I was so embarrassed when my alarm went off at 4:30 this morning. Im not sure how it got turned on, and I quickly turned it off. I didn’t feel so bad a few hours later when another alarm went off and kept going off. I dont know if the person was already up or what, but it woke the whole room.

I wasn’t in a rush to get out this morning, so I waited for the bulk of the folks to clear out before I got up and moving. I was making myself some toast and coffee when Richard walked in; we didn’t know the other was staying there, but sat down with coffee and had a good chat.

When it was time to walk, we headed out together and had a lovely day of conversation about almost everything under the sun. He, like many of us out here, was at a transition point in life and was walking to find more clarity…because we had such a similar background in leading ecological volunteer programs, snd such, it was a good day for digging deep and sometimes finding ourselves on the other side of points we had been making just hours earlier. 😄

There was a coffee break mid-morning where I bought a yellow bell pepper and some kind of hand pie not being quite sure what was in the middle. Not many folks in Spain also speak English, so ordering food is always a bit of a mystery. I was a bit desperate for vegetables and ate the pepper like an apple as we walked.

Many more pop up vendors appeared along the way, a signal that we were getting closer to Santiago, including a woman playing the traditional Galician bagpipes! Several pleasant grottos appeared in the woods where food trucks parked with plastic chairs placed about for weary travelers. We had a good day of walking, and when we took a lunch break on a few rocks in the woods I discovered my hand pie was full of fruit. Ok, Ill take it!

I met some folks from Tennessee near a small church, and soon after, the path diverged, and we took the one more wooded. The trail wound in and around a stream and was a nice change from the linear path we had been walking. There were no straight lines here, and walking next to a wandering stream was a nice change of pace.

Then suddenly, the next large town of Pontevedra appeared, and we had a quick sit-down before our lodging opened for the night. I headed towards another hotel stay and found a very tiny room, but it was nice to have my own space and took a shower before having a snack of a nap.

Most places dont open for dinner until late, but there are always a few that will serve hungry pilgrims like me at any hour, so I went i search of a nice dinner.

So nothing was open. Nothing! I had a glass of wine and bowl of olives and waited. I met Janet, another pilgrim from Poland while I waited,and watched so many people out and about in the main plaza. Babies, kids, the elderly, there was a strong sense of community here. It was beautiful.

When the church bells rang for 7 pm, I just couldn’t wait any more. I needed food, so I headed down a narrow ally to see a restaurant setting up their tables and chairs so asked if I could sit down. Success! And wouldn’t you know it, but a few minutes later Marnia, Adrian, and Ignatio rolled up looking for food and ended up joining me. This happened at lunch yesterday too. There are so many restaurant options and somehow we keep end up at the same ones 😄.

We had a fabulous dinner with too much wine. When in Spain!