our first true experience of the Camino Magic! Camino Magic is when something that doesn’t make any sense at all happens and it has quite a big impact on the person or persons involved. Heyekyung was walking on the boardwalk near the beach when she noticed another pilgrim walking directly towards her (which means he was for that moment walking the Camino in reverse). It was pouring rain, she was wearing a baseball cap and a poncho so you could barely see her face. The pilgrim walked up to her with both of his fists out in front of him. She was very confused as to what he was doing so she gave him a fist bump thinking he wanted some sort of high-five. He looked at her and said, “no, pick a hand.” So she chose his left hand. He turned it over and he had her tiny wallet that holds her credit cards and ID. She was stunned…and thankful he returned it. She didn’t even know it was missing. It must have fallen out of her pocket while she was walking. The curious part was, how did he find it, get in front of her and then walk backwards on the Camino and know that it was her without seeing her face? Yes, her ID was in it (I looked at it and it doesn’t look like her at all) and she is one of only a handful of Asians walking but how the heck did that happen? Neither of them know. But he did let her take a photo of him with the wallet as proof he exists. Ha! His trail name, unbeknownst to him, is Destiny Pilgrim. Nobody knows his name or nationality at this point.
Camino Magic has happened many times with little stuff along the way. Last year Luca, my Italian hiking buddy, told me a story about his first Camino. He met a woman who was inspired to walk the Camino because of a painting and then when she was walking she met the artist of the painting by accident…or was it destiny? Cute Pilgrim, Mattia, said he found a woman’s fanny pack the other day and somehow through some twists and turns got it back to her. Graham said on his first Camino he forgot his glasses in a café and two days later someone random guy walked up and handed them to him. On my first Camino an American girl dropped her passport and for a couple of days pilgrims were passing it around trying to return it to her. A bar owner recognized her in the photo and offered to drive it to her since she had just been in his bar within the hour. He jumped in his car and found her on the path. Success!
On my Camino last year, I had a really weird incident happen. I was walking with Luca for about a week when we made a bizarre discovery. We had previously realized that our lives were a little connected when he said, “it’s so weird I’m meeting you, I was actually supposed to start the Camino one week earlier but while I was sitting at my gate in the airport, they never called my flight and I missed it. I tried to book another flight but it was sold out for a week”…which never happens in Europe especially in 2021 during a global pandemic and nobody was really traveling. His original flight had something like five people on it. He had to wait an entire week to start the Camino. I was shocked when he told me. I explained that I was actually supposed to start the same day as his original Camino but I changed my flight by a week as well. So either way, we probably would have met. Weird. We also had several other bizarre coincidences happened but it’s too long for this update. Maybe another time.
I guess what they say is true…”What is meant for you will not pass you by.” – anonymous
I bought 30 tablets of 400mg ibuprofen and a tube of Vaseline for my feet. Total cost 4.70€
Food and drinks are super cheap here as well. This morning we had, 2 sparkling waters, a fresh squeezed orange juice, a grande cafe con leche (latte, large), a chicken sandwich and toast. Total cost, 9€.
I saw the biggest dog I think I’ve ever seen in my life. Maybe it was a miniature pony.
The flowers are still beautiful and smell amazing.
The reality that we are very close to the end of this Camino is now a daily topic. Many mixed emotions are starting to build.
La Caridad – Ribadeo – 22.8km
Goodnight and much love from Spain.
