Timing Is Everything

Yesterday, Therese had a Camino breakdown. The last part of our walk was hot and the albergue and village where we stayed had very little outdoor space with shade. Other than the dorms, there was no place to escape the heat. 

Everyone was a little cross because of the heat, Therese hadn't talked to Katie or Matt in a couple of days, there was no cell signal in the village and it was the 29th day of walking. It was just one of those times when you didn't want to be in the middle of rural Spain; you wanted to be home in familiar surroundings and air conditioning. 

Therese had a good cry, we talked a bit, had a light dinner and went to bed early. 

The next morning we left a little behind the group that we've been traveling with for the last couple of weeks. The early morning walk in the mist was refreshing in both mind, body and spirit. 

We caught up with our Camino group at the first cafe. They had been there for 20 minutes and still hadn't been waited on yet. Singing Phil was getting homicidal.

Eventually, we went to another place 100 meters down the road when the woman took our orders, made our coffees and cooked our food in short order. Everything was right with the world. 

The group walked together for several miles after the coffee stop along tree covered paths. It was quite lovely and serene. 

We split up at the next large town, Palas de Rei, where Therese and I went in search is a supermercado. We found one (open on Sunday!!), and bought some groceries for lunch. I was also able to put some money on my phone for calls and data service. 

No one really knew where they were going to stop for the day, but there were only a couple of albergues in the next 10-15 kilometers. We stopped at the first one 4K outside of Palas de Rei. It was kind of neat but it didn't have any outside space. Visions of the day before. 

The next albergue was 1K down the road. The guidebook described it as being in a tranquil setting on a river. That sounded good. 

We arrived right at noon when most of the albergues open. Approaching, we saw a couple of peregrinos standing in front and then moving down the road. When we got to the front, the gate was closed and a sign said that they were closed for a private event. 

We stood around for a few minutes looking at the guidebook for the next closest albergue. A woman came out of the front door and walked to the gate.  

"Esta albergue abierto?" 

"Si."

They had been closed yesterday because of a wedding but open today. Great!  If we had been a couple of minutes earlier, we would have gone past it like our peregrino friends. Tough luck for them because this really is a beautiful spot. 

After we showered and did laundry, we had lunch from our recently purchased groceries and each had two cervezas grande to celebrate our good timing. 

After lunch, we soaked our feet in the cool waters of the river that flowed through the property. All in all, we got lucky today. 

Today's good intentions are for our theatre-going friends, Bill and Susan and Jackie and Joe. Our love of the performing arts give us great pleasure and this common interest has brought us closer together as friends.