Day 22: Glass half empty or full: as long as its vino, its ok
See that house there? That's going to be mine.I started ok, albeit a little slower. Made to Ponferrada by about 7:30am & had a bit of breakfast next to the Templar Castle. Unfortunately everything was closed (it was only 7:30am when I arrived) & it seemed that everything was under construction, so I didn't really get to explore. Still it was a great site to see. Its quite big and the history of it is something I will have to explore another day.
Bumped into Mariette at Cacabelos, where the village had a parade for San Isador (I think its the patron saint of Madrid) in celebration and homage for a good harvest. It was good to see her (Mariette, that is, San Isadore was a bonus, hee hee) - although I kept moving on. As much as I love her, I wish for her to have her own camino.
I started to fade pretty quickly between 1 & 2pm; today seemed tougher somehow.
Been thinking about how fast I've had to get through all these places. My camino has not been like others, although I am TRUELY grateful for what I have had & that I've made it this far. I've decided that perhaps someday there will be a trip with mum to all these sights I've missed, only tourist style next time.
Also, last night I had met Irene from Vancouver, who had done the last section into Santiago in 2003, and was here to do a short section from Astorga to wherever in about 7 days. She suggested the short hikes around Monserrat. She even stayed at the monastery run by monks there, but in a cold 3? story building by herself...
Irene can't BELIEVE the amount of people on the camino this time around. I have to say I was shocked myself when I took the bus with 20 people to Bayonne, & then another 20 at least on the train to St Jean Pied de Port. The camino isn't as solitary as one would expect. Still, I have the mornings to myself, and I am very happy to have the opportunity to walk alone.
Tonight I splurged on a single room at a hostal for myself. The albergue "Ave Fenix" was the ONLY one open in town, & apparently there is a rule that no one is allowed up before 7am. [The guidebook also states that the albergue has dorm rooms separate for 50+ year olds. I dunno, it felt like too many rules...]
I think I needed some time alone, away from pilgrim life... a bit more privacy.
