SARRIA!

Well, today's walk was a nice walk in the woods.  Partly cloudy, not to hot, not to cold...  Perfect walking weather!  Absolutely hammered out the walk today and it was nice to be back into good walking conditions.  You will see from the pictures that the trails are REALLY with down in spots.  So many beautiful spots to walk in today, GLAD I didn't tackle that during the rain!

Stopped at a random bar and has a really delicious lasagna for lunch - What a way to make a Kevin Happy!

So, entered Sarria...  Again with the bad-ass cowboy feeling, this time in a farmacia and supermarkedo but not in the two outdoors stores (whew!).  Found an acceptable fill-in for my hat and a new rubber boot for my pole.  They will suffice till I get home and get the real things - Happiness!

OOH!  And I found the Italian restaurant that my friends told me about.  Already snacked on bruschetta..  With BACON!  They also have kitties on the window!  So many awesome things in this place...  Speaking of which, church bell in ringing!  SUPPERTIME!!!  I'll be back....

...  Ooh my, my friend Chazzy Chaz Chaz would love this place, they are playing almost exclusively Led Zepplin, and I'm not talking the radio station boring overplayed stuff either, we're talking B-B-side and the under played stuff...

So, there wes a group of 5 of us, sitting next to the heater and mother with 3 kittens.  We had several Peregrino friend groups sitting next to us as well, making a taking big group of Peregrinos dining as a large family.  We invited a lone diner to our table, cause a person shouldn't have to dine alone.  Turns out he was not a Peregrino, but driving a camper van and exploring this region in his retirement.  We just had the most awesome time dining and enjoying each other's company, many solo people sitting as one large family, language barrier be damned!  As I sat there, I couldn't help but think, this is the way we were meant to be.  We weren't meant to be huddled in our homes, we were meant to be one BIG family.  Ooh, and the authentic Italian food was awesome as well along with the friendly personality of the staff and the love for their job - a restaurant recommendation wisely placed by some good friends back at home :)!

Tonight was a reminder to us Peregrinos not to limit ourselves to interacting with just Peregrinos.  By unselfishly inviting a lone diner to our table, it upped the pleasure of everyone there and while some of us may never see each other again, the memories of the event will last...

Think of it this way, you are dining with friends, you have a spare seat at the table and you see a lone diner...  They are not a part of your "group", but when you think about it, your group is all people alone getting together...  Does that thinking make you more inclined to share your company?  Also, remember, every friend was once a total stranger!  When I started my pilgrimage, I was a totally alone in a foreign land, yet by opening myself I note have a large family and really don't feel alone in the least.

I know on pilgrimage, Peregrinos look after Peregrinos, but stay with me...  What if people looked after people!?  I know I'm asking for a lot, but let the thought sink in for a bit...  What if people didn't have to go on pilgrimage to experience humanity as it was meant to be...  Just putting it out there!

Anyways, today's stop is Sarria!  This is the big intake town during the summer and early fall for Peregrinos (mainly Spanish) who are walking the last 100km.  Funny, yesterday in Triacastela, it seemed crowded, now entering Sarria, it seems empty.  Here's the thing, of you think of the Camino as a highway, it grows from a 2 lane road insert the Pyranese to a 4 lane road entering Sarria...  Then it instantly wife's to a 10 lane highway.  With the Spanish season over, there are no significant numbers entering Camino, so of course the 10 lanes is going to suddenly feel empty.  On the bright side, albergues are APLENTY from here to Santiago!  My albergue, has two in the dorms (myself and another) and two double rooms rented.  6 Peregrinos out of ~32 beds, pretty quiet, a large change from the traffic jam yesterday, of course there are dozens of albergues in town to handle the extra traffic during the May - August peak for this town.

Enough rambling, of the doubt have refrigerated milk on stores, all in tetra packs, so, yeah, as I was saying, enough rambling - I'm going to hit the sack (yes, my silk sleep sack in my sleeping bag) and get some shut-eye.  No alarm tomorrow, no rush.  23km planned.  And the terrain from here to Santiago is pretty easy, a few whoops, but nothing to get excited about.

Buen Camino!
Kevin