Another lovely walk but this one was very short. Our plan was to go to Grañón today for a 22km day but we could not find a room there and I wasn’t keen to sleep in the ten bunk bed rooms of the local albergue or to walk a a 40km day. We would usually stay in the albergues in our earlier walks but we have outgrown that unless there are no other options.
Knowing today would be short, we changed all our normal routine. Melanie’s alarm still went off at 6:00am but we stayed in bed until 7:00am. Melanie’s half of “we” then got up to get ready to leave while I rolled over for another 30 minute nap. For the first time in forever, we had said that we would have the breakfast they serve but that was only available at 8:00am. Without much food the day before, the toast, cereal, yogurt, lots of juice and coffee filled us up for the morning and that was a rare treat.
The best way from Alesanco back to the Camino trail was straight up a “main road” about 2.2km. Technically, it was the main road to and from Alesanco but at 8:30am, that meant about one car passing every minute or two. We left the pension along with a young British couple who were walking just a little faster than us. When we got to about the 1.2km mark, they were about 100m in front of us. They stopped for a moment and there was a little commotion. The guy took off his backpack and was rummaging through it. The, as we caught up, he started running back toward the pension. He forgot his water bottles – the fancy metal insulated ones. It’s not a good idea to be walking in Spain’s heat without water and those bottles are expensive. There but for the grace of God go I. Actually, Melanie almost left without hers today too but we always do a thorough search of the room before we leave and that is when we saw it. I’m glad we did too because I wasn’t keen to be standing there like a dummy as Melanie ran back.
Our only stop today was at the golf course in Ciriñuela. This was at least the third time we stopped there. I can’t remember if we stopped there in 2012. We like stopping in the bar because I think it drives the members crazy. We sat out on the terrace just for a quick drink. We happened to sit next to three young ladies who we learned from eavesdropping that they were from California and were friends from college days. They seemed very nice and polite but, my goodness, I never felt so much like they were really two generations away from me. The numerous tattoos and piercings shocked me. One overheard line made me feel so old: “I’ve been so busy lately with surf school and working at Burning Man” (if you are older than 30, you might need to look that up). The Camino calls people from every part of the globe.
We arrived in Santo Domingo around noon, too early to check into the hostal, so we stopped about 300m short of our room to have a light lunch. We each had a salad and we shared a sandwich (no photos). Our timing wasn’t good though. Ten meters away from our seats on the terrace was a small laundromat. If we could have showered and changed as we normally do before looking for food, we could have killed two birds with one stone (although killing anything on a Camino is bad form).
Often on the Camino, things don’t go exactly as planned or hoped but those disappointments often turn into something good. With those two birds still living, we also received good fortune. After lunch, showering and changing, we walked back to the laundromat and found the Three Irish Amigos just settling into the table we vacated just a while ago. It was good to see Tom, Carl and Declan again as they are great to chat with and they have wonderful senses of humor. While our clothes were getting washed, we sat and had a drink with them. Most of the time, we were just laughing. By the way, I think I said previously that they were going to stop in Burgos. They still will be doing that but not as I understood. They will bus over to Burgos tomorrow to begin their train, plane and taxi their way home. We won’t be seeing them again but that’s the Camino for you. Plenty of hellos and goodbyes.
Just as we were leaving the terrace, an American couple walked near us and asked if anyone there had an American phone. That sounded confusing so we asked if we could help. The woman explained that she lost her phone somewhere in the town but wasn’t sure where. The husband tried to call her number but he just got a recording, something like “the number you are calling is outside your calling zone”. I figured my American designed phone, manufactured in a orphanage in China and registered in Singapore could handle this emergency so we called her number. It rang and was quickly answered by the owner of the shop a few blocks away. He was waiting for the call. Yeah! The woman said she will be there in a moment to collect the phone and I got a hug out of it. That will make up for the $7 that SingTel will charge me for those 30 seconds.
So, how was you day? Peace y’all. Good night Leo, Stella and George.
