Camino Day 4: Cornellana to Salas

After a good 9+ hours of sleep, I felt much less jet lagged today. The dip in the river the day before seemed to have helped our leg muscles and our spirits, as we asked the river to wash away any extra anxious energy that it could use for whatever purpose it wanted (we didn't want it!).

Cat was still having nightmares every night: I imagined it as a good sign that her brain felt safe enough to try to work through stuff. Despite the nightmares, she also got a long sleep and seemed refreshed.

She went into the courtyard for a smoke while I took a shower and dosed myself up with bug spray.  Then we switched places: she went in as I went into the courtyard. I was just standing outside doing my morning clearings, pleased to watch bugs approach me, then veer away. Just as I was on my last clearing, Cat called me inside. That's the second time she has called me just as I finished my set, even though she has no idea what my set was.

She had called me in because she had lost her locker key!  Sophie and I tore the dorm apart while Cat went through her pack and purse. I had the phone number for the host, but my Spanish was not good enough to explain what was happening. Sophie grabbed her dictionary and called the host.

While we waited for the host to arrive, we mused that it was Christian and Sam's bad mojo... Our SIM issues occurred when they were in our hotel the day before, and now the key was lost when they stayed with us in the monastery.  We decided that they really needed to clear and ground themselves... and therefore... so did we!  Just as we came to that conclusion, the host arrived and Cat immediately found her key. We guessed that we would not see Sam and Christian again, after we had received the message they brought! (Spoiler: we didn't!!)

The host brought two dogs with her: Dulce (the sweetheart) and CP (grouchy and a biter). Dulce lived up to her name! My heart melted to pet her soft, soft fur, which was very much like my own shih-tzu's. In between pets, she would race in and out of the dorms like her heart depended on it!

In the end it took us four hours to get going. This was not too unusual because Cat always wanted to smoke, and repack several times, and generally just moved very slowly, which at first I found really annoying, but then I realized it meant I got many free hours a day, to sleep in extra, have a shower, do energy work, etc!

The day's path was from Cornellana to Salas, about 11km, mostly uphill.

We went into Cornellana with Sophie to buy some food. I noticed that Sophie was carrying the pop-up tent I had seen in the albergue in Escamplero. I hadn't realized it was hers. I had thought that maybe the albergue had it there in case they ran out of beds!

I got a really fresh croissant and Cat got a bocadillo with a tortilla inside! In this region of Spain (Asturias), these are both very common foods, but we had not before seen them melded into one item. Note that in Spain, a tortilla is a kind of omelette, usually with potato, and sometimes with ham, and not a flat bread-like thing you wrap around a burrito!

After buying some bread and cheese for the road, and leaving Sophie chatting with an elderly local man about salmon in the rivers of Canada vs Cornellana, we head out on the Camino... or so we thought. We soon heard a sharp whistle behind us and a local man waving: "Camino par aqui!!"

We told him that a third girl behind us might not know the way either, and Cat ran back back to tell her (she was indeed planning to go the wrong way too). He then told me the path was up the hill behind the monastery and, shaking his head, laughed at us as he joined some other pilgrims passing by, "These Canadians were heading back to Oviedo!"

Heading up the hill, I got a great photo of the monastery from above.

At the top of the hill, the same man was sitting on his porch. By that point, I was walking ahead of the others, so he asked me: "Are the other two coming?" and  "Do you want some water?" which touched my heart.  I said yes, then no thanks, and followed a tractor of hay down the narrow country road. Two dogs chased the tractor, playing with each other and disturbing an unimpressed cat who was napping in the grass beside the road.

We passed through many forests today, with rocky and muddy trails, but also bird songs and babbling brooks. I noticed how the creek noise didn't stress me, unlike city noise. Maybe because I knew it needed no attention or action from me??

Ready for a break, we found nowhere appropriate to stop. Finally, I stopped to change my socks on a stone wall between cows and a barky dog.

At one spot where the trail was poorly marked, we made an arrow for Sophie on the road.

As we walked on a straight road toward Villazón, some kids passed us on bicycles. It seemed odd that people actually lived in this remote area.

We talked about clearing and grounding. Cathleen mentioned some techniques she was doing, and we decided to do massage tonight and Reiki tomorrow.

Cathleen mentioned that she would stop and drink water when we got to the big pile of logs. I noticed that as a common pattern for in our lives: we'll rest "after x"... so I declared that we needed to "Just do it now!!" To which Cat replied: "Well, we're doing the Camino now! No more 'after'!!!"

I then delighted Cathleen by finding and turning over a giant pinecone, allowing dozens of its seeds to swirl out.

Finally we found a rest area. There are picnic tables and a fountain. We ate our lunches and then I popped up the hill to see the church. It was closed. No sello.

We passed a house drying bunches of corn, a white donkey, and a series of little Roman bridges.

Just as we got into Salas, it started to rain. We found our hotel right by the main Cathedral (the white building).

The host Dolores was nice. I liked to think it was because I had remembered her name from our emails.  She had photos behind the desk, and when I inquired about them, she said they were her sister and mother. I turned around and caught her mother beaming.

The rooms were nice-- very antiquey.  The sheets hanging on the line outside our room smelled of permethrin, which we thought was a really smart way for the hotel to prevent bed bugs.  We rested and exchanged photos, did some laundry ourselves, then wandered around town looking for supper, but it was too early. The castle restaurant looked really neat inside, especially as the misty rain fell through into its inner courtyard, and they offered a multi-use pilgrim menu for 10€, but we didn't want to eat so late. So I got a sello from the castle, Cathleen bought walking poles and scissors (for compeed). The vendor chatted us up then gave her a discount.  :) At the grocery, we bought some pate and a tomato and a 1,50€ bottle of rosé wine to go with the bread and cheese I bought this morning.

We returned to find our laundry got rained on. Some pilgrims sitting on the patio asked us why we did laundry in such poor weather, but it was because we were tired of being stinky.

We ate with the pilgrims on patio. We rigged the patio umbrella with a clothesline and huddled under it, sharing our food and wine.  I knew those nine years of Girl Guides would pay off some day! ;)  We taught the Irish man "skookum," which he loved and vowed to take back to Ireland. He brought out a package of what he called "disgusting cheese" and promptly asked us if we wanted any. Lol. We all shared our Camino stories and motivations. Then they went to the bar and we went to bed. Cathleen sang me some of the songs she had written, and my friend Nihan messengered me about the exact themes we were discussing!! It seems we're all in the same "field." :)