4/23 WynChar Diary

Train stops missed: 1
Kind Spanish women who tried to help the rookies but was a few seconds too late: 1
Miles: 7.1
Rain: a little but we were already inside
Early morning walks through Santander: 1
Hot and cold pipelines wondered about: 1

As careful readers of this blog know, we are “short-haul” pilgrims who like to walk 7-9 miles a day rather than the 15-20 miles a day that the young whippersnappers like to do. This means we have to plan more to make sure we have enough stops. One solution is to plan a longer leg but take a taxi the first few miles to cut the daily walk down the WynChar size. We did this for today’s walk.

Since we like trains better than taxis we found the perfect train leaving at 7:50. We walked the half mile to the train station around 7:15, right at sunrise. The streets were mostly empty. First we went into the wrong train station, the one for longer distance trains. The local trains were next door. These are really more like metros and we got tickets from a machine and tapped our tickets to get through the turnstiles.

The train left at exactly 7:50 and arrived at the stop exactly at the scheduled 8:15. The train stopped and we were at the door ready to alight. But the door didn’t open. Turns out they only open when you push the button, which we didn’t find in time. A kindly Spanish woman saw these naive innocents stand at the door and rushed over to push the green button but was a few seconds late. The yellow blinking light indicated the train was leaving WITH us.

So, on to the next station, 2-3 miles down the line, where we got off. What to do? We were only 5 miles from our hotel, short even for us. We caught the Camino and decided to walk a mile in reverse and then back. Kind of a weird complete-ism for short-haul pilgrims but we were rattled and didn’t think everything through.

We felt kind of funny walking the “wrong” way. The Spanish people are always being helpful if we miss a turn or are off the Camino. Sometimes they are right and sometimes we have to explain that we are going to a bar or a hotel. Today was no exception. We were walking along and two guys in hi-viz jackets told us we were going the wrong way. Wynette told them we were doing it on purpose and they asked why. She just said it was a long story. (Wynette added: they had the nicest smiles and were laughing with us about us going backwards.) Afterwards we thought we might have explained that we missed a train stop but that really doesn’t explain it without more details.

This is kind of like when a Spanish person stops to chat, which happens often, and asks if we are going to Santiago. We’re not, but we always say yes, it’s easier than a long explanation about our half-caminos.

So, up a mile and back, we still got to the hotel at 11:45 but the room was ready even though check-in time was hours later. Rest, then lunch at the hotel which is also a slightly upscale restaurant. Now we’re down in the bar, a happening place.

On our extra back and forth walk, the path had a pipeline, actually two, beside it. We felt it, not sure why we decided to feel it, and it was hot. The other one was cold. A mystery. We have no idea what was in the pipes. Would like to know.