In the morning, I was so grouchy that Cathleen was taking so long to get ready. I realized I was having a hard time "slowing down," but I wondered why I was soooo grouchy about it. It was more than my broken sleep and jetlag. I was furious at the length of time she took tying her shoes! I stood waiting for nearly an hour while she packed and repacked her bag. I felt like I was going out of my skin.
I finally recognized the feeling: usually, when I'm inordinately impatient with people, it's because I've shut down emotionally, and the efficiency of "getting things done" becomes more important than actual human needs. I decided I would start doing my energy clearing and grounding routine each morning, and set to it immediately.
We planned for a 13 km day, and had a hotel already booked at our next destination. Most of our trail was downhill: a nice change from yesterday.
The morning's walk started in a light misty rain. I put on my pack cover, arm warmers and pashmina. Perfect!! After one challenging hill a couple kilometres later, the arm warmers came off again.
The trails were beautiful. We strolled through fields, small orchards, and small hamlets. We stopped to get a sello (pilgrim stamp) at Capilla de Fatima. The community was raising money to repair it, so we left some change in the donation box.
Noting that Cathleen walked slow and steady, whereas I walked fast then stop and wait, or do things like pin my map, take photos, etc. I ran down a side route to see what the "Molina de Picarín" might be. It's some kind of small water mill.
I remembered to stop and smell the roses, which was one of the things on my wellness list, since my recent tendency had been to rush through life. We also stopped to smell the horses... ;)
At one point, a man started yelling at me and I turned around. "Par aqui!! Camino par aqui!!" He called, gesturing. I had missed the turn. I was grateful he was there to call me back. As I walked back, Cathleen popped her head around the corner. She had also seen me missing the turn and had come back for me.
The next stretch was the most picturesque of the Camino so far, with posts and cobblestones leading us through the verdure.
However, when we passed a sign indicating a bar 150m to the left of the path, Cathleen barely had time to ask, "do you want to go to the bar?" before I answered "YES!!!" As we approached the bar, we saw the two Chinese guys approaching from a different direction. They looked at us in surprise. They must have missed the same turn I did.
With every step towards the bar, we saw every pilgrim from the day appear, including our new friend Sophie, who was one of the French pilgrims we had met in Escamplero!
We chatted with 2 Danes who were on their first day of walking, who claimed to be walking the Primitivo in eleven 30-40km days! Well, it's day 1 for them, so we'll see... ;) They seemed disturbed that we had reserved our hotels in advance, and were soon on the phone, trying to book their next room.
Sophie regaled me with her adventures yesterday trying to get out of Oviedo. She got lost, ended up not leaving town until 5pm. Then ended up waist high in a farmer's field, and had to crawl under barbed wire to get out. She didn't get into the albergue until 9pm. "Did you have any adventures like that?" Um, no. Not like that!
Eventually I was exhausted from chatting and had to get walking again to refresh my mental state.
I did energy work while walking, which was another item on my wellness list. The trail wound beside a river, then for a brief stretch along the highway, and over an old Roman bridge.
I has missed the turn again. As I walked back, Cathleen was standing at the turn, laughing: "That's twice today!"
At one point on each day, I've felt great, and thought how we could have walked more. Then about 10 mins later each day, I'm ready to be done. ;p It was right about then that I stepped in a cow pie. >.<
We stopped at Parque San Antonio in Grado to rest. I thought about looking around for a way to unlock my phone. I didn't want to wander around looking. >.< So we sat. Cathleen had developed hot spots, and sat on the bench in her bare feet. She wanted to pick up some muscle cream after our break, but as we walked through town, it was in siesta. We decided to check into our room, and return later.
A three-year Pilgrim's supper was available at the hotel bar for 7€, we decided on a grocery store supper for 2€ (which ended up saving us an additional 6€ on the room!) Cathleen ate a power bar and some yogurt. I bought a two-pack single-serving of couscous and a cup of ratatouille. We shared a quarter watermelon while I waited for my couscous to cook.
We did some laundry and hung it to dry in the window to the "patio." As we hung our laundry, Cathleen commented that a voice outside sounded like the Danes. She popped her head out the window and guess who was at Hotel Autobar in a room near ours? Lol. The Danes! So much for 30-40km. ;)
I'm annoyed at Cathleen constantly talking her way through her actions. It reminded me of my mother, and it's exhausting trying to figure out whether and when she was talking to me and expected a response. Ok, maybe it was also the fact that my couscous would not cook, and I still didn't have a SIM, and I still wasn't over my jetlag... >.<
I get on wifi and Colin phones Koodo from Canada. They could not seem to unlock my phone, despite assurances that they could. They keep telling Colin that they will call back in half an hour, and meanwhile my couscous was still not cooked.
When they did call back, Cathleen was outside on the sidewalk downstairs having a cigarette, so I ran down to her, so that we could message Colin on her phone while I pulled out my sim and typed endless strings of unlock codes into mine. I felt a little like the karate kid: SIM in SIM out, phone on phone off...
3 hours later, we were still on the sidewalk. Even the hotel staff had come out of the bar and were trying to help. Colin was yelling at the woman at Koodo, and I still didn't have my couscous. :(
Cathleen stayed in remarkably good humor all the way through it, which I really appreciated at the time, but later wondered if would give her an emotional setback, since it was that type of trouble shooting and problem solving that wore her out in the first place.
Finally, after 3 hours (5 hours, if you include the time we spent in Oviedo), we got everything working. We celebrated with a beer. I finally ate my couscous, and then, since it was 10pm by that time, we headed for bed.
Loved the old bridge. The laundry hanging in the window looks like a work of art. Ups and downs can be solved with a laugh, a cry, or a bottle of beer with a friend.
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