I wake up today to Sam tapping me and telling me it’s 7:30. I check my phone, and it’s one minute before my alarm. I slept pretty well, considering I only had gotten about 6 hours. It had actually been a comfortable temperature in the albergue for once, and I only woke up a few times in the night.
I take my earplugs out and hear rain on the roof. It sounds worse than it is, but it’s definitely going to be a rainy day. As I get out of bed, Sam lets me know that everyone is considering taking a rest day due to the rain, with the added benefit of being able to stay with Eva. She’s taking a rest day today to wait for her friend Annamiek who will be arriving in the evening. I consider this as I get my pack together and get ready for the day.
Once I have all my stuff together, I head downstairs to the common area. Margaret, Eva, Sam, and Luis are downstairs already, and Dan isn’t far behind. I eat some leftover pizza from last night and we discuss whether or not we want to take a rest day. We’re indecisive and it’s soon 8:00, so we decide to take the discussion to a cafe for some breakfast.
We find a cafe nearby, and Simon is also there! I get a coke (along with Sam, I’m not the only weirdo who had a coke for breakfast) and we shoot the breeze with Simon for a while. Then we turn to discussing whether to walk or take a rest day again. Margaret writes a pro and con list, and the pro-rest day section is far more filled out. It seems that we’re all sort of leaning towards taking a rest day, so after some discussion, we decide to do so. Simon heads out for the day, and we all say goodbye to him.
With the decision to take a rest day, I start planning out our next few days to Santiago. I like the idea of doing a 40km day, simply for the sake of experience and also so that I can say I walked a marathon on the Camino. We tentatively put it in our plans. I would also like 2 rest days in Santiago instead of 1, so for now, we have our last day as a very short day, arriving to Santiago at sunrise. The idea of that excites me!
After making our decision for the day, we hang out and talk for a little longer. Dan, Sam, and I then head out at 10:00 to check out the town and also see if there is any open grocery store. Our plan is to get groceries and then arrive to the the Sarria monastery albergue and check in at 11:00. It’s Sunday, though, so the grocery store is closed. We then head to an ATM, and back to the cafe, effectively having made a big loop around town.
It’s now 11:00, so Margaret joins us and we head to the monastery. When we get there, though, we find out that they’re only open for big group reservations for now. Last night, a gigantic graduating class of high schoolers had stayed there. But we only have a few people, so they couldn’t open. Bummer. We wander away, trying to figure out a new plan. We decide on staying at the same albergue as last night, whose check in is at 1:00. Mass is at 12:00, so we head there next.
Dan, Sam, and I attend Mass together at 12:00. I feel a little sour for having our tentative plans for the day dashed, but in the few minutes of prayer before Mass begins, I realize it’s pointless to be upset over that. I give myself a moment to reset, and instead start looking forward to the rest day and the week ahead. I truly am very excited for everything coming up: the final few days of the pilgrimage, the completion of the pilgrimage, celebrating with my Camino friends, finally making it back home to my friends and family, and of course making it back to Mikayla. I feel better as Mass begins, and have a peaceful next hour during Mass.
After Mass, Sam, Dan, Eva, and I check into our albergue at 1:00. I set up in the same bed, then head to a cafe for lunch with Dan. He journals as I eat an omelette sandwich and read my book. It’s a nice comfortable atmosphere, and feels very appropriate for a rest day. Once I finish a few chapters, I begin writing my blog post for the day.
I want to note how the pilgrimage experience changes as you get closer to Santiago de Compostela. In the very beginning of the Camino, people were very friendly and encouraging to pilgrims. Everyone wishes you good travels and the hospitaleros and cafe owners can be very welcoming. As you get further, though, people start becoming indifferent in general towards pilgrims, and once you get to the final 150 kilometers, people are so used to pilgrims that we’re just a fact of life for them, and possibly even a nuisance. There are exceptions, of course, but that’s been the general trend. I’m not saying that I think the Spanish should pander to pilgrims and love us or anything, but there really was magic in the way we were treated at the beginning of the pilgrimage and the special connection to the locals. That feeling is almost completely lost in the final stretch, so I feel sorry for those who don’t get the chance to experience the whole thing.
After writing my blog for a while, I get up to pay, but the cafe owner hands me a free plate of French fries, so I just head back to the table and read some more while snacking on them. Once I finish another chapter, I head back to the albergue and pray my rosary in bed. I let myself doze for a little while once I finish. My nap is nice and it's definitely needed. I wake up to see Yeondo and Woody arrive, and they're staying in our room! I say hello to them and talk for a bit, and they tell us about their walk today and the story of how they got lost.
Eva announces she's going to the cafe for a coffee, and I join along with Woody, Yeondo, and Margaret. Dan is still there, and we split into two tables. I talk with Eva and Margaret about how our rest day has been so far. They both took a nap as well, and everyone is feeling better. We then play cards, and Dan joins us. We play a few rounds of Hearts and have a great time. Reading, a nap, and cards is exactly what I'd expect to be doing on a rest day!
Around 5:30, Margaret checks what grocery stores are open. There's only one, and it's more of a gas station convenience store. We both head there and I grab something for tomorrow's breakfast. On the short walk, we talk about how far we've come and how long it's been. Its almost been 30 days of walking. Crazy! We've all really hit our stride and everyone is feeling great. No one ever wakes up sore anymore, or has bad blisters. It's weird to consider how anything below 25 kilometers is considered an easy day. I never walk that much in a day at home!
As we arrive back at the albergue, we see Eva with her friend Annemiek who has just arrived. They're friends from back home, and they both live in the Netherlands. Annemiek has joined to do the last 100 kilometers. I introduce myself and then we all head into the albergue.
It's weird how much time you have on a rest day. It gets to the point where I don't really know what to do with myself. To kill time, I talk with Eva, Annemiek, Luis, and Margaret in the common area. Luis has a big list of questions for different stages in the Camino, and we go through them. They're deep questions and really make you think. We all reflect on how we've grown so far and what else we want to gain from the Camino. It's a nice hour of spiritual preparation for the final week ahead.
At some point, a new guy walks into the room. I introduce myself, and learn that he's from Arizona! His name is Sergio and he's here with his parents. They just arrived today. He asks my about my experience so far and I tell him all about it. He's Catholic as well, and so I talk a lot about how God has worked inside of me through the Camino so far. He's a really nice guy, and I hope to walk with him at some point in the next week!
Around 7:15, we finish our inward preparation questions and me, Margaret, Eva, Annemiek, Woody, Yeondo, Dan, and a new Italian lady all head to dinner. We eat at the same place we had breakfast, since not much is open. The food is very meh but the company is great. We talk about our favorite part of the Camino so far, and what we hope to gain from the next week. We all show each other the area that we live in on Google maps, and share a bit about our hometown. There's a lot of different nationalities between the lot of us! It's a nice dinner and I enjoy myself.
At 9:00 I pay and head back to the albergue to wind down and finish my blog. I then call Mikayla and talk to her for half an hour. I can't wait to see her in a week! Time really is flying.
Overall, today was a good day. It's nice to have a few days to catch up on sleep, let the body heal, and break up the walk, eat, sleep routine. Tomorrow begins the final week of the Camino. As always, I can't wait to see what God has in store for me!