Camino: day 7

Can confirm - average sleep in the Albergue last night. Snoring man had a career defining performance, a marathon lasting from 10pm to 7am. The crowd went wild and evacuated the dorm as early as 5am.

We were surprised by how early most pilgrims got out of there. Jokes aside I don’t actually think that it was to get away from snoring man, I think that most pilgrims are trying to avoid the afternoon heat. I’ve also heard that the Albergue’s get really busy closer to Santiago, so pilgrims leave earlier and earlier to ensure they get a bed. Or maybe this was just an extreme case of snoring which got everyone going.

Cait and I head out at 7:30 and find our way to a strange, cute little coffee shop attached to a grocery store. They bring out an immense amount of food and cake for us. The staff are all so caring and friendly. A friendly woman helps me with transactions to and from Spanish when I’m ordering.

We head out through the streets and realize that people probably choose the smaller yappy dogs due to space constraints. I guess this makes me feel silly, but hey - honesty on the blog above all else.

We start climbing some hills to get out of the town. It’s early morning but already sweltering hot - the hottest day of the week (maybe another reason that everyone was up and at it so early). ChatGPT has helped us with a little breakdown of distances and places to stay for the last week to ensure that we don’t break ourselves getting to Santiago. By some genius or luck it has given us a short 7km day today which takes us to a small town call Arcade, thank goodness - I don’t think a long day in this heat would have been fun.

Luckily we enter a gum forest and the tree cover brings well appreciated shade. The road taps out and a well walked dirt road comes in. It’s beautiful and open. There are many other pilgrims ahead and behind us, we jostle for position in a race which is not a race at all. Everyone happy to be there with their own reason and story.

I’m not sure if I’ve spoken much about the stamps in the pilgrim passport up to this point? Anyway - we need to get at least two stamps per day in our pilgrim passport to get the certificate at Santiago. It’s less about the certificate and more about the stamps; little symbols that trigger memories of cafes visited, places we slept at and quirky little stalls we stopped at. Cait muses aloud that we need to get a stamp at some point, and in that exact moment we round a corner and see a car parked with a camping table setup selling Camino trinkets, they have a stamp on the table.

There are a few people gathered around - two recognize us. A father son team walking the Camino that we met yesterday. The father had shown us his shoe that had split in half; brand new from Decathon (that’s not on Decathlon, I forgive you for making that amazing monocle… aaaah shit I left it in the bag that went back to Lisbon. Sad). We chat with them and he shoes off his new shoes that he had bought yesterday evening. We get our stamps and continue onwards.

This was not the Camino trinket stall. More of a Camino worship pallet.

I spot the tread of an Altra Lone Peak 9 shoe (I have hate 9+ model) and it keeps me busy tracking the prints until we find the owner on the descent out of the forest. A fun little game.

Accommodation for tonight has been upped to offset last night’s poor sleep. We walk through the town to a hotel near the water and enter the lobby. A really enthusiastic man greets us and shows us where to stash our bags until we can check in at 2:30pm. We change and pack a tote bag of beach things.

Hungry. There’s a restaurant right at the beach we’re going to and we take a look inside. There’s a couple that look familiar sitting at the table in the corner and she says hello - it’s the woman who helped translate my coffee order this morning; without this kind soul we would have been drinking cows milk.

Their names are Maria and Pepe - originally from Venezuela now living in the East of Spain on the Mediterranean. They are doing a few days of the Camino every week spaced over about six months and we’ve caught them at the end of a two day leg from Vigo to Arcade. They’re kind, interested and engaged. They recommend the Empanada and say that we should contact them if we’re ever in need. So lovely.

We take their advice and wow it was delicious. There’s also a seafood rice for two on the menu and we give that a go. Hands down the best meal that I’ve had on this holiday. Think paella with clams. Delicious, filling, light, great flavors and beautifully presented. A coffee and Coke Zero later and we’re ready for the beach.

The tide was really low when the little town came into view, but after a leisurely lunch it’s filled in nicely. We hide behind a small concrete pier and bask in the heat and cool estuary. Definitely too hot to walk.

It’s now too hot to beach too and we head back to the hotel - nice to have some peace and solitude. The next few days are going to involve a lot of walking and I’m sure that our bodies will appreciate the rest.

Things I’ve noticed:

I like quiet

⁠everyone in small towns speaks to each other with familiarity

⁠ Spain is visibly very pro-Palestine

⁠attitude towards tourists completely changes from city to smaller city/town

⁠I enjoy cross language communication - one person speaks Spanish, the other English and we get there eventually