What an amazing day if not torturous. It started of pleasant enough after a not so restful night at the alberque in Najero....dont know why they bothered about the mattress...I could feel the bed boards on my bones. Cooked my first meal here, tortilla potatas with onions with a fresh salad and a bottle full of green olives washed down with vino tinto. Gizzla was very impressed and we lavished every morsel.
I decided on this journey to do a John Brierley recommended route and vowed I wuld never do another one...naturally I got lost following the famous spanish sign posts.....about 4 extra kms on my already longer route. No yellow arrows and not one other pilgrim in sight. I was keen to not do the regular A to B thing but was truly wishing I was at my lowest point. I wanted to see the Cistertian? Abbey at Cana and when I finally saw it I am crying all the way into the Abbey much to the distress of the receptionist there. I sat in the beautiful white sandstone church with the light shining down from above and allowed the faith that has withstood the ages refresh my soul. It was worth it in the end to get there.
The journey beyond that was gruelling ...now in the hot sun...I took the chance of two opportunites to stretch out on the wayside and felt like a tramp of old with my knapsack and feet spayed out on the ground but i didnt care....it felt so good to rest. I finally reached Santo D at 4.p.m. to find the most spectacular Alberque...called the Hilton of the Camino....was indeed like a 5 star hotel and we were greeted by two volunteer Canadians. I was totally exhausted but managed to get to the supermarket and buy some groceries for a simple meal.
Met my first Ausies a group of young guys who invited me to join them to farewell a friend and have a bit of drinkie but I declined but was quite chuffed to be asked. there was a PIlgrim Mass that night at the cathedral but my body had got into rigour mortis so I went to bed instead and had a reasonable sleep.
There have been so many high lights but too many to mention. I lose track of the days and the treasures along the way seem to sink down into my pool of collected memories never to be forgotten.
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