What a funny day.  It was amazing and strange and sometimes even shocking.  We expected hundreds of more pilgrims because Sarria is the biggest town closest to minimum starting point (outside 100k to Santiago) in order to qualify for the Compostela.  Our expectations were exceeded.  The big news of the day more unusual for another reason though.

As soon as we walked out of the cafe where we had our quick breakfast (note to Lolly: toast and coffee / chocolate croissant and pineapple juice), we bumped into a pilgrim who we first met at the albergue in Orisson in the Pyrenees. For those of you who know your way around the Camino and our story this year, you will likely be saying “Huh???” right now.  We started our walk this year in Pamplona, about 60km AFTER Orisson.  How did we meet someone there?  We actually met him there two years ago on our last Camino Francés.  Now that is crazy!!!  In Orisson in 2013, we became friends with Hungarian Aaron in Orisson when we gave him our leftover wine from dinner. There was 3/4s of a bottle left and we didn’t want it to go to waste when he and his friends looked so thirsty.  We had dinner with him the following night in Roncesvalles too when he really cemented his position of a true character to keep an eye on during the Camino.  We saw him frequently  and chatted with him often but he usually was with a crowd of admirers so I can’t remember having another meal with him.  Today though, Melanie said “isn’t that the guy from Orisson?” and everything clicked into place.  He did still remember us or maybe he is just a very good actor.  I think the former. 

Still in shock of meeting Aaron, we started walking and quickly realized that there were a LOT of pilgrims walking the path today.  That was no problem but a real difference compared to the last two days when we rarely saw another pilgrim while we were on the trail.  In the past, I have been a bit bothered by the new pilgrims who tended to be very loud, never return a greeting, and often time seen waiting for their tour bus to ride them up the hill or deliver them their lunch. This time I didn’t see any such behavior. While there were a few times that we were relatively alone on the trail, much of the day came closer to looking like this:

The path today, when I could see it and there were so many people in the way, was quite nice, was about half the time on earthen tracks and the rest of the time on tarmac or concrete.  The first real place to stop was at 12km and became more as a first lunch rather than a second breakfast.  I was reminded there that getting food, drinks and toilets now requires a longer wait.  The small restaurant did not seem overly busy but the queue to order anything was only about eight people long and it took my about 15 minutes for my turn to place an order. It took another 20 minutes to get the BLT bocadillo delivered but the time waiting was put to good use…. We just waited in line to use a toilet.  I have seen, and will see, worse though.  We did get to sit and catch up with Susi and Alexia who joined us at the table. 

The highlight of the walk though is the final descent to the road along the river opposite of Portomarín. Many pilgrims bypass this final descent by taking one of two alternate paths along the roads and meant for the bikers  They don’t know what they are missing.  We have done it twice before and Melanie was the one who insisted we give it a go again.  What makes this so special?  The descent is on worn-down rocks that look somewhat “constructed “ but I know they are just warn down by pilgrims.  The pathway is narrow, steep and quite challenging because of the extremely uneven “steps”. 

Once again, after arriving in today’s destination, we hurried up with a quick shower and organized our gear.  We then walked across town to a laundromat that turned out to have closed shortly after our last visit in 2023.  We walked back into town to find the smaller laundromat.  That’s when I saw that Google Maps said that this second place was temporarily closed.  Melanie took the bull by the horns to find a solution.  She walked up to a complete stranger and asked if he could tell us where a laundromat was – a random man, really??  Well he came through for us.  He walked Melanie from the front door of a large building, then along the side of it and then all the rate to a quiet area and he just kept waving her up to a secluded corner…. That had two washing machines and two driers.  We quickly figured out that this was an albergue and we had no right to use the machines but I was desperate and no one else was using them.  Melanie to the rescue!!!

Since it took an hour to write that last paragraph between “cat naps” at 10:00pm, I’m signing off. 

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