Camino de Santiago – Part 9
September 12, 2024 was day 10 on the Camino. As I write this, four months later, I realize I keep in touch with only two people I met on the Camino. Both of whom I met on day 10, but at different times and places.
The day started in Revenga de Campos. I enjoyed a nice breakfast at La Casona de Dona Petra, where I stayed the previous night. Then it was back on my bicycle heading west. It was great to have a bicycle on this section of the Camino, known as the Meseta. As mentioned in earlier chapters of my story, this section is very sunny and flat. I could see it being rather boring on foot, but on a bicycle, you zip right through.
That morning, I would pass a highway sign marking the distance to Santiago. I passed hundreds of such signs on the trip, but this was the first mentioning Santiago. It was the first glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel.
Later that morning, I passed through the town of Carrion de los Condes, where there was a swap meet going on. I purchased some oranges there, which I shared with another Pilgrim later that day. The best oranges I ever had. As I’ve said many times in my Camino travelogue, somehow food just tastes better and fresher on the Camino. At least that is how I feel. Perhaps it’s all in my head.
Around noon, I arrived at the village of San Nicholas del Real Camino. At a Moratinos bar/restaurant I met Stephanie, who is one of only two pilgrims I still maintain contact with. She was an American from Louisiana on a long Camino, from Saint Jean Pied de Port to Santiago. It was nice to chat with another Pilgrim for more than a few minutes. As I’ve said many times, a huge drawback to doing the Camino on a bicycle is you don’t get to know other Pilgrams very well because you travel so much faster.
Stephanie talked about having health issues which were limiting her mileage. As I recall, she had been on the Camino about a month by this point and was thinking of getting off. I tried to summon the spirit of Mark, who I met in Conques, and encourage her to stick with it as he did with me. However, she had been on the Camino much longer than me, so I felt unworthy to offer any advice.
I might remind the reader it was two months before our presidential election. One thing Stephanie and I talked about was how so many Europeans on the Camino asked the same question – How could halfour country support a stupid vindictive hateful criminalfor our highest office.I won’t say how I replied to this question because when my Wizard hat is on, I try to stay out of politics. Give me a beer or two and I’ll tell you how I really feel.
I’m pleased to say that Stephanie did finish. We remain in touch. Hopefully the tyranny of distance will not cause us to drift our separate ways, as I’ve found tends to happen with friends made while traveling.
A few hours later, I was in the small town of El Burgo Ranero and I was ready to call it a day. The town had one Albergue, which was called La Laguna. I rang the bell in the office and a blonde woman of about 40 came out looking annoyed to be bothered. I asked if they had room. She made a call, speaking in Spanish too fast for me to understand, and then asked me to follow her. Then she showed me a room with about 12 sets of bunkbeds, only about four of which seemed to be taken. In the back there were two rooms without doors, each of which had two beds.
Then she said the bunkbeds cost 10 Euros and the beds in the separate rooms were 12 Euros. I asked if I could have both beds in one of the rooms. I made this request because it seemed they had plenty of space and it was worth an extra 12 Euros to me to have a little more space and privacy. She acted like she had never before had this requestand it would be very inconvenient to arrange. However, she made another call to somebody and then said I could. All our discussion was in Spanish.
After paying my 24 Euros I did some laundry in their sink and put my wet clothes on the clothesline to dry. Then I relaxed in one of their lounge chairs in the courtyard, which was very nice and relaxing. As I lay there, I could see another bicyclist arrive and was obviously asking to stay. I could see her lead the bicyclist to the same room as me and then they went back to the office where he paid.
The next part of this story is a little hard to explain. To this day I don’t know exactly what happened between them. What I know did happen is about five minutes later the blonde woman came to me yelling in very fast Spanish that was hard for me to follow for me to translate to the other bicyclist. It was my interpretation that she said they didn’t have any beds and he would have to leave. She seemed to try to pin it on me for buying two beds. To that I said he could have one of mine. Her reply to that was it was against the rules for pilgrims to sell beds to each other and she would call the police if I tried.
To all this the bicyclist calmly said in a German accent to ask to give him his money back and he would go. After I translated that, she went back into the office and returned his money. Then the blonde woman came back to me and yelled at me in fast Spanish for at least five minutes. To was too fast for me to follow well, but she said the word “litera” many times, which means bunkbed in English. She also kept mentioning how I purchased two beds, as if that caused the whole problem. After this rant, she went back into her office. Then she came back out for a second rant, showing me the contract she had with the German pilgrim with a big X written over the page. I tend to think something happened between them, while I wasn’t there, that was part of it.
A short while later she came back out and noticed another woman relaxing in another lounge chair. She came to me yelling in Spanish that sleeping in the courtyard was not allowed, implying for me to translate that to the other pilgrim. The other pilgrim obviously couldn’t relax over all the yelling and asked me what the blonde woman said. When I told her, she just shook her head and got up and left.
Later that evening, I made my way to the only restaurant in town, which was connected with a small hotel, as is often the case on the Camino. There I saw the German bicyclist, who got a room there. He introduced himself as Alexander. I asked if he wanted to join me for dinner and he accepted. We then had a very nice conversation over dinner and wine. He had started his long journey on bicycle back in his hometown near Frankfurt. It would seem he wasn’t necessarily doing the Camino, but just happened to be on it in this part of his journey. At the end of the meal, we exchanged numbers. He was younger than me and traveled further than me per day, so riding together going forward was not a practical option.
I would also see the woman who was accused of sleeping in a lounge chair back at the Albergue. She was an American whose job had something to do with administering the Collegiate Loop trail in Colorado, which happens to be on my bucket list. I told her the blonde woman was the angriest person I had encountered on the Camino. She replied saying something that she seemed very angry about something, but otherwise brushed it off.
I was a little nervous about getting back to my Albergue in time. I didn’t know what the deadline was, but I had heard stories of other albergues locking the doors or gates at a certain time and if you were locked out – tough. The blonde woman would seem just the type to do that. Had that happened, I would have scaled over the wall. However, the gate was unlocked so I made it in without incident. I would notice in the main room there were plenty of empty beds. The blonde woman’s version that they were out of beds was clearly not the case. Why she made Alexander leave, I still don’t understand.
Alexander finished the Camino two days ahead of me, as I recall. He was still in Santiago when I finished. The day after I finished, we enjoyed breakfast together. I’m happy to say we remain in contact by Email and I hope to see him again someday.
In conclusion, day 10 was one of the more dramatic and memorable days of the Camino. In my next chapter I’ll cover my journey the next day to Leon.
December 12, 2024 Puzzle Question
An anonymous buyer has agreed to buy a diamond from you. It is agreed you would put it in a chest in a public place. Items in the chest are subject to be robbed if isn’t locked. Both parties using their own locks and keys, how can the two of you work out a plan to safely get the buyer the diamond?
December 12, 2024 Puzzle Answer
Put the diamond in the chest and lock it with your own lock and leave. The buyer then puts on his own lock and leaves. You then remove your lock and leave. The buyer then removes his lock and opens the chest to get the diamond.
December 19, 2024 Puzzle Question
Three men asked to get a hotel room. They were told the cost was $30. So, each of them paid $10 and off they went to their room. Later, the clerk realized he gave them a smaller room that should have cost only $25. He gave the bellhop $5 and asked him to refund it to the three customers. However, the bellhop was still mad he didn't get tipped. He also figured $5 doesn't divide evenly by 3 people. So, he kept $2 for himself and returned $3 to the men. The men split up that $3 evenly.
So, each man paid $9 for the room, for a total of $27. The bellhop also got $2. $27 + $2 = $29. However, they originally paid $30. Where did the missing dollar go?