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We had set the
alarm clock for an early wake-up call again... – However, today we used the
snooze several times. It was raining outside… and the heavy raindrops were
making drumming sounds on the tent. We decided to stay in our sleeping bags a
little longer, talking... about where to go today... Looking in our guidebooks,
which of course did not agree on the route, we found that there are two
different routes... the first 10 km would be the same, so we did not have to
decide just yet.... .... The rain
had stopped, we packed our bags and were getting ready to leave when I found
them... the snails! We had snails in our tent. Two big snails. How did they get
in?? What next... we have slept with thousand of insects... mice... and now
snails... they carry their own house, why would they seek shelter in our
tent?
Outside,
looking up… the sky looked very dark, as if it would open up at any moment. I
was already wearing my waterproof pants and had the rain poncho within reach. I
asked the dark clouds to go away and called for the sun... I guess the clouds do
not take orders well... as the next second the water was coming down... it was
raining heavily. For some reason I didn't mind... On with the rain poncho, and
the boots were still able to keep the water out... I could walk all day in the
rain. And just to keep our spirits up I started to sing... " ....I'm
singing in the raaaaain..... nanananana .......something.... happy
again...." - "raindrops are falling on my head... .." I was singing
all the rain songs I could remember... and the rain stopped.
I think
Carluccia and I became quite a tourist attraction today... A bus drove by, and
we could almost hear the bus driver say: "... and if you look out on your left
you will see two pilgrims walking one of the many Caminos to Santiago" - 30
faces were looking at us from the windows of the bus as they were passing by...
we laughed as we found it funny... - We finally found our stop for
breakfast... I wonder why it is so difficult to find a bar/coffee shop that
opens before 11 a.m. Do people here not drink coffee...? I remember that on the
Camino Frances the bars were open already at 6 a.m.... but of course the number
of pilgrims was also much higher on the French route.
When we left
the café, the colour of the sky had changed.... it was now bright blue.... very
beautiful. Where had all the dark clouds gone...? Did they listen to me? -
Maybe it just takes time for the messages to travel “up there...”. I did send a
"thank you note" - when you ask for something, you should be grateful when you
get it...
I have an urge
to walk by myself. I still walk with Carluccia... and I like her very much.
She is a wonderful girl with a big beautiful heart... The reason that I still
walk with her is probably based on a promise I made... to walk with her to Gijón...
is it OK to break a promise?
...Later we
were looking for a place to have another break. We needed some coffee... and we
found a small bakery/café. Num num... the cakes looked very delicious.... we
had to taste. We stayed for some time... had another coffee... and when ready
to pay - we were told that it had already been paid for. What!! By whom? We
didn't understand. The owner said a lady had been in earlier and asked to pay
for whatever we would order. But... how would she know? We didn't even know
ourselves that we would stop here. Very confused, but grateful we left the
café... wondering who had paid for this...!
We had
forgotten to choose which route to follow or... maybe we just silently agreed to
go to Somo... Today had already shown us some of the magic of the Camino...
Maybe we ended up here for a third reason? In Somo we had to look for the beach
- follow the beach and the boardwalk... find the boat that would take us to
Santander. 21 kilometres had been cut off our walk for tomorrow... € 1.... and
20 minutes later by boat...we ended up in Santander. Santander is very
big... Found a tourist information to get a map of the city and we had them
mark the albergue... it was quite easy to find.
We found a
bunk bed... - marked it as taken with the sleeping bag. Had a hot shower...
washed off the mud from the rain. Amazing how dirty one can get by walking. The
dirt tracks were muddy and slippery after the rain. The cars splash water on us
when they pass us... This shower is very much appreciated. We wanted to take
a look at the city... send some e-mails and find something to eat. We asked
the hospitalero for a good pilgrim’s restaurant... (Though we haven't found any
place yet with a pilgrim’s menu). Restaurant "ZACHARIAS", he said. ...Bring
your credential. And you will get cheese and wine for free...
I sent the
e-mails... we walked up and down the boardwalk... did some "shopping" at the
pharmacia... I was starting to catch a cold? We found the restaurant... the
waiter at the door invited us inside... he looked a long time at my
credential... Dinamarca, he said... hmmm.. Beautiful...! He handed back the
credential after putting his stamp inside... - then he found a big guest
book... a book that hundreds of pilgrims had written in before us... Please
write in Danish, he said.... and I did.... Looks like a beautiful
language.... he said after trying to read it... Then he brought us a big plate
with different kinds of cheese and a bottle of wine... very delicious.
We found our
way back to the albergue.... heard a familiar voice... Gerhard... “The
begging pilgrim”. He was again complaining about how unfriendly everybody is...
I asked him what he expected... He just said: “Well, I don't have any
money... I travel without money - I expect people to help”... Hmmm.... For
some reason I do not believe that he is travelling without money... He must
have some resources with him in case no one can or will help... I can see I am
not the only one who is sceptical... I think that he is fooling himself... by
saying "I'm doing this without money... " …I don't think it is possible...
without carrying some "backup money". But it is not for me to worry about.
-
We said good
night and set the alarm clock at 6 a.m.
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