Day Twenty Nine: Hospital de la Cruz to Melide

No rain today!!! Pilgrims that I conferred with prior to leaving for my Camino told me that as the pilgrimage progresses, they found themselves rising earlier and earlier each day -- the opposite is happening to the four of us; each day we stretch the wake up time a little further and sit at breakfast a little longer. It is now common for us not to leave our town of departure until neary nine am. Since the clouds didn't give us any precipitation today, my backpack decided that it would do the honors: aka my water bladder hose came unattached and almost two liters of water poured from the bottom of my backpack, first onto the floor and then into a pot that Jarek utilized to catch the stream. I was able to fix the problem and prevent further leaks, but I was unable to prevent the fact that I spent my morning hiking with a cold wet butt. Oh well. haha

We spent much of our morning hiking through wooded paths on squishy dirt trails. The occasional pasture filled with cows interrupts the tree line, adds new sounds, and changes the aroma of the forest. I wish all our path intertwined through these forests -- I feel so peaceful here. We took a break for lunch (croquetas and patatas fritas!!) and then continued in our way. 

As we were walking up the trail after lunch, we saw two very familiar backpacks in front of us -- the German couple that we met way back in Logrono (maybe a little earlier). It was so nice to see them and catch up! She broke her finger and so they had taken a little break and then a bus, which is how they wound up ahead of us. After a short hello we continued walking. Every kilometer seems to grow longer as the day comes to an end -- some things seem so much easier than they were in the beginning, like my endurance, but now it seems that my body is so tired; I think it is ready to be in Santiago. An finally, over thirty kilometers later, we arrived in Melide where we checked into our Albergue, showered, and rested a bit. Then we went out to dinner .... 

So for the last few days I have been preparing myself for the dinner we would have tonight. The special dish of Melide is pulpo, the best pulpo in all of Spain. What is pulpo you ask? Let me give you a hint: 🐙. That's right. Octopus. If you are going to eat something really obscure, it is best to do it with friends who are all eating the same obscure thing. We had so much fun tonight! And then the fun ran late ... as in it was past ten o'clock which is when they lock the doors to our Albergue. We made our way back only to find that the doors were indeed locked. Oops. Lucky for us, a pilgrim on the inside let us in where we made our way to our sleep room to retire. And now I am laying in bed, utterly exhausted and thinking about tomorrow -- another day of over thirty kilometers. 

Here are some pictures of today: 

Hello peaceful forest. 

This is the paper that is leading us to Santiago ... so if we end up in Portugal you know why. 

Bridge!!! I feel like I haven't posted a good bridge picture in a while. 

Why yes. That is octopus on a plater. (Jolene: this does NOT count as sushi. I will be back after June 1 and we will have a sushi date on my first day off -- and let's bring Erin Brennan with us, too!) 

Close up of that tentically goodness. 

I totally ate it. And when I wasn't thinking about the fact that it had tentacles, it was actually really good!!  

Gosia finished her plate!! I did not ... but I ate more than Vera! haha 

The German couple was at this place for dinner, too, and wanted a picture of Vera and I, so we took the opportunity for a photo. 

And my bed for the night. 

The four of us had such a blast tonight -- so much laughter. When I am on kilometer twenty eight of a thirty kilometer day, I think: it is okay that this journey is almost at the end. But when I am with Vera and Jarek and Gosia, laughing and enjoying life, I think it doesn't matter how many kilometers my feet must travel if we can spend every evening like this. I really am blessed to have found such wonderful people to join on my Camino. 

Buen Camino. 

Jena