Author: famoco9c7ad736a6

May 4th. The Camino trail out of Triacasteli this morning offered two options, the shorter, more direct route to our next destination (about 14 miles) or an alternative route, that would detour you to the Monastery at Samos, a 6th century active Benedictine Monastery, one of the oldest in Spain. (walking about 19-20 miles). I wanted to take the shorter route, but missed the turn and ended up on the alternative route. It was so beautiful and quiet. For 3 1/2 hours, I only saw 3 other pilgrims. Beautiful wooded paths, tiny villages, all sorts of streams and rivers with rushing water and waterfalls. It added at least another 5 miles to my walk, but I was happy I did it. The monastery was only offering one tour at 12 noon. It is suppose to be very beautiful, but I couldn’t stay around that long, so I took a few pictures and headed out. I got to my Alberque around 2pm, after my nearly 20 mile walk…tired but happy about the days walk. Galicia is so beautiful. It’s lush and varied in topography, other pilgrims say that it’s similar to Wales, others say parts of Switzerland…I’m sure other comparisons can be made. In the end, it’s Galicia Spain…and it’s beautiful in its own right. A much shorter walk tomorrow. No deviations planned.

Getting ready for bed, so here’s a quick update. I woke up in Villafranca this morning having met up with Clemens. We were now a 2 day walk behind our other friends, so we made the executive decision to take a bus to catch up with them. It’s not a the Camino sin that it sounds like. It’s a common practice to take a bus or a train ride to a further point, especially if there’s a medical or time sensitive reason to do so. (Or if you just need a rest from the Camino). I’ve logged more than enough kilometers to show that I’ve walked the Camino, so our decision was well within the realm of reason. Anyway, Clemens and I took the bus to Triacasteli, about a 50 minute ride, that would have been 2 days of hiking. Every hill that the bus went up, I said a silent “thank you” to the person who invented the internal combustion engine! We are now in Galicia, and it’s beautiful. Mountains and deep valleys, farms on the side of the mountains. We could be in Switzerland with cows with bells around their necks, ringing as they chew their grass. A picture perfect setting. I’ll be walking tomorrow, back on the Camino. Lots of hills to tackle, this scenery comes at a price. But, I’m back with my cadre of friends and we’ll be in Santiago in a week. Hard to believe. Today begins my 5th week on the Camino.

It’s Friday morning in the very quiet village of Villafranca. I’m taking a rest day here, for a couple different reasons. But first…yesterday. I had a long 19+ mile walk. I walked through every possible situation…urban, suburban, villages, vineyards, highways…I covered it all. Given the hard mountain walk I had before, and the long walk yesterday, any improvement that I had with my leg issue was erased. So, I told myself that I would get to my alberque and just rest. Which is what I did…until I decided to take a walk around town. There was a huge celebration in the village. It was May 1st, May Day for the workers, and also in Spain, a day to celebrate the first day of spring. Lots of revelers with crowns of spring flowers on their heads and lots of singing and laughing. At one point, I heard…”hey…look everyone, it’s Dan from Boston!!” A whole table of Camino friends well into several rounds of drinks. It would have been discourteous to not join them. So…my plans for a restful evening evaporated. It was another magical Camino encounter. I posted a photo below of our table…and this was after the waiter cleared some of the bottles. I also ran into Andres , a friend from Colombia. He is one of the nicest and most faithful persons I’ve met on the Camino. We said goodbye in León, as he was pushing ahead while I was staying an extra day. We saw each other and embraced. I said….”Andre’s, what are you doing here? You are at least one day ahead of me.” He replied in his broken English…”Oh Dan, it is so sad, my foot fingers are all blisters. I had to stop and heal”.

So after catching up and having a few beers and pizza with friends, I got back to my alberque at 9:30, way past my bedtime. Beyond the friends that I knew, as is usually the case, I met more people from all over the world (Gabby from Israel, Dan from Quincy Mass, Hillary and Ian from the UK, Isaiah from Brazil…and on and on).

I also heard from my compatriot Clemens who is catching up with me now that he’s feeling better and on the Camino again. I decided to stay here in Villafranca one more day, to rest my leg and wait for Clemens to arrive. Then, we’ll both get back on the Camino tomorrow.

I was looking forward to a quiet night. There is an adage that says the Camino does not give you what you want, it gives you what you need. Apparently, I needed a night with friends to remind me how lucky I am.