Closing in on 500 Miles

I walked past the Iglesia Santa Marina as it’s bells rang out 8:00 am. Today was a very foggy and misty day, as it was meant to be. The fog did not lift until I passed the 100 kilometer marker.

You know that today was going to be different. Let me list a few things I noticed for the first time on the Camino: much bigger groups, but admittedly not as many people as I thought, including school kids and bus tours; the bars had souvenir shops attached, with plenty of shoppers; people asking for money; actual taxi cabs parked at crossroads instead of a sticker with taxi phone numbers; and what I would call sticker frenzy.

But it was still a wonderful day. I stopped for my breakfast and chatted with another pilgrim from Korea who had started a few days after me. We commented on the “newbies”, and noted they were not much different than ourselves in the early days. Another long-time peregrino from Andalucía called these new folks the turigrinos or casacompostelanos. This was number 7 for him, so he has earned the right to call the rest of us whatever he wants. He is a man of a thousand stories. He told me that no one understands how unburdened he feels when he hoists his backpack on.

By the way, I have selected my Camino anthem. It would not have been appropriate until after Sarria. I have not really listened to any music while walking. It seemed like such a distraction. But today I played my anthem and it actually brought a tear of joy to my eye!

https://youtu.be/XZ4Ib-7fJqY