After an excellent night of sleep on the "tren hotel", we arrived to Sarria Spain at 8:30 am. We followed other backpackers to the Albuerge de la Magdalena where we received our "Peregrino" credentials. Just before embarking on the trail we stopped at a local bar to get breakfast. We ended up talking to our waiter Paul, who is from England but decided to move to Spain after going on The Camino. He talked about how he felt he had been living his life for others, but now was seeking another way. He got busy and we didn't get a chance to speak more and were on our way along El Camino De Santiago!
The path is a combination of small dirt roads, paved paths, and some actual trails through the woods. Yellow arrows painted on trees, posts and walls show the way.
Within the first mile we caught up to an older gentleman named Luis. We spent the next few hours walking with him and learning about his life. In his late 60's, he explained that he had never had a cell phone until El Camino. His son calls him on it throughout the day, but he doesn't know how to make calls on it. During a snack break he showed me that he does actually have teeth...and pulled out some dentures from his fanny pack. He was super animated and fun to hear all his Spanish expressions. I made a short video of him to remember him by!
David and I have been trying to only speak Spanish to each other while in Spain, but especially while on El Camino. He is doing great!
We ate lunch with another father and son duo from Italy....the 29 year old son was trying to "find direction" for his life. He was a funny guy that was really friendly with everyone.
The last few hours of the 14 miles we walked (with 30lb. backpacks and changing 1,000 feet in elevation) mostly alone, overtaking a few small groups of people. Everyone always chats a bit when passing someone...minimally saying "buen camino".
We arrived to Portomarin around 5pm. Several albuergues were already full, so we checked into a "pension", where we have a private room. Our feet are very sore, but no blisters! I soaked in the tub for almost an hour...SO tired.
Dave and I are having some good talks throughout this entire trip. El Camino is giving us a chance to process some of those even more. He's a good guy and a fine young man.
Fun little end of day: watched two Spanish teams play in the European Champions final!
Hasta mañana!!
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