Since Sun is late arriving and bar is 8 for opening, first sleep until 6 goes through second, dreaming sleep until just before 8 ... some judged bread from yesterday, dampened with spring water, sweetened with honey tastes delicious and guilt free ... coffee and cake at the bar is curtailed when Paul loses his money + passport pack, usually clipped to his trousers ... he says he is shaking with fear ... after all, it is only those objects that really count ... somehow they have briefly popped into a parallel universe for us to explore a drama ... returning together to the dormitory, he goes through everything again ... while this guilt free co-habitee prepares to unpack his sack ... then he finds it, relief follows fear and I open the unspoken judgement of where else it could be ... shame and guilt ensue for poor Paul ... that's a lot of emotions so early in the morning ... offers a 20 as penance, 10 as repayment for earlier gift to cover breakfast ...
Paul's story is poignant. .. early experiments with psychotropic substances revealed deeper realities ... more sensible ones intervened with working and breeding ... a career in research and development in the aircraft industry ... as children left, his wife developed early onset Alzheimer's and in line with her decline, late stage capitalism dropped R&D in pursuit of short term shareholder gain ... after ten years nursing his wife and increasingly disenchanted with work, she was ready for a nursing home, Paul retired, set off walking ... and fell in love on the Camino ... also exploring those deeper realities from his youth ...
At the first bar Paco serves coffee and briefing for albergue ahead ... elicits info about pilgrims on the road ... thinning out now ... even though many are coming back this way, since the route is only circular at the end ... this pilgrim considers options for today and ahead ... walk or bus back to Santiago, rest and reset for Portugal ... find a coast path south to Vigo and the Portuguese route ... which thought makes the alternate route west today, Muxia then Fisterra, more helpful ... anyway a good early lunch at Oliveiroa sets up some possibilities, since stopping now, with fuel in the stomach and willing legs, far too soon ...at the junction, after a fine climb, it is 11 to Cee, 4 to Dumbria. .. which feels not only enough, but also on the right trajectory ... north-west first, then south ... tomorrow a shorter day after today's 30+ ...
Passing the large municipal albergue on the way into town, it takes a while to find the pension Argentino .... €25 for room, sheets and towels and hopefully some heat in the radiators to dry the clothes still wet from yesterday ... though the log fire in the bar is compensation ... clothes can wait for a service wash and dry in a day or two ... maybe a rest day overdue too ...
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