Day 35 To Boente
Day 35 October 13 Destination = Boente / 70 km to go.
“Let those who thoughtfully consider the brevity of life remember the length of eternity”.
– Thomas Ken - 17th century theologian who resisted and would not sign-off on indulgences. I like this quote enormously, because eternity would be one hell of a thing to screw up !
In high school I was not exactly good about putting gas in the family car that I was allowed to drive around in. There was the line in about an eighth of a tank that suggested it’s time to go to a gas station snd there is also the orange block below that line that suggests you’re essentially going to run out of gas at any minute. I’ll never forget the time that I was using the car and noticed that the line was in the orange black - that I was essentially on fumes and yup I ran out of gas. Fortunately as teenage luck would have it I was on a hill & costed down said hill end of which was a gas station …into an open gas pump. No one was none the wiser
That was essentially me coming into town yesterday. I ran out of gas at the top of the hill coasted down the hill and thank goodness, low n behold, my hostel was at the edge of the town half a block off of the Camino!
The thought occurred to me this morning if I had another two or three weeks to go but I probably would not be able to pull it off without going into hibernation and sleeping for a month or two. While I don’t want this adventure to end it is time to hit the goal line ….and begin to say goodbye….
(when I walked into the recepcion at Hostal San Marcos at 4:30-the host looked at me and said “Señor Thomas, la ultimata ! ”). The last one 😎
Early morning greeting but R.I.P. 61 edad (years of age)
In and out of some old growth forest some of the gigantic trees resembled California eucalyptus
Tiago beckoned & shouted “Ultreia, Tomas, sesenta km mas” Just do it
Estrella the Galicia brewer is sponsoring much of the building art that I have been seeing
The town of Melide is famous for octopus -apparently they view themselves as the octopus capital of Galicia. I’ve had enough for now thank you. The secret to one of the most popular restaurants is no longer such a secret in terms of how they tenderize it. See next image
Early vintage Vitamix model -for octopus . They move 100 kg of octopus a day! Clearly 8 legs up on the competition
The only crossing on this creek when the water is high are these enormous irregular shape stones. Difficult to navigate on foot more so on a bike. Three bikes crossed walking them but the fourth bike biked it and had to put his foot down at the far end!
At this hour of the day if I sit down as I just did now for two bottles of fruit juice, one Coke, and a half a bottle of water it is veeerrrry difficult to get back up out of the chair. I think I’m only a couple of kilometers away from tonight‘s Albergue. Albergue Aleman which turned out to be awesome !
So a few of you have asked what’s up with staying in a dormitory setting in these things called Albergues during a pandemic when I can book ahead a private room.
Vale (okay)! I’ll give you my thoughts on this. I really enjoy a private room where I can actually sleep through the night have my own bathroom and have a real live bed. When I do such, even though I love & enjoy a private room, I don’t meet any new people.
This is the one thing I enjoy on the Camino. I am gregarious by nature. (BTW, the only people that I’ll come in contact with that will not be vaccinated will be Spaniards and I think that percentage is quite low - truth be told.) Also, sometimes a town is too small to have anything other than a hostel or albergue- municipal or private
The pictures below will describe and show Albergue Alemon -the 10-year-old Albergue Ramon bought and remodeled in 2011 -the place looks like brand new today 10 years later! Men and women have separate dormitory rooms with approximately 12 beds they are only filling out the bottom bunk due to Covid restrictions for capacity. Fabulous host, too !
Albergue Aleman (hostel German) 15€ (Horro / grainery in forground)
Backside of the sleeping building where we do laundry at that washtub - hang to dry on fence or clothesline. Note: nice swimming pool to cool feet
Bar (restaurant) where I ate with some people I walked with (intermittentlyj) over the last two days. Typical pilgrims menu below:
Three course Pilgrims Menu- 12 €. Pumpkin soup was absolutely outstanding, fish (hake-I have eschewed this up until now because I had no idea what it was but it’s wonderful kind of like walleye but different ) was fab as well. Table got one bottle of the customary vino -gratis .
Common area in sleeping building on main level to do Internet, journal, or hang out and chat. I went to bed early but there were three bottles of wine on one of the tables when I left in the morning
Men’s room only -Caballeros - women have a separate similar room not all albergues are set up segregated. Only 1 person to a bunk due to covid
My crib. The blue mattresses and pillows are all brand new and they are disinfected. I was provided with squeaky clean white cotton covers and sheets (vs. disposable). It was 25° here today, and will be a warm night. I will sleep in a sleeping bag liner which is basically a sewn together top and bottom sheet on top of their sheet- as it’ll be warm enough tonight…..Which actually turned out not to be the case so I dug for my sleeping bag which is rated down to 40°F / 7C at about 3 AM
Bottom line: if one kind of lodging works best, go for it, you can book whatever price point you want and be safe & happy; possibly at the expense of meeting other peregrines that have interesting lives & life stories they (also) want to share together. I have met many at all economic strata staying in hostels. I’ve really enjoyed the mixture of lodging types. I simply wouldn’t have met the Camino friends I’ve made staying in hotels or ‘pensions’.
