In a rare moment of seriousness the following emerged.
Is the Camino some sort of prayer?
It attracts people from everywhere
Why execute this endeavor?
Perhaps religious fervor?
Or simply because it is there?
After that bit of deep thinking (the Camino does facilitate that) my brain hurt for a while but a couple of the Camino's most popular tablets, ibuprofen, sorted that out!
Today we got a good start leaving Reliegos at around 7:30. With temperatures rising we should have left earlier. Walking in the "blistering" (I shouldn't use that word) heat is very demanding but strangely, we made great time and were perhaps "bouyed" by the fact that Leon was our next stop. We met so many friends along the way it almost felt like walking down Grafton St. in Dublin at lunch time where I would invariable meet a "bunch" of people. I had no idea how big this city is and seeing it as we decended the last hill was awe inspiring. Frances had mentioned staying an extra day and getting a hotel. I finally capitulated even though I was concerned about our schedule. Booking a hotel is so simple on Wifi. We booked a night at the Parador; the hotel from the movie "The Way". When we got there and saw it... well one night became two so here I am sitting on "our" balcony at the Parador trying to get cool writing this blog. I wonder if I could make a living doing this ... see what thoughts the Camino generates!!
Just to get back to reality for a moment; the most memorable part of today's walk was the number of churches we found and the traffic; the speed & the volume. It was scary and inspired this limerick.
Passing Churches we did hear some chants
On the highway we heard serious rants
Cars & trucks you should heed
They come at such speed
I was so scared I peed in my pants
Ensconced in the Paradore, showered and shaved, life was wonderful. A beer on the veranda with my "lady love", Frances, made for a perfect moment.
We met everyone again this evening. It is not surprising that we all headed toward the Cathedral, a major tourist attraction and where ample opportunity existuis to satisfy our need for constant libation (where we could get loads of drink!) Among our "Camino family" were Christine, Claudia, Andrew, Barney, Chris, Greg from Dublin and several others who chatted as they passed by. I realized tonight I had been calling Greg, "Chris" so by way of an apology I have deleted yesterday's "Greg" limerick & corrected my mistake ... sorry again Greg.
Here's to Greg, who I thought was Chris
Forgot your name, now that's just remiss
And with true Dublin wit
The last line won't fit
You had blisters all over your feet!
We never moved from that pub. We had dinner there and it was wonderful.We went back to the Parador "gastronomically" satiated, tired but happy. What did or did not happen later need not be mentioned "what happens on Camino stays on Camino"
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