Post by Wynette:
We are enjoying being pilgrims again. Being on the Camino. Albeit a less well-known Camino. Charlie and I were talking today about how this Camino Ingles is different than we had imagined. I can’t quite describe how I imagined it but I kind of imagined it to be boring (hate to say that). But it hasn’t been. The Spanish people here, as always, are delightful. There are fascinating old houses, beautiful flowers and trees, wonderful bars and restaurants, rias to walk alongside, great hotels, charming towns. And pilgrims!
Today we counted about 30 who passed us. This was the first day we left at a popular stage beginning (Pontedeume) and a common time to leave (8:30). So, we saw more pilgrims.
So far, we’ve chatted with people from Canada (BC), Sweden, Australia, Portugal, Madrid, and Malaga (Spain).
AND, we have started to re-meet pilgrims which is always fun. We met ___ (dang, I forgot her name) yesterday at lunch time in a restaurant in Pontedeume. She is from Australia and speaks with a great accent. Then, as we were walking out of Pontedeume this morning (up a veeeeery steep hill) we heard someone say “I thought I recognized your voices.” She was standing in her hotel room, looking out the window. (Very unusual to have a room on the ground floor!). So, we chatted, of course.
Then, a few hours later, she passed us on the trail. Of course, we talked about how damn steep the trail was and how much we dreaded the sharp downhill at the end.
We are staying in Miño tonight. After we had lunch, we went to a grocery store to buy milk for tomorrow’s breakfast cereal, and, of course, there she was. She’s staying in Miño tonight, too, and in the same hotel. No doubt, we will see her again tomorrow.
And, at lunch today, we ran into the Swedish couple we had met on our first day on this Camino. We chatted with them quite a while. (Hint: they said the Swedish Krona is way down compared to the Euro and dollar and it’s a great time to travel in Sweden.) (Good timing, Ella and Grubb!) They decided to stay two nights in Miño for foot-recovery.
We were nearly finished eating when they came into the restaurant. They asked what we would recommend from the menu del dia and we recommended the green salad with fresh tomatoes, cheese, and walnuts. And the albondigas (meatballs). They were both excellent.
While we were eating, three children came in (at different times). Maybe between ages 10 and 3. Our very efficient server tended to the middle child who was fussy about something. Then the bartender picked up the 3 year old who was also fussy. Then, not long after that, the 3 children were sitting at one of the restaurant tables, with the bartender, having lunch. Meanwhile, the grandmother kept the restaurant and bar service going.
Those three pilgrims had backpacks that looked larger than I would like to carry.
And I noticed that the Australian was walking in a skirt.
We’ve seen some quite small backpacks. Some people do a great job of packing lightly.
Actually I’m pretty sure the Australian woman was wearing Capri pants. But we have seen women hiking in skirts. I even have a vague memory of a man walking in a skirt.
Wynette and I will be looking in backpack transfer services in the next few years. This Camino has had some very steep climbs and you really start feeling the weight of the pack.