Dinner with two ladies from France at Quintanilla del Monte

It was a pleasant Dinner

I think all of us experience those days when everything is just feeling blah, right? I was feeling like that on this fateful morning. I guess the grey skies didn’t help either. Even my photos told this story … not to mention that I took a grand total of nineteen pictures! All that being said, the spirit perked up a little during dinner time.

They were closed

Empty street in Grañon

One thing I learned with the end of September around the corner and October inching closer everyday is that the busy season was coming to an end. Now, this would be good, less people on the Way; however, it also meant some place, such as churches, opened later in the day. And as I would discover, the lack of volunteers did not help either.

Today’s journey took me past two towns that were home to baptismal fonts dating back to the 12th Century. At the one church  a sign greeted me saying that the door opens around 11 AM. My watch told me it was only 10 AM. At the other church the door was tightly shut, no sign whatsoever.

I was a little disappointed. And on top of that, the blister that kept me company grew in size, three-fold in size. And if that wasn't bad enough, the blister has also gotten siblings.

Can it be any smaller?

When I started to plan my walk, I made the decision  to give my feet a sabbatical on Sundays. I did not particularly cared where I stayed on Saturday and Sunday. Well, I did not expect this stop to be this small.

My accommodations were in a small hamlet, it took me less than 5 minutes to walk through the whole hamlet. Half the houses were empty. And the local church looked like it was going to fall in on itself any moment. It will be a long two days—my feet needed the rest.

And then came Dinner

They say it is a small world, and I discovered just how small it is  during dinner. There were two other pilgrims, elderly ladies from France. One was a doctor and spoke English quite well, and the other was a nurse. They met eight years ago and walk the Camino in stages, this has been year five.

And then came the surprise. We spoke about where we are from and our ancestry. It just so happen that I am of a descendant of a French Huguenot. I told them the story and revealed that our forefather—Jacques De La Porte—was from a town called Lille. Well, you wouldn’t believe this, so was one of the ladies.

We had a nice chat, a good dinner, and it was a good end to the day.

Final thought …

Every day on the Way I learnt something. Often times, things I already know (let’s call it affirmation),  at times things I know but have forgotten (let's call it reminders), and other times something I needed to hear (let's call it lessons).

The day started out a little crappy if you like. I was feeling a little blue. And yet, at the end of the day sunshine brightened the cloudy day.

My journey on the Camino de Santiago started in September 2017. At the time I wrote blogged entries with pictures whenever I could. Now, three years later, it is time to revisit the journey; I am re-posting the entries with a few updates. Enjoy.