25 km. Sunny and cool until the last 1.5 hours, then rain, strong crosswinds, and colder. At one point I had to battle the wind to not blow into the road. I put my head down and managed, one step at a time.
The distance should have been about 21 km, but I went renegade for a while on the way to Comillas. An older man walking his dog stopped me to ask if I was walking the Camino. I, thinking he was just being friendly, smiled and said, ‘Yes, to Santiago!’ He then told me to take the next right the go left at the church. I thanked him, but didn’t pay much attention. I thought he was just trying to be helpful, and I had my map, so… I said adios and had only gone a short distance ahead when I decided to look at my map. While I was stopped the man caught up again. I looked at him and said, ‘I’m not on the Camino!’ He responded, ‘I know. That’s what I was trying to tell you!’
One positive outcome of my detour was that to get back onto the Camino, I passed the landmark church from a different direction than if I had stayed on the route. And from the direction I was walking, I could see that the door was open. This was noteworthy because the doors of most churches I have passed on the Northern Camino have been closed and locked when I pass. Frida, my Dutch friend (of the twelve Caminos) that I met two days ago, had commented on this. Apparently, it is very different on the French Camino, where most church doors are open and welcome pilgrims.
I enjoy popping into churches, so I was thrilled. I walked in and it was completely empty but set up to welcome pilgrims. It felt so peaceful and I was grateful to have the chance to sit and reflect. After this, I passed two more churches with open doors. The second two were historical buildings with small entrance fees, so a bit different. But it still felt like a run, so I’ll take it.
The scenery today was more countryside with a bit of sea. The two noteworthy towns were Comillas and my stopping point, San Vicente de la Barquera. I arrived in Comillas at lunchtime, and spent extra time there visiting the Capriche de Gaudí, a chalet designed in 1883 by the architect Gaudí for a wealthy client. In San Vicente I explored the Castillo del Rey (Castle of the King), built in the early Middle Ages, and the Church of Santa Maria of the Angels, a gothic church constructed in the 13th and 14th centuries. Both landmarks sit on a hill over the city,
I walked mostly solo, but did see some old friends and met some new ones, including:
Danish Linette. I ran into her twice today. The first time she walked by my table at lunch and stopped briefly to chat. I invited her to eat, but she was in a hurry to get on to San Vicente. (I find I’m never in a hurry.) Then later, in San Vicente, I saw her on the road outside my inn just as I was walking out and we walked together through town a bit. She asked me about tomorrow, but I eat breakfast and she leaves at 7:30 and picks up something to eat later on the go, so that won’t work. We exchanged numbers and tonight she texted me her destination, so I’m sure we will run into each other again.
Jannoke (sp?) from Germany. Jannoke had joined us for a couple of hours three days ago when I was walking with Anna, Daniela, et al. I had not really talked to him or caught his name that day. Today, I caught up to him and Silvan (from Switzerland) walking into Comillas and we stuck together for about half an hour. I had seen Silvan in a cafe yesterday. We parted ways when I stopped for lunch. Then later, during the rainy windstorm, I caught up with Jannoke again and we walked the last hour together into San Vicente. We had a great chat. He’s 24 (my son Kevin’s age, as of yesterday!) and was super reflective and asked interesting questions. It kept our minds off the rain.
This morning I crossed paths with one of the Italian guys that was in my room at the Güemes albergue. I have run into him a couple of times but he never talks to me. Today, I was about 50 meters away when I saw him walk out of a cafe ahead. He didn’t stop, but he saw me and waved and pointed to the cafe, seemingly to recommend it. I had not planned on having second breakfast, but I did anyway because it felt like a breakthrough that ‘Italian dude’ was communicating with me.
Met Teresa (Austria) and Collette (France) at my second breakfast stop. We only briefly chatted, but we are all headed to Santiago so I expect I might see them again.
I am staying in a very simple pension tonight for 35 euro, but it has turned out to be a treat. The hottest water, with the best water pressure, than I’ve had in a while. It was hard to get out. Did the usual routine once I checked in. Went sightseeing, then bought an orange and a tomato to supplement the cheese and salami sandwich I was able to make with the leftover provisions from last night.
Some photos of the day:
These horses met me at the corner of the fence and walked along the entire length of it as I was passing. You can see at the beginning, I had stopped to get my phone, and they stopped, too. Then when I started walking again, they resumed. They were probably hoping for food, but I would rather think that they walk in solidarity with pilgrims.
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