Note to self: in future if a group of overtly Catholic fellow diners ask you why you are doing the Camino, think of a better answer than ‘it was a lazy choice - I didn’t need to plan anything more than the travel to the start.’ Oops. Apart form that, dinner passed of fairly uneventfully. A pilgrim’s meal generally seems to consist of three course, bread, wine and bottled water for a very reasonable price. I met up with Eva from Sweden again yesterday and we both agreed that we’d rather have one decent course (in my case it would have been a bigger serving of the mixed salads) than three tiny courses - although we’d skip the pudding altogether. So far they have been grim. Last night a fluorescent pink Angel Delight style ‘thing’ was on offer!
We had massive thunderstorms again overnight - which meant that the temperature in the dorm was a little cooler, so sleep was easier to come by! I woke at 4am though, and could not get back to sleep, so stealthily got dressed and packed and left the Albergue at around 4.30am. The head torch that refused to work yesterday decided to work today - which was just as well.
It was a difficult day today. As of the end of today I am no longer employed. I knew it was coming - the whole reason I am here is because we all knew exactly when the school would close - but for some reason, with time to think, it really hit home today. I’ve been lucky enough to work with some amazing colleagues in various workplaces, but there was something very special about the staff at Alton School. I will miss them all so much. And the students! The joy of a small school is that you get to know them really well, you get to see them mature and become rounded personalities. You get to meet their siblings - and teach them too, consequently building relationships with their parents too, It is such a sad day.
That’s not to say there weren’t bits of today that were great. Finding a coffee shop opening up as I got to Viana was a plus! I was 10k in and getting a tad peckish! Playing tourist in Legrono and joining Mary from St Louis for breakfast (delicious tortilla filled with jamon, topped with caramelised onions) and buying some antihistamine cream for all the insect bites I acquires this morning were brilliant.
The walk from Legrono to Navarrete was not the most interesting, There was a nice bit around a reservoir, but a lot of it was on a straight path through a park or alongside a massive road. It would have been perfect for a dark, early morning section especially as there was very little shade. I spent much of the time thinking about students, colleagues and teaching in general. It is rare to get a couple of hours just to think!
On checking in at my Albergue this lunchtime I was slightly worried that my bag hadn’t arrived. What would I do without clean clothes? Thankfully it arrived while I was checking in.
I am yet to meet anyone from the UK. I’ve met lots of other nationalities including three ladies from Sweden. There are about eleventy billion Aussies on the Camino, given the population size and distance from here surely one would expect more UK citizens than Australians?
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