June 27, 2018 – The Wandering Sandals

Every day on the Camino is different, obviously. But there are just some days that are more special than others. Some days that hold more magic, more feeling. Today was one of those days, I think for both of us. These are the days I enjoy writing the most about, for myself. Because even if it doesn’t get conveyed quite as eloquently as it felt, I’ll know and remember what I felt.

Today we did what we have been doing for the last 19 days on the Camino, got ready, said bye to Jens and headed out. We had a bit of a ways to the first cafe, which we anticipated for. We arrived, ordered breakfast. I for once, picked a croissant that looked delicious, but for me, was not. As we were enjoying our coffee in this cafe, only us, the bartender, and a local, another Pilgrim walks in. He sets his bag down, exchanges some words in Spanish with the bar tender ordering his food, and walks over to a piano that I did not even know was in the room and immediately begins to play. And he played beautifully. Clearly this man was accomplished and it was so incredibly sweet and beautiful to listen to so early in the morning. He played his one song which was more classical, ate, and played another with a more modern sound. It was all just beautiful. The few people sitting outside came in to listen as well. As much as this man had an audience, no part of me felt he was playing for that reason. The vibe of him, the room, the music- it wasn’t for him. He wasn’t looking for any attention, I felt. He just wanted to share what beauty he knows with those around. He seemed just so…humble. Debbie and I both enjoyed it quite a bit.

We left, just as I had gotten an important message from Jeff and ended up turning around and going back so I could call. All is well, and it was so good we were able to talk. It caused us to spend more time in this town than we normally would, but it was okay. It was all part of the magic of the day.

The next town we got to had a square that was yarn bombed. It was so stinking cute to see this everywhere!

Debbie and I walked and talked A LOT today. More than we normally do. Not that we ever actively choose not to, we just tend to feel the best in the morning, have great conversation then, by the end of our day and the last leg of our walk, we don’t say much or one of us is farther ahead than the other. Debbie would tell you that it’s always me ahead, I’m sure- and it’s just not true! More and more she is ahead and I’m chasing behind. But that’s okay, we do well in our pattern and it is organic in it’s unraveling, every day. Today though, was different. We walked together, talked a lot more.

I think a lot of it had to do with it was a pretty flat day, there was a solid steady cool breeze throughout the day, and there were regular breaks we were able to take with plenty of time to relax. It was just, nice. Everything about today’s walk.

At one point, we realized the entire path in front of us had a man, his dog, and his sheep walking towards us. By sheep, I mean SHEEP. Like, lots of them. Taking up the entire path, it was actually quite cool to see. But of course, my inexperienced self, I look at Debbie and am like “What do we do? Do we just walk through them? Can you do that? Just walk through sheep?” She tells me she’s never had any aggressive sheep attack her and the man herding them didn’t look too concerned, so we did. And it was fun! Well, I was excited because my southern California self has never encountered so many sheep being herded on a street before with the opportunity to just walk on through them. I took photos.

We reached Bercianos, decided to push to the farther albergue at the end of the town (which all looked quite abandoned) because it was donation only. We arrived there only to find Marco, Cyrille, and Marguerite! Plus a group of people we spent the night with last night which was quite plesent. I quote honestly was not sure we were going to see Marco, Cyrille, and Marguerite again but was thrilled that we did. We eventually made our booking and picked a room together. There were others, just as kind and fun, in there as well. We all talked a while, sitting on our beds, enjoying hummus and carrots. Marco had never heard of hummus and Rochelle, the woman who had it, offered him some. He took one bite and said “mmm! I don’t like this.” And continued to just eat his carrot. It was funny in the moment. Marco, Cyrille, Marguerite and I went to a Cafe to have a snack and watch the match which was quite lovely. Frank Sinatra played and everyone was singing along, enjoying the moment. We finished up and started to head back and definitely got lost. Well, as lost as you can get in a small town. But nonetheless, it took us a cool minute to find our way back.

Cyrille folded this paper into this t-shirt.

Once back, we all kind of rested and did what we wanted. I ran to the supermarket to get snacks for the next day and rested a while. There was a community dinner at 7 that I was planning to eat at. Marco, Maggie, and Cyrille were good humans and offered to help cook. I found them peeling potatoes and chopping veggies. Debbie had gone out to eat, cause she was hungry earlier and 7 is late. Dinner here is often at 7, which is SO late. I don’t know how everyone does it. But tonight I decided to wait up to eat with everyone and I’m so happy I did! The women in the albergue even ran up and dragged Debbie down, it was sweet. Everyone staying there enjoyed the meal of pastsa, veggies and potatoes, some had salad, water, and of course wine! Yogurt for dessert. It was really plesent, everyone around the tables eating together and talking. We had so much fun. After, everyone helped clean in some capacity. It really was sweet and created a sense of community.

Sitting outside, I was watching Marco and Stuart play cards, talking with Stuart’s wife Audrey who is a speech therapist in Saint Louis. It turns out that Bercianos is known for it’s sunsets. At least, that’s what everyone told us. Debbie wanted to sleep but Mikayla was insistent upon her staying up to watch the sunset. They came tell us to join them at the arch around the corner. We finished our talk, heard another Pilgrim singing (a song he wrote for a Camino movie he is working on). Mikayla and Debbie must have had a really sweet talk, because the two of them just seem so connected on a deeper level. And quickly. It was nice to see. 5 minutes before the time, we all headed over and watched from a picnic table. It was so incredibly nice. It was getting chilly so everyone sat close, watched, laughed, chatted, hugged. It was kind and sweet. One of those movie moments in real life where time just kind of slows down for a minute and you get to enjoy where you are in the exact moment you are in it. I don’t have an English word to truly grasp how it felt.