All Good Things.... (Day 8)

As we are getting further along on the camino (128 miles at this point for me) peoples different itineraries are starting to become evident. While the first few stages were pretty much the same for most of us, now we are starting to diverge as some people have longer stages to reach Santiago in their set time (many have a 31-32 day finish date) while others are beginning to have either shorter stages or even (if you can believe it) rest days to meet their 37-40 day time frame. Today we lost Michael as he only had a week and is returning to Ireland. Sarah is also returning to Ireland via Portugal and her camino is finished. Georgia from the UK had a short walk today and even has a rest day tomorrow. She’s on a longer trip than I so we won’t likely be on the trail together again. Unfortunately for me Glenn and Jan have a 31 day finish time so while I might see them again once or twice more we won’t be walking together much after our time today. Our merry band of three was broken up today around noon (most will blame Yoko). I will miss their company and good cheer. They made the first few days much more comfortable and I hope to see them again in the future. Our camino group is spreading out and it’s a little sad. I have to assume that happens every time and I hope the folks I meet moving forward are as open and kind as those I’ve met up to this point.

Now, anyone who knows me knows that I can get lost in a one room house with all the lights on. I’m sure you assumed that G&J were the ones keeping me from wandering off into the Spanish countryside never to be seen again. Not true! The camino is actually pretty well marked and I’ve managed to get myself everywhere I need to be all on my own. The markers are of varying sizes and shapes and you have to have a keen eye sometimes but there will be marker if you look hard enough. There are big signs in the cities, the cement trail head markers that you’ve seen in other posts (the ones with the blue and yellow tile in them) and then there are the yellow arrows. They are everywhere.

This one was a little hidden I must admit

These are the signs that are around when you need to cross a road

It’s kind of a game. If you hit an intersection somewhere and it’s not super obvious which way to go you just stop and look around. Eventually you will find an arrow and you will find the way. It’s pretty amazing actually the number of trail markers. Also, the trail head markers and many of the items with the yellow arrows painted on them will have rock cairns built by the pilgrims on top of them to draw your eye. Even my bumbling ass hasn’t had a single misfire yet. It’s still a long way to Santiago but I think I just might be able to find my way.

Today’s hike was another long one but fairly flat. It went out of the city and into the vineyards.

And then more vineyards…

And then…

You get my point. It was really beautiful and the grapes came right up to the road. There was a nice cloud cover for the first half of the hike then the dreaded sun made it’s appearance and began to roast all of us. The last 5K was a killer and seemed to go on forever. My absolute favorite part of the day was hiking up a hill in the heat and having an Irishmen pass me, wave with a grimace and keep trudging up the hill saying, “feck, feck, feck” with every foot fall. God I love the Irish.

Tomorrow is a little shorter but looks to be hot. I’ll be heading out alone and am curious what I’ll find. There are some more pics from the hike below. Much like the rolling hills, vineyards are beautiful but with just a few pics you’ve pretty much got the point.

This was an ancient pilgrims hospital (I assume they put leeches on the blisters back then).

This is a cemetery gate. It seemed tacky to photograph the cemetery itself as there were people in there, but it was really cool.

Hey look! Behind that abandoned house. Could it be? Yup, it’s a vineyard.

These weren’t as good as they looked. A little tart and a lot of seeds. That’s right Spanish wine people, I’m talkin shit.

Around 3/4 of the way through is the hill I will now always refer to as “Fecking Mountain”