May 4 Sunday - A Day of Splendor

May 4 Sunday - A Day of Splendor

My knee felt ok again this morning, so I got up and packed. I was going to buy a café from the machine and eat the banana and yogurt I bought yesterday before taking off. But Mr Grumpy, the Hospitalero had other plans. He had told us that the doors would not open until 7am. Many albergues do this to keep people from getting up at 4am and waking everyone else up. Then they usually say everyone needs to be out by 8 or 8:30. Well, he knocked on all our doors and basically said, I'm opening the doors get up and get out. No where on the sheet of instructions did it say any thing about leaving by 7am. I came out with my pack to get my boots and he's telling us he needs to start cleaning so we need to get out. He put the mop and bucket in front of the women's restroom and went in, so I couldn't even pee before leaving. He was far and away the rudest Hospitalero I have ever encountered. He says he had been doing it for twenty years. I think maybe he has been doing it too long. 

So I tucked my yogurt in my pack, went outside and ate my banana, and went across the street for a café. The rest of the day was wonderful. At café I met my roommate from last night. I woke in the middle of the night and she and her sleeping bag and pack were gone. Turns out she went out and slept on the couch because she saw a bug on the wall and is a little bit afraid of bed bugs. He boy friend said it's more like paranoid. I saw them a couple of times today. He has to be back in Austria by May 28 for an English exam, so they're going pretty fast. I probably won't see them again. 

I left and just had one visual surprise after another. The first was a foal and its mother. It was the first foal I have seen. I've seen calves, kids, piglets, and lambs; this was the first foal. Then moving along I saw some great storks up on a building and one of them was balancing on a little ball. Across from those storks was a mother stork in a nest with three little babies, baby storks, not baby humans ready for delivery to expectant parents. Further along the trail I saw two birds trying to have sex on a overhead electric line. Love can sometimes be difficult. ;)  Then toward the end of today's walk I realized there were a bunch of sleeping eating and napping on the trail. The Shepard says there were 143 sheep I didn't bother counting to check his numbers. There were several standing water encounters but none of them too bad until I came to one O could not cross without wading or swimming. I looked to my right and someone had thoughtfully and conveniently placed an old Roman (or some other epoch) bridge for me to walk across. What a pleasant surprise. In between these visual treats were carpets of wild flowers, strangely twisted oaks, old rock fences  and all manner of interesting sights. All in all a great day. 

Again my knee was a little trooper. It does ok and hurts at the end of the day. So then I ice it, rest it, and use the voltarén. For the last two days that has allowed me to continue another day. Right now I'm sitting in the albergue and outside some young people are practicing trumpet and drums. They need a lot, I mean a lot of practice. lol

The two guys I thought were Germans are actually from Austria. Close but no cigar Nancy. They both speak pretty good English. They were going to do two stages today, but decided to stop where I stopped. They came by when John and I were face timing, so I introduced them. They liked John's beard. We had a long talk about why we stared doing the Camino and what was different between this one and the Frances. 

I thought the other three Austrians (two men and a woman) were not in the albergue last night must have been there because they were in the bar this morning when I had my café. They are here tonight too. So there are six of us.   

Well, I guess that's all for today.