Camino del Norte
Day 12
Sept 14
Our days start to blend together as we find a rhythm to this exercise. Wake up is usually between 6:00 and 7:00…the first people begin quietly getting dressed and organized by 6:00 and slowly the rest of the people join in. At the Albergues that offer breakfast it usually commences at 6:30 with toast and coffee etc and most places have a checkout time of 8:00.
We have normally been underway around 7:00-7:30 and usually begin with just the two of us. Along the way we catch up to some of the early risers and often we’ll stop at a cafe and inevitably meet more fellow peregrinos. Walking with company provides distraction and the hours go by. Plans are made and compared and some consensus is made on which might be the best place to aim for.
We have a flexible group that we seem to meet at our stops…a multinational assembly of mostly younger walkers…all with their own stories to share. We have the violin playing music teacher from Holland who is now on her day 70 of walking from her home country…over 2000km already walked! The 23 year old young man from Vermont with the Canada flag on his backpack because it feels easier. The gay Dutch lady whose partner recently died and she is walking in memory. The guy from Denmark who is good with maps and we defer to his directions when in doubt. There are more…the young man with the strange accent from Alberta who sneaked away from his Hutterite family to see the world. It’s never dull.
We walk through verdant green countryside, along roads busy with traffic and through small lane ways past farmhouses and livestock. The vistas remain memorable as we climb up steep oceanside trails only to descend to lovely sand beaches…. some isolated and private and others busy with surfers and sunbathers.
Today there are dark clouds around us and rain is threatened while we walk in sunshine.
The Norte route has fewer overnight options and today we had to decide if 24 km was enough or should we risk 18 more to get to the next stop. There are of course choices… pensions and hotels with higher fees vs the pilgrim albergues we prefer that are traditional and inexpensive.
Our crowd departed yesterday from the village of Santa Cruz de Bezana from the best albergue we have yet stayed at. The lady hospitalero welcomed us into her home where she had a piano, guitar and other instruments for anyone to use. We shared a great dinner with 16 travelers and listened to our Dutch music teacher play wonderful piano. It is not possible to describe the camaraderie of these evenings.
Last night we were in Caborredondo in a place much simpler…..offering breakfast at 6:30 for 2€.
We walked through the tourist town of Camillas and stopped for a long lunch break in this town famous for its Gaudi architecture.
Some of our group decided to walk another 18 km and a few ( including Donna and I) declined the longer day and elected to stay here in La Revilla. Here we checked into the old hotel which also offers pilgrim rates for a single small room with one bunk bed for two persons for 25€ each and includes dinner and breakfast. We are now only 4 in our group but it is quite possible that we will connect somewhere further along with the others.
Tomorrow we plan a 30 km day.
Just another day on our walk… depending on which sign we choose to believe, we are now less than 500km from Santiago.
Yippee!
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