Day 29 - Sarria to Portomarin
Distance walked today: 22.4 km (14miles)
Total distance walked: 433.4 km (270.9 miles)
Total distance left: 92.9 km (58.1 miles)
Information on the stage traveled here.
Adal completed another stage today! He made it to Portomarin. He's feeling fine and his feet are doing well. He says as you approach the town of Portomarin there is a very high bridge, with a very narrow footpath that one has to walk. I've never known Adal to be wary of heights, but he says he felt vertigo as he was going across. I asked him what he did, and he said nothing, keep on walking because you have people behind you and there's nothing else to do. Yes, another metaphor there.
He's connected right now at an internet cafe. At most towns there are internet shops, where for a few euros you can connect for 10 minutes. Most restaurants along the way will post if they have WiFi available, if you choose to connect via smartphone. Adal has a very cheap calls-only local phone he uses to call me every day, when he can. He buys minutes as he needs them at the larger towns.
N had a great time in Spain. She liked that they spoke Spanish and was trying very hard to speak it. She asked me how to say everything in Spanish, so hopefully this will motivate her to continue to learn. She played for hours outside in the plazas, while Adal and I sipped drinks and ate food. Adal taught her to identify the seashell shape of the Camino, so she carefully looked everywhere for it, and found it at some very interesting places!
Many hundreds of years ago, pilgrims would mark the road with shell markers, which they picked up in Santiago, due to its location on the coast. All the pilgrims had to do was to find and follow the shells. Since then, the shells were replaced with concrete shell markers, spray-painted shells and arrows (mostly in yellow), large signs put up by the municipality, and everything in between. The result is over 100 different types of shell designs along the Way! Every time N found a shell on a wall or on a road, she would say "Look! The shell Daddy is looking for!" It was very touching to see her so involved in helping Daddy find the shells.
In fact, N and I got little silver shell pendants, a silver shell bracelet, and shell earrings. It was our way to honor and respect the Way, although I feel a bit like a fake, since I haven't walked the Way. But we wear it to honor Adal and his incredible feat. N says it reminds her of Daddy and she wants to wear it every day.
At first she wasn't sure if the walkers without "sticks" (trekking poles) were really walkers on the Way. She thought all walkers should have sticks to help them walk. And in fact Adal says they are a life saver. They transfer up to 30% of your weight when climbing up or down, and across the span of the Way, that's a lot of energy conserved. Since you transfer energy to the poles, there's less stress on your feet, your ankles, your knees, and back.
The Way takes you through some deep mountain towns, and as of Cebreiro, takes you to Galician lands. They speak Gallego, close but not Spanish. Triacastela was about 20 km from the main highway, around many curves and bends. It reminded me of some of the interior towns in Puerto Rico. Getting to Villafranca del Bierzo, N got sick. Luckily, I saved the airsick bags from the plane, since I wasn't sure how she was going to react to all the driving. Then on the way to O Cebreiro, more curves and another airsick bag. Finally, leaving Triacastela and JUST as we got on the main highway, she let out the most I've ever seen. Airsick bags gone, the car seat and floor got the full force of it. The curves and hills were just too much for her. So I had to stop on the side of the road, peel every bit of clothing off, find new clothes in the trunk suitcase, and change her right there. I tried to wipe most of it off and it didn't look too bad, but I was sure the rental company was going to charge me extra. N was a complete trooper, she felt better afterwards (having nothing left in her little stomach, poor kid!) and kept a sunny disposition. I was upfront with the rental company, and completely explained that N had gotten sick in the mountains and their brand new automatic Diesel Mercedes whatever model, that had less than 2000 km when I took it, was going to smell eggy when they opened it. And you know what? They said not to worry about it, I wasn't the first nor the last, and that's what cleaning was for.
I brought back some cheese and ham from Spain. I haven't even opened it yet because once I do I know I will not stop eating it. And it still reminds me of the afternoons in the plaza with Adal and a "clara," a light beer mixed with tonic water, or a Sangria, fruity and light. I still smell Spain in the air. I still smell Spain on my fingers.
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