The world is s better place when the sun is out

Puente la Reina to Villamajor Montjardin, 30.7km

Was quite strange to leave Mairead behind this morning, but she was having all kinds of problems with her feet and was ready for a slow rest day. On the upside, I was soon joined by a most welcome and unexpected companion – my shadow!  Yep, it has taken five days, but there was finally enough sun today for me to cast a shadow – shoot! Considering the weather forecast was for snow and rain, this was enough to have me skipping up hills all morning (though think my average speed probably dropped off a bit as I stopped to take a photo every nine seconds – everything looks better with sunshine!)

The route today was lovely, lots of rolling hills and little woodlands and the occasional big sweeping views that make you feel very small and humble about your place in the world.  I expected the weather was going to turn and it did pretty much every half hour – bright sunshine, pouring rain, sleet, snow, hail … think I had been through them all before lunch and then seemed to go through the full loop again over the course of the afternoon. Fortunately though, all of the horrible weather types barely lasted long enough for me to get the poncho on and off (it involves a lot of phaffing!) and for the most part sunshine was the order of the day. 

Fonding the waymarkers can be a bit of a treasure hunt at times

 I mentioned in an earlier post how you don’t always feel connected to the history of the camino.  What you do feel though is a constant connection to the mysterious forces (aka local governments?) looking out for you as you go. The path is almost ridiculously well signposted and in some ways it is like a constant treasure hunt searching out all of the variations of a way marker.  The scallop shell symbol is everywhere – from sandstone relief sculptures, to metal markers in the footpath and the stylised blue and yellow panels that crop up in the most unexpected places. These are supplemented with all manner of yellow arrows painted on gutters, telegraph poles, random rocks and what feels like pretty much anything that stands still for long enough.  In short, it shouldn’t be humanly possible to get lost (she says, tempting fate!) and it is quite a nice feeling to think that all of these random strangers have gone out of their way to look out for you.  Everybody say ahhh … 

Had a little special moment this afternoon … in addition to the yellow arrows along the way, there are also a series of water fountains, many of which are several hundred years old and have provided many a pilgrim a restorative drink. One vineyard along the camino has taken this to a whole new level by offering both water and wine. Result! It wasn’t the finest tipple I had ever had, and without any kind of glass in the pack I had to make do with sipping from an empty Philly cheese container (washed thoroughly for the record) but in the midst of my final little hailstorm of the day, it was very welcome indeed! 

cheers!