On our 2012 walk on this stage, I remember not being able to find important arrows showing the path out of Portomarín and getting lost.  Two years ago we had GPS that we needed to follow to stay on the trail.  This year, it was like a favorite trail we had walked so often before that we didn’t need GPS or arrows to show us the way.  Our feet knew the way and we just followed along.

The trail gets four out of five stars today. Once again, the best parts were in the oak, chestnut or eucalyptus forests or on the hilltops with fantastic views.  The tracks along the side of quiet roads were not too bad and the trails next to busier roads were infrequent. The places to eat, however, were a little trickier. The first one we reached was at the 9km mark and we were fortunate to arrive when we did. We found Poh inside and she said she had been there 15 minutes and it was empty then.  We had a queue of about eight pilgrims in front of us to order food.  About 15 minutes later, the queue was about 20 pilgrims and the queue for the toilet was at least ten people long.  It’s crowdy out here!

When we set off today, there was a thick fog that we walked through.  Later, as we had several steep climbs up 400m higher than the Portomarín bridge, we were walking on the hilltops and looking down at the fog where we were earlier.  Of course, even with so many pilgrims around, I still find a way to clear my mind and think of only what is important in the world. I came up with a genius-sized discovery that may win me a Nobel prize of some sort. Get ready, here it comes…. “Fog is just a cloud that has run out of helium”.  Who knew???

Another story from the trail today (less thought-provoking but still as important), Melanie found someone’s dropped rain jacket that was packed in a blue casing.  She picked it up and handed it off to me, knowing that I would do the heroic thing and  carry the raincoat the final few kilometers to Palas de Rei and find the owner.  With no regards to my own safety, I added the 1/2kg coat to my own slightly heavy backpack and slogged on my way without a whimper or complaint. At A Brea, the village just before Palas de Rei, we passed our first pilgrims since I undertook this mission. Two groups of three pilgrims were sitting on benches, resting their legs so I approached the first group, all Argentinians, and asked if they dropped the coat.  The first woman screamed, immediately recognizing the coat case.  She checked her backpack but her coat was still firmly attached. She turned to her friend and said in Spanish “Hey stupid, that’s your coat”.  And just like that, I saved their Camino (with a small assistance from Melanie). That’s a Camino miracle in action. 

Feeling confident after that event,I thought I should spread a little more joy in the world.  We found ourselves walking behind three Spanish speaking pilgrims. They were obviously friends because they all were using identical gray Forclaz brand backpack covers.  At least the covers appeared to be Forclaz brand because that was emblazoned in bold white lettering across the back of the cover. At the right moment (since in comedy, timing is everything), I caught up to the three pilgrims and asked “Disculpen. En las fundas de sus mochilas dicen “Forclaz”, pero solo veo three. ¿Dónde está la otra persona?”  The younger guy in the group laughed heartily.  The woman just groaned. The older man tried to explain to me that Forclaz is a brand name that is sold in Decathlon Sports stores… which made the younger guy laugh even harder as he explained the joke. I love multilingual Dad jokes. (Go ahead and use Google Translate. You might giggle).

The last story for tonight demonstrates the difference between pilgrims and non-pilgrims in Spain.  Melanie and I did our daily pilgrimage to the laundromat with our sweaty walking clothes after reaching Palas de Rei.  One washing machine was being used by a pilgrim, one by a local and one was free.  I put our clothes in the unused washer and went to the change machine to get 5€ in coins.  The machine would not take my 5€ note after several attempts. I then tried several times to use a 10€ note with the same failed results. I asked the pilgrim if the machine worked for him but he said he didn’t use it as he had coins already.  I tried several more times, then Melanie tried. Finally, the non-pilgrim spoke up “the machine has run out of change,  I went to the grocery store behind the laundromat to get coins”.  Wanker.  Then he left his laundry bag on the only empty seat in the place despite Melanie and I standing.  He had zero respect at all for a multilingual comedic raincoat hero or his lovely wife.

Peace y’all. Goodnight George, Leo and Stella. We love you all.