Today dawned chilly with some wind, but sunny. Anything was better than the incessant rain of yesterday; I felt very glad to have that behind me and the forecast is clear and sunny for the next several days. I was also thankful to have had that tough experience. We always grow more when we are stretched and uncomfortable at times.
My emotional self just felt a little raw this morning, I think after the long day of not being able to control my circumstances, and being a little nervous/unsettled that whole time, today I felt slightly tired in my head. I just let it be, and walked. It is settling to walk, I’ve experienced and now believe it. I hope to implement this more in my normal life. I’m a runner, so I don’t take a lot of intentional walks. I think I will do it more, now.
I went into an old stone chapel that was right above my albergue, and said a prayer of thanks for my safety and good health, then headed out. As I walked down some steps, I saw a shop to my right that was selling ponchos. Though the forecast is nice for the next 4-5 days, I am sure I will have another need for rain protection, and my ripped red poncho is in the trash! I bought a heavier-duty one that has actual sleeves; we’ll see how it does!
On the road for real, about 9am. It’s nice to have some shorter walking days, now, I can leave later and still make it to my destination at a very reasonable time in the late afternoon. With bigger cities, it’s fun to have a good number of hours to look around; in the smaller towns, looking around doesn’t take much time and there’s not a lot to do…rest and read, those are good things, I know, just not my default!
Today my guidebook showed I would be walking through a medium-sized city called Melide around mid-day, and it is known for it’s octopus dish called “pulpo” (which means octopus in Spanish). I planned to stop and try some, why not?
I walked into town right at noon, found one of the “Pulperias” (a place that specifically serves octopus) that was suggested in my book, and had a seat. I ordered pulpo and roasted green peppers called “pimientos“. I was delighted with the meal; the octopus was delicious and not very rubbery, as I had thought it would be. I think it was initially boiled, then probably sauteed in a butter sauce, and sprinkled with coarse salt and paprika. There were only two bites that were a little weird in texture, a little too soft and….octopus-y! haha!
I walked slowly through Melide, not in a rush and letting my big lunch settle a little. I went into a Pharmacy for ibuprofen (in case my foot acts up, so far it’s doing great though), and it only cost 2 euros. I am surprised at the affordability of this trip. Nothing has been dirt-cheap, but compared to the US, most prices of food, lodging, even simple medications are very reasonable and allows for someone of “moderate means” to be able to spend a month away from home and work!
The rest of my afternoon was nice; nothing outstanding to note. I walked into the small suburb of Ribadiso around 3:30 and chose a small albergue with only 4 beds to a room. I do seem to like the smaller albergues better, usually. They are not standard, though, and there are always many factors so sometimes it “backfires”! My room with 3 other women were all very nice, but included another loud snore-r. Tonight would be a bit of a rough sleep-night!
In my albergue, I met a gal around my age who is Korean but was born in and lives/works in Germany. She speaks 3 languages- Korean, a couple German dialects, and English very well. Again, impressed. A very sweet woman with a calming presence, with whom I ate dinner and would reconnect a couple times on the way to and in Santiago. Was glad to have her company. I was working on a blog before we went to dinner, and later I took a photo with her. She gently and kindly asked me if I would make sure not to post it on my blog, as she does not like the internet very much. So I do not mention her name or post our photo, to respect that, but she was a lovely and calming presence in my last days leading up to Santiago.
