Astorga

We were originally going to go just 12 kilometers today, but ended up arriving at that town by 9am so we pressed on into the grueling afternoon heat and finally arrived in Astorga at 3:00 pm. We got up at 5:30 am after a hot night of sleeping because Princess Pilgrim next to us didn´t like the window being open and kept closing it (no AC... have I mentioned it´s hot here?). We had a pretty flat walk today with some smaller hills towards the end, but it just seemed to keep dragging on. In all we walked just under 27 kilometers which I´ve told Dan is officially 7 km over my preferred comfort threshold. He agrees. Thank goodness for that because otherwise we´d be stuck in the middle of Spain with some serious marital issues.

In the next two days we´ll be coming up on one of the parts of the trip that we´ve been most looking forward to... the Iron Cross. There is a cross at the top of a mountain and there´s a cool little tradition that the pilgrims have of putting pebbles at the base of the crosses along the way to represent them relieving themselves of the burdens that are weighing them down. Dan and I have been carrying with us some small rocks from our yard that we picked up the day before I left. When we get up there we´re going to get to add them to the stack, to add a little bit of our home to the pile. It sounds so beautiful to me to leave a literal piece of home here.

I was interviewed by a German today who is writing his doctoral thesis about the camino and the pilgrims. He asked me why I came and the first thing I said was "I don´t really know why I´m here" which I guess is true. I´m religious, but not that religious. I like to hike, but not nearly enough. I like Spain, but do I really need to visit every. single. little. town along the way?

I was thinking about that question today while we were walking in silence after having sung through the entirety of the latest Ben Folds album, and I think I´m here to give thanks.

I have a great life, one that most days I don´t feel I deserve, and it really does make me feel the presence of God in my life and appreciate all the blessings that I´ve been given. Like... cold water and conditioner. ;)

Dan´s Random Note: While passing through an old town today, we saw what could only be described as a medieval archery range. We thought we were ridiculous for thinking this, but as we walked into the main town we did indeed see banners for a Ren Fair. How random, but I love the idea of a bunch of Spainish people playing knight.