Camino anecdotes

You can add the Czeck Republic and Slovakia to the list of countries from whom I have met peregrinos.

When I flew from London to Toulouse, the plane was delayed because of some mechanical problems. This meant Iwas on a very tight timeline because if there were also delays at passport control in Toulouse I would miss my shuttle to the hotel across from the train station. As it turned out I got out of passport control barey 10 minutes before the last shuttle.

But where to go and how to make sure it was the correct shuttle? I got to a small bus but the driver being French ignored me. Then a young black lady stepped up and confirmed that it was the right bus and that the fare was 4 euros. She was on her way from London where she worked, to spend a few days with her family near Toulouse. We chatted as we proceeded into the city. We got off at the same stop in front of the train station. As she proceeded to catch her train she turned arounbd and called ¨God bless you......and you too¨. She was a saint!

The albergue at Cirraqui (end of day 4) was very nice but unfortunately very hot. We left the window open to provide some relief. Earlier in the evening Janos and I had gone shopping for some bread, cheese and hot (picante)chirozo sausage for the next day's lunch along the way. During the night a cat came in the window and stole our sausage which Janos had left under his bed. I hope that cat suffered from kaka picante!!!!

Everyone who walks the Camino is obsessed with weight. I'm talking about the weight of your backpack! At the albergue in Villamajor de Monjardin, which is run by a Dutch Christian organization, we ate our pelegrino meal in the albnergue. It was prepared by the Dutch volunteers. Before the dessert there was a little speech during which they told us about their Christian organization and handed us a small brochure which they asked us to take with us.

¨How much does it weigh?" I asked to the amusement of all the pilgrims.

The Camino has many memorials to the pilgrims that have died over the centuries. Nothing is more poignant that the individual memorials from the last 5 years or so. On day 1 there was a memorial to an English man aged 61 who died over the pass. (Ed note: I read about this - he got caught in a blizzard and died of exposure. ~Lo)

On day 2 there was a memorial to a Japanese man aged 58. On day 4 a Belgian man, age unknown and most tragically a young Canadian woman who died 3 years ago when she was hit by a car. This was on my 5th day. I hope that there aren´t any more.

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