Steps taken 26,826
A day late and a dollar short We only just missed the medieval festival in Hospital de Orbigo. The grand stand was still standing from the jousting tournament that was the main event of the weekend. Too bad. I love a good festival.
Interesting pilgrims We met Brian, an expat living in Madrid now with his partner he met on the Camino. They met and walked the last ten days together three years ago, and before they reached Santiago, he told her, "I'd like to build a life with you. Think about it and let me know." The next day, she told him she'd like that very much. ❤️ Now, since he lives a couple hours away from the Camino, he takes a week or so to walk parts of it whenever he feels the need to reset.
Interstate local met Juan, born and raised in Hospital de Orbigo. We started chatting at the bar, where he was finishing up his wine and I was ordering a beer. He toasted my Camino and then left the bar to go eat lunch at his place, just around the corner. We were still sitting outside when he returned to play cards with friends at the bar, and he joined us at our table. He was first mate on aom oil ship in the Gulf of Mexico for 35 years. He knew Mobile well. He knew all the ports of call along the Gulf Coast, from Texas to Tampa. His English was a million times better than my Spanish, but I still tried to speak some Spanish when I could think of the words.
He bought us a round of drinks and then taught us how to play "Texas", which seems to be Texas Hold 'Em. There were at least 6 tables of card games going on, all populated by retired men. Adorable. Juan walked us around to a couple tables to show the different games folks play. I think he liked having two ladies walking around with him amongst all his card buddies. He was precious and so kind. We said goodbye with cheek kisses and returned to retrieve our laundry from the line at our albergue.
We rejoined the traditional path in Hospital de Orbigo. The scenic route was indeed more scenic, but longer than the traditional way. What was James thinking walking along an interstate when there was a perfectly good scenic route on country roads you only share with tractors every now and then? Ha, but really, the extra distance was worth it to avoid walking next to a very busy road for a whole two days.
Stork nests on top of this tower