Wednesday 21 March 2018

Pedrouzo to Santiago de Compostela

A clear sky and an early exit ... orange juice, coffee and chocolate pastry, followed by arrow mystery ... along with two others, eventually solved by ringing the bell of a pension and asking ... then a couple of hours on quiet roads and tracks, past the airport (and a brief thought of popping in to see if anyone is flying to Faro today), a halfway coffee and on past Monte do Gozo, the huge facility built a few years ago to house the thousands of pilgrims arriving to see the Pope ... whether the dodgy Ratzinger or the current incumbent, promoting a more compassionate image, is not clear without further investigation ... nor, indeed, is it clear whether the Pope or all the pilgrims started in Sarria ... walking to Santiago, obviously, is not a definition of being a pilgrim ... words, as ever, tricky entities ... sometimes explaining, sometimes constraining ...

The city comes soon enough and at 1.8km and 11.30 am from the Cathedral, Bar Londres provides pause for a pee, some paper towels as hankies, a coffee and a nice plate of tapas, with tortilla, churro and cake, a sincere smile and set for the nearby bus station, to check possibilities ... which by now are a 5 minute rush to buy a ticket to Porto or wait until the morning with 10 am and noon available ... Santiago energy for the rest of the day, Porto tomorrow ... maybe in time for the fast train to Faro, maybe a day there ... speedy walking has left options ...

The very special Hospedario San Martin has a pilgrim room free and the Sun is shining for a wander ... Jean-Marie, the Belgian bloke from yesterday is passing and takes the photo as well as showing how to solve the camera problem ... which frankly was not hard...perhaps the universe resetting the tablet to prevent persistent framing of moments, enabling Life to flow ...

Wandering the historic centre takes a while, though the born again Pilgrim House is not open today for theological discourse ... a second visit to the Museum of the Camino is rewarding ... the lounge of the Hospedario provides a comfy resting space, and the mind, having relaxed from the daily effort, is happy for the break ...

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