24 km. Nice day today. Gentle hills, sunny and cool. Walked alone until the last 8 km. The scenery became more beautiful as the day went on.
I left Santander later than I had planned to, at around 9:45. Most of the delay was due to an inexplicably lost flip flop, which I finally managed to find under the bureau. I could have bought new ones, but it was the principle of it that kept me looking. It wasn’t a big room!
The first 4 km walk out of Santander was on busy city roads, but then the Camino shifted to mostly back roads between towns and a short stretch walking along the train tracks. At Boo de Piélagos the old route had changed due to a railroad bridge being closed to walkers. The choices now are take the train to the next town of Mogro (~3 km) or walk two other routes. The walking distances all end up being about the same.
I chose the train for something different, and am glad I did. It was there I met my only walking partner of the day, Cary from Oregon. When I arrived at the station she was there also waiting, and planning where to stop for the day. This worked out because I had just found a room in Cudón for a great price (best I’ve had so far). I shared the information with her, and she decided to join me and booked there, too.
Cary and I had a lovely walk together. Similar ages, kids the same ages, walking for almost exactly the same reason…the only difference is that she is about 1000x fitter than I am. She walked a 50 km day last week, yikes. She was relaxed with me, though. My legs felt good and I was moving at a decent clip, so we were fine. When we finally arrived at the Inn, she called me her Camino angel of the day, because…
The place was amazing! We couldn’t get over the price and how awesome it was. And, they served pizza at 7 pm. Most restaurants, if they serve dinner, serve it after 8 or 8:30 pm, which means many pilgrims just shop for food or eat pintxos. This felt like such a treat. Dinner at 7 pm, and at our hotel! You would think we were having a five-star meal, rather than pizza.
We enjoyed our dinner and made tentative plans to walk together tomorrow. We found another great stopping place, but it is a 35 km walk. We will start out together, but she’ll probably peel off. Around midday we will text each other and book the room if we decide to do it. Then she will probably arrive about 3 hours before me, but that’s ok. It’s getting dark here around 9 pm lately, ha.
One other highlight of the day: Despite seeing no pilgrims so far, when I stopped at a restaurant in Boo de Piélagos to have menú del día, I walked in to see a couple that I have seen twice before in the past few days - once at a restaurant and once at the albergue in Güeme - but had not met. (Albert and Frida, from the Netherlands.) When they saw me, their faces lit up and they called me over to join them. They’d already eaten but were waiting to check into a room there, so they sat and chatted with me. They have walked 12 Caminos on about 8 different routes! Apparently, Frida is super allergic to the tree outside her house when it blooms in spring, so about 14 years ago she decided to leave each year for the six weeks it is bad and just walk a Camino. (She missed two years due to Covid.) That is the best problem-solving ever.
As for Albert and Frida inviting me to join them, once again, I’m not sure that they know how much their kindness means to me. When my son Neill was little, maybe five or six, he said to me, ‘Mommy, when somebody says something nice to me, I feel like my brain is getting a hug.’ That’s how I feel when I run into, and am greeted warmly by, either friends I’ve met or familiar faces along the Camino.
Some photos of the day:
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