by the time I get out of my tent the others had already finished their breakfast... strong good coffee was waiting for me and bread that had a good grain and flavor...breakfast here was more generous than in most gites... the swiss couple are trying to walk 40kms this day they are now driven a bit by a schedule and they want to take the northern route to santiago which is more challenging since it's up and down hills and therefore longer... again I am not sure if I will ever see them again...me and my german friend are slow to start we had a long walking day yesterday and neither one of us was enthusiastic for another...we got going kind of late for pilgrims, around ninish...the gite man seems at first a little displeased we are still there...but covers...clearly people who run gites like to get the place back to themselves a bit in the mornings and since most pilgrims leave early, this is usually not a problem... he does warm up to us again and chats...they are expecting a group of horse riders for lunch today...they have stables and hay... I have yet to meet horse riding pilgrims but do know they exists... since we start late the heat is already up, the first hour is hard for me... but both of us are struggling to adjust to this humid heat wave which feels almost tropical.. we hit the first big town around 11kms in...its got not just one bar and shop but multiple and its market day to boot, it's amazing how excited we get when we have a choice of open food and drink stores... I have never valued these things so much in my life... I was kind of tired, so I sit in the bar and drink coffee while my friend was checking out the shops... I still had some food from a previous shopping spree... I do of course get candy which is very important snack for me...my friend tried to find out if there were any swim-able lakes in the area...she really likes water...but she has problems understanding the local dialect which is almost it's own language sounding like a cross between french and spanish... we head on..find a church which happens to be open...also a rare thing here... there seems to be a service going on...we stay for a while... a woman leads the church in what sounds like a medieval song with organ music and drum... I was totally moved... there was a baptism this day, for two different babies. We witness the part were the families share the service with the community...we leave as the more private baptism with the water starts...we walk through the small market... I watch an ancient farmer in a little black beret, sell garlic to people....both of us seem to have the same reaction to this town...we find it quite warm and personable.... then to what seems the end of town...there is another church this one older smaller darker... charming but also a bit peculiar, with almost a plaid paint design on the walls.. a french pilgrim man is sitting on the bench outside... my friend speaks with him a little.. he had slept outside last night and was covered in inflamed looking mosquito bites...he's destination for the day was the same as ours....
There was a grassy area near the church and a group, who looked like they were the local fire fighters and emergency care workers having their company picnic..we asked if we could lounge there since it was shady..they had no problems with us... there were mosquitoes and ants around... the last few days have been really buggy...but they did not bother me too much... I was glad to take my shoes off and lie down... we had made the executive decision, come what may, we would take a siesta break today... and not stress about gite time tables this evening... so we hung out there for about an hour and half...the picnicers came by with a slice of pizza for us and an 'aperitif'... which I think was whisky and orange juice.... later, a man would insist we pose in front of this little car with a wood cut out of a man who was some famous rugby player on the roof ... I had him take photos with mine as well...
other than that we were left to our own ... my friend has a wicked sense of humor and just cracked jokes about everyone and everything... around three we get going again we had nine more kms to go...heat still hot of course...but around four there is a shift.. more breeze and an occasional cloud... the landscape seems to be rolling farm hills mostly wheat and our path switched between tar and dirt continuously...again up for discussion, while walking was:... how crazy being a pilgrim is...how you have a choice not to do this..and yet here we are...slogging through not very stimulating landscape...in very hot weather ...and dealing with our bodies struggle through all this...at times it does seem totally meaningless but also neither one of us can resist the urge to see it all through...whether it amounts to anything or nothing at all....
The gite, which is our goal...is out in the countryside again.. we arrive a little before six... the french pilgrim from earlier is there... he has settled in... he tells us where to find the gite person... she lives in the house behind... she has ancient dogs that bark at us..this finally draws her out...she does not seem to mind that we show up 'late' and without calling...but it also means we need to take care of our own dinner...fortunately we both have enough food...
At the gite... almost robotic I do what ever feels most urgent first... I suck down a lot of water... by now I drink from taps unquestioningly.. and luckily I don't seem to have any stomach problems because of it...then I start unpacking a picnic on the table and eating... avocado sandwiches and tin salad...then shower and laundry... by this time the gite woman comes back she has the prepared evening meal for the other pilgrim who had the good sense to carry a mobile phone and to call in advance... she stamps our credentials and takes our money and leaves us to it... today I really was in the mood not to have much social stuff.... to be kind of left alone and not play nice nice with who ever runs the gite...since sometimes that seems to be obligatory...one has to sit around and chat for a while... usually that is not a problem... and mostly I dont speak french so I am excluded from this proceeding anyway...but luckily today was as low key as I could have wished... we had the place almost to ourselves... and we could spread out... the gite itself was refurbished to be earth friendly and had adobe style walls, furniture and fire place... it looked like a charming art piece... the man had taken a single room...me and my friend had a giant partitioned room to ourselves... we know that soon in Spain, the luxury of near empty gites will be rare ...so we needed to enjoy while we could...i had a good sleep here...
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