The Camino: Day 1

Man, am I exhausted! I am still struggling to get off of Spain time. Saturday, March 10, around 2:30 pm we started our camino. This was the latest start of the whole week. It was very warm today with temperatures around 75 degrees. Andrew and Daddy were in shorts and tshirts and I was in lightweight pants and a longsleeve shirt... Lol I get cold easily :) there was not a cloud in the sky despite the warning for rain. Today I spent a lot of time adjusting and readjusting my pack. It still did not feel like it was a part of me although by the end of this trip I would grow so accustomed to the extra weight and the straps on my shoulders that whenever I took off my backpack and tried to walk it felt like I was flying. The trail took turns between sticking close to a road and veering off into the forest somewhere. I had no issue if I ever had to use the restroom. I had feared that I would have trouble finding a private place along the walk to relieve myself because I had no idea how woodsy the trail was and how frequently it encounters civilization. There were cafes and bars and alburgues every five kilometers it seemed. Even if I did need to go into the forest there were not many other pilgrims on the trail at this time of year so I did have to worry about a stranger walking by at a bad time. We stopped at a small tavern around five-ish and refilled our water bottles and daddy changed his socks. I was the only one who wore two pairs of socks. Andrew and Daddy both only wore one pair of socks today and their boots were much newer than mine. I'll show you a picture of the total damage done to my poor daddy's feet later.. We walked for a total of around six or seven hours today to get from Sarria to Portomarin and we were exhausted! And so sore! The sun set at eight when we were still an hour away from Portomarin. Over the course of the trip I came to dread walking in the dark. It feels so lonely and depressing to me for some reason when you're in so much pain at the end of the day and you know you still have so far to go in the dark. There was a lovely set of stairs we had to conquer at the entrance to town and thank goodness there was an alburgue not twenty feet past the top of the stairs. We stayed at the alburgue Mirador and we we the only pilgrims there. This was far from the stories we had heard of having to beat others to the alburgues to get a bed. After taking off our boots and dropping or bags, we had supper at nine something (right on time for a Spanish supper) and relaxed in the bar above our dormitory hall and watched a soccer game before going back down stairs to get ready for bed. I also had some of the best homemade cheesecake in the whole world at this place :)I was so glad I had brought my invisible shoes with me! It felt great to let my feet breathe after being cooped up in boots all day. Daddy and Andrew brought five-fingers. They were less fun with blisters :/ My first experience with alburgue showering was very brief. I walked into the ladies room and looked at the shower.. One button.. And it was blue.. I pressed the button and, sure enough, ice cold water came shooting out. I took a deep breath. I knew this was going to happen sooner or later, I was just really hoping it would be later. I gather all my pilgrims courage and took a very short, VERY cold shower and washed the underwear that I had worn this day in the cold sink. I had to wash at least my underwear every night because I only brought two pair. I dressed for bed in the clothes I planned to wear the next day. I told Daddy and Andrew about my chilling experience and they went to inspect their showers. They e in there not five minutes and they came back with smiles on their faces. "Our showers are warm." Apparently you had to hold the button down and the water would get warmer... Take note of this.. This alburgue did provide blankets for us but we still used our sleeping bags to be safe. I also used my liner at first but ended up waking up hot in the middle of the night. This was a private alburgue by the way. Public alburgues usually do not have a restaurant on the second floor and they also do not give you blankets most likely. I recommend staying in private alburgues. It's worth the extra three to five euros. We slept soundly and awoke the next morning ready for more walking, minus the blisters and soreness of course. :) To be continued...