Day 11: Redondela to Pontevedra (13 miles, 1600 feet elevation gain)
Walking the Camino
We set off around 8:30am in a light morning rain. It dried up soon enough and stayed pretty cool... perfect walking weather!
We met a lot of people along the way today. Mostly, we call them by their place of origin.
There's Dutchie (from the Netherlands) and Israel, whom we first met at a cafe in town as we were all fueling up for the day. They're two solo traveling ladies in their 40s-50s. They connected three days ago and have been walking together since. We kept finding each other at different points along the way. Funny how that happens with certain people on certain days.
We came across New York and Mexico early on, a couple with good energy and warm smiles. Then came the New Zealand ladies, power walkers in their 50s. We chatted briefly about familiar terrain (hilly like NZ) and weather (rainy like Seattle). The trekking veterans they surely were, off they went as quickly as they had come up on us.
We then met "Baby Family," a young couple pushing a stroller with a little guy. We saw them again once we all got out of the city into a wooded trail, this time with a baby backpack and no stroller. We asked about that. They said they ran into a local who took one look at them and said, "You're not going to be able to take that stroller past here." So they arranged to have the stroller driven to Santiago, where they will get it when they arrive.
That's the second young couple walking with a baby we've encountered. So impressed with them.
We got shells today--see photos. The scallop shell is a common symbol of the Camino. There are a number of different origin stories for the shells that make a link to the spiritual pilgrimage and St. James.
The Camino de Santiago is the Way of St. James, who is considered to have come to Spain to preach the faith. Pilgrims who follow "The Way" are tracing his path, in spirit at least. Many pilgrims have the shell on the outside of their pack. And now we can count ourselves among them.
The miles passed quickly today. Jessica had to manage a new blister, and she did. Otherwise, we both felt strong. None of the soreness of earlier days. It feels great to feel good.
We had a funny moment towards the end of our walk. A woman came up from behind and practically shouted, "Seattle and DC!" It was someone we had met in one of the early days. It was an ironic and interesting moment... we are characters in someone else's Camino story. There's something deeper in that. More to explore there.