Monday, September 13, 2010

Villatuerta to Los Arcos

Good afternoon, evening, and goodnight everyone,


After a wonderful stay at the "casa magica" last night, we got a late start on the next stage of our journey towards Santiago.  The albergue, or hostel, that we stayed at was dubbed the "casa magica" because of the great experiences that pilgrims have had there.  It lived up to its nickname for sure.


We stayed in Villatuerta because we didn´t want to have to deal with the bigger cities where bigger hostels tend to be, and we lucked out because there only ended up being 7 total pilgrims.  This allowed for a great intimate dinner with everyone where we all prepared the meal and sat together sharing stories about our journey so far and learning about where everyone was from and why they were on the Camino.  There was one American named Mike that I mentioned in the last post, a South African named Michelle, a Belgian named Belinda, a Hungarian named Judith, and a Spaniard named Julio.  The hostel owners were very welcoming and were just great hosts.  Mike and Michelle ended up staying at the same place where we are now, so we are going to have dinner with them again tonight.  We saw Belinda on the road today and will probably see her and the other folks since we are all heading in the same direction.


We slept in a little bit and got a late start, leaving just after 8am.  This got us into Los Arcos around 3pm with a final distance travelled at about 26-27km.  The road was pretty good, though the downhills were kind of rough.  Again, I think I would rather have a steep incline for the whole day than to have to deal with another downhill.  The pressure put on the knees is one that I don´t have to normally deal with back home, at least in consecutive kilometers.  Just another thing to offer up.  Again, I don´t think that the pilgrims who first trekked the route had nice albergues, showers, pain meds, or cushiony soled shoes to get them across Spain, so unless I break/twist/or sprain something, this will be my last complaint :-)


We also met another American this morning during a lunch/coffee stop.  His name is Will and he is from Oklahoma.  He was walking with a girl from Norway named Inguun and they have actually been following a similar pace as us.  They, along with Mike and Michelle, are staying at the same hostel as us tonight and are good company to have.  


We saw some great countryside today, walking at times through vineyards and sampling some of the future produce.  Grapes right off the vine are very sweet and delicious.  This stage was also pretty quiet.  There was a good stretch where we walked for a couple of hours without seeing any cars or country-folk.  There were a good number of pilgrims though.  


The walk so far has allowed for a lot of prayer and quiet time with God.  Jason and I agreed that we are going to split up for some of the days in order to just be alone with God.  We will plan the night before and say "ok, this is where we are going to meet.  If one of us isn´t there at this time, then we will call or search for the other".  We have an emergency cell-phone so we will use that if necessary.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures from the last post.  I will try to throw a couple more online in the next few days.  

peace,


Paul

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