Day 12: Porriño to Cessantes (past Redondela), Spain
Sun
What a beautiful thing to see since we haven’t been dry or warm while walking in a week. I choose to hike in shorts (!) and by the end of the day, Siri is walking in her sandals.
Oh, glorious sun.
We get to talk to a few locals since we are in Spain and that just makes Siri giddy. She has often said that she feels at home in Latin cultures, and it shows. Just yesterday, we laughed as the local cafe/bar was pounding out the merengue Latin music that reminds us of the Dominican Republic. We almost started showing our own dance moves.
Our feet are still recovering, but we hope with clean socks and clothes and a few dry days we will start fresh tomorrow.
With the addition of so many pilgrims yesterday, it has changed the vibe from the first week’s small intimate gathering of friends to now sometimes feeling like a large concert and traffic jams on the sidewalks.
And with that said, we of course meet more wonderful people that are really around us. Our bunkmates tonight are a quiet German man and a talkative Belgium woman. We share our wine and beer with the woman as she regales us with stories from her Camino Frances and then has to hurriedly talk with her husband back home on their scheduled “phone date.”. Our new found friends from Vancouver Island, Canada, decide to photo bomb her date.
Tonight we are trying out the more typical shared dormitory style sleeping. Now it is only with 4 of us in a room with two bunk beds, whereas some have up to 20 or more in one dorm. Partly it was because there wasn’t much else available. Note for next time, don’t plan to arrive in Santiago on a Friday to Sunday since the majority of one week pilgrims (100km) are planning those days as well. We plan to arrive this Saturday so are competing on each of these nights with many more people who are on the same schedule. The other reason was to experience this ‘typical’ Camino experience. It is not uncommon for some to arrive in a town and then find an accommodation at the city run albergue.
It is a bit more challenging since you need to share shower and bathroom space as well as communal space with 20+ people. Think of dorm living but changing roommates every night.
The Canadians we meet are traveling this way. They do provide some amazing comic relief that they enjoy sharing with us. “Oh, remember the monastery that didn’t have heat? And then the one that said it had a tub, but had no hot water?”. It is amazing to find, that of course, we don’t need that many luxuries. We share more stories, drinks and a clear night and sunset over the bay together.
And with these small encounters we remember the joy of travelling, of just being present, of the connectedness of all of us, so that when you start to feel maybe a bit down, you do find (if you are looking) new life and joy just around the corner.
Siri and David Adventures 