It was gratifying to be able to walk yesterday. It was exhilarating to cross the long bridge into Galicia (our 4th and final 'state') in Spain. But we wanted to take it easy so as not to put the rest of the Camino at risk due to my gimpy knee. So we planned on walking only 21K today. We saw there was an albergue in at village called Gondan. Moreover, everyone else in Ribedao (the first town in Galicia) was planning on 28K to Lorenza. We would not be competing for beds, and at my speed we would surely lose any such competition!
So we were the last to leave the seaside albergue and head inland through town at 7:30. Now nobody in Spain seems to rise early except street cleaners, and in a country where Catholic churches are everywhere, but it's hard to find a Catholic under 60, nobody is up, much less rushing to open their bars on Sunday morning so a couple of peregrinos might begin their day with a coffee. The guidebooks, inaccurate on so many counts, were accurate in this, and if you ever find yourself walking southwest out of Ribadeo heading through the hills toward Gondan you will find it too, there is not the slightest possibility of finding and stopping for a coffee. Indeed, even if you entertain fantasies of a sympathetic Spaniard opening their window and inviting you in for a cup because they see the dejection on your face and the beginnings of caffeine desire in your shaking hands---forget it. No one, I mean no one, is up. We walked 21.5K (that's near 14 miles!) before we found a bar that served our favorite morning (and by now, afternoon) beverage.
Galicia is hilly. So far it is a beautiful patchwork of large green pasture dairy farms, green hills (save for the clearcut scars), and small hamlets and villages. The walking is fine. My knee only screams on startup and on the downhill. The sun shines so we give up a Gloria in response. We break at a small chapel complete with a fountain and benches outside. I share hopes and thanks with Doug T and leave his, and a couple of others from days past, prayers in the window of the chapel. We walk upward and upward into the hilltop forests. We stop to eat 'lunch' and rest weary knees and are passed by 5 pilgrims we have not seen. It seems Ribadeo is a good starting place for a 7-10 day mini-vacation to Santiago. It may actually start to feel crowded if this keeps up!
We climb in and out of a couple of river valleys and finally reach Gondan. The albergue is locked. The toilets are outside, and suddenly the phone shows 'no sevice' to call the person with the key. It is only 1:30, so we rest for a bit, buy a coke from the coke machine that is oddly out of place here in the green hills at the end of a row of toilets, but welcome nonetheless. We decide to push on into Lorenza, so the 21K day turns into a 28K day. The rain starts. We don the gear. The rain picks up and we have to climb rather steeply up out of Gondan's river valley (perhaps 200m up). We talk of suffering and its moral meaning--since week 4 has brought so much to us, and since it is a central topic for Christian reflection (the many paintings back at the Prado in Madrid based on Jesus' suffering). We conclude that the Christan attitude is thoroughly alien to the modern world, especially in the US (hide it and avoid it at all costs seems to be the US motto). We get lost in the mystery and complexity and move to easier topics. We return to Nicodemus and try to wrap up how we might use our reflections in our churches back home. The rain falls hard and the K passed quickly. We enter Lorenza and get lost. We ask twice and get poor directions. The third person we ask turns out to be the hospitalero driving to the albergue to register peregrinos: another in a seemingly endless series of 'St. James' moments.
Soaked and shivering we arrive and see people that have passed us and people from the albergue last night. Ketl calls, I shower, do laundry and write this blog. Life is good, even if we walked further than planned. My knee has held up (dosed with ibuprofen to be sure). We have 175K to go and 11 days to get there. My wife will meet me in the square in front of The Cathedral of Saint James; kisses will surely mingle with tears.
For the first time, and at a good time for our bodies, we will have to slow down. There are still roses to smell in these Galician hills. Buen Camino.
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