After a fitful sleep, we left the Albergue fairly late in the morning. I remember the sun was bright in the sky. I also remember Luis giving his pilgrim blessing to Leo. I was feeling short-changed, the camino obviously loved Leo but not me.
I think I walked a little disappointed and angry on this day, and I was constantly ahead of Leo. According to the map, we walked uphill all day, but I don’t’ remember that fact. I do remember passing the Family Fearn at a civil war monument, and talking for a few minutes. Then I was off again, down a short slope, and up a ridiculous climb, and then through the woods for an hour or two. The path was a firebreak between two sections, and quite unlovely.
Far ahead of me was a young lady, another German girl, who I recognized from her coat and backpack. She suddenly ditched off to the right, and I assumed she had gone to pee. I waited, and then waited some more, and finally decided she had died in the woods, so I crept closer. It turned out she was just having lunch on a log.
I continued on to San Juan de Ortega. The village contained the church, the Albergue and one restaurant. I waited until Leo arrived about an hour later, we said our goodbyes to the Family Fearn, and we went inside.
The rooms were backed to the gills, with barely a foot between beds. The bathrooms were packed with people doing laundry and filthy floors. And the place was freezing. We joined the Americans Kay, Maria and Jean for dinner. John and Penny from Australia joined us. And a very interesting gay man from China, who lived in South America also joined us. I forget his name but Leo will tell me.
Dinner, which promised garlic soup, was terrible. And the dining area was freezing. Of course, upstairs we were packed like sardines, and it was hot and stuffy. I awoke at 4:00 am, dressed in the hallway, and then lay awake, waiting for Leo to take me out of there. When I reawake at 6:30, it was raining.
No comments:
Post a Comment