Tag Archives: octopus

Hills, Rain and Pain (just another normal day)

5 Replies
Almost there

Almost there

It’ Raining, It’s Pouring, the Men in the Albergue Are Snoring

July 1, 2014

No wifi yesterday. It wasn’t working at the bar. So we sat and ate our eggs, salad and peach and watched the World Cup. We were rooting for Nigeria, while others were cheering the French on.
When we got back to our bunkbed we discovered that Abby’s feet had developed some reddish looking small bumps. Laundry detergent reaction? Walked to long that day? We didn’t know.
The Albergue room was stuffed full of weird people. The group of older Germans that wanted everything their way. When we were napping they talked loud. When they were napping, they glared at others for making noise. And so it went all night long with them. The Spanish guy who was on his cell phone. And when he wasn’t, he was sitting on his bed farting-loud and proud. Two un identifiable country of origin people- an older guy with a much younger woman. They were in the bunkbeds above us. They stunk. They reeked of human waste smell. His backpack should have grown legs and ran away it smelled so bad under our bed. When he came back from the bar I asked him to move it further away from us because of the stink. He smelled it and was surprised at how stinky it was. He dug through it to find the source of the smell- a large mass of unwashed clothes- and he acted so surprised that this was the cause of the smell. But like I said,” It’s the Camino. It happens.”

But, those two love birds just couldn’t keep their clothes on and their hands and body parts to themselves. What a night. And then this morning when I got up, this time I was surprised with a woman’s naked butt hanging off the top bunk. Did she care? Nope. She just swung her legs over on top of the naked smelly guy. I will not miss surprises like this in the morning or evening.

Oh and to top it off, a Spanish couple came in late. The woman turned her music on until 11 pm. It was great. The German group were having a fit. Of course they came in at 10 pm making lots of noise while others were sleeping, but they didn’t care. When I saw the look on their face with regards to her music playing, I yelled out to her, “Muy bueno musica!” And gave her a thumbs up. She turned it up louder.
Ya…I was stirring the pot.

We patched Abby’s foot up this morning. Still lightly red. Her tummy still bumbly and we set off. In the rain. And it rained almost all the time we walked today. Ponchos sticky with sweat on the inside are not fun to wear. But we remained dry.

The Camino was very crowded with a large group of youth walking, about 75. Very crowded in the cafés. The older guys ( 18 yr olds) were buying shots and drinking beer at each cafe, starting at 9 am. I don’t know how they were able to keep on going, but they did.

We were planning on walking into Santiago. Figured we could do it. Well…Abby’s body wasn’t cooperating. She was in pain. Her feet were on fire. Her tummy throwing fits. It was raining. It was 2 pm. We had walked 20Km. It was time to stop. So here we are, just a couple of miles shy of Santiago. We are staying at Monte do Gozo. This place is a HUGE complex for camps. Holds about 400 people spread out in many different dorm barracks. Has a cafe, laundry, 24 hr self- service bar. And only 20 people are here. The host gave us our own room. He also said he would take Abby to the pharmacia in his car (but it got a little busy and he hasn’t been able too). But he gave her a pair of his own brand new clean socks for her to wear out in the rain since we were coming to the cafe to eat and it was raining. How nice is that?

Anyway, I have given Abby, Benadryl and Neosporin for her feet. Could be a reaction to walking in poo water. Who knows? We will go to the pharmacia in Santiago if it doesn’t clear up tonight. It is looking nasty.

Oh! And we heard from one of the guys we see every so often, that other people were having stomach issues after eating octopus in the same town we had eaten it at! Mmmm…perhaps this IS the source of our stomach problems after all.

And we continue on our journey with one adventure after another.

 

Playing Along the Camino Way

1 Reply
Lazy Days

Lazy Days

Just Playing Around

June 28, 2014

We are in Spain and what are we doing today. Well, after having walked about 9 miles (and that is 9 miles in the rain, up hills and down hills and all around about) in the rain, we came to our destination and parked ourselves. Did our laundry using the machines. We wanted to make sure to get our poo clothes clean and have them dry. Hang drying was just not an option due to the chance of more rain.

We also have hung our other clothes on the end of the bed to dry out. Our walking sandals are drying out. We have no place to go. No need to go out and visit this nice town, Arzua, and so we have parked our bodies on the soft couch. Our feet and legs will not let us move even if we had the desire to do so.

And here we sit. Or lay. Doing nothing. Well…we did watch “Finding Nemo” in Spanish. And we are watching ” Footloose” the hot Kevin Bacon 80’s version ( Abby is laughing at his teenage angst). And we are enjoying using our tech devices. We are lounging on top of each other. We are being productive. We are bonding. Which is what we have been doing this entire month. Yes…we have been out on the road, living out of our backpack a whole month now. WOW…30 days of being together, 24/7. That is something. When we are home, Abby and I don’t see each other this much.

So for some fun stories:

*We just discovered that I lost 1 pair of Abby’s underwear a couple of days ago when I forgot to take all her clothes off the line.

*Abby’s favorite purple pants ripped right down the inside of her leg as she was walking yesterday. This meant that she had to do a wardrobe change on the trail. And I sewed them up later that night by hand.

*We ate octopus. A Galician specialty in Melide. The octopus sits in a hot steamy bath, is taken out, cut up with scissors and fried in hot oil with garlic and seasonings. Tasted pretty good. You have to eat it hot or when allowed to cool down, the texture is like cheese curds on your teeth. And yes…of course you have to play with the tentacles.

And to top off the funny stories:

* I was taking a shower two days ago in an Albergue where the shower door had a three inch gap. Well, unbeknownst to me, the bathroom door didn’t latch all the way and the wind blew it open. An older French man (what is up with me and the French?) was standing in the doorway, admiring either my jelly belly or my tatas. He closed the door when I noticed him. Ahhhh!
For the rest of the day and into the evening he kept smiling at me. He even moved over on the bench outside for me to sit by him so the birds wouldn’t poop on my head as they were going to do if I sat on the other benches. Wasn’t that thoughtful?

All great stories to tell for years to come. Special meaning for Abby and I as we have lived this pilgrimage together. These are the stories that come with living the experience.