Reliegos

The communal meal last night was even better than expected.  It started with a half hour of prayer and reflection.   Gisela and I were draftrd to be the translators from Spanish to English for the group.  Surprisingly,  there was only one other Spanish/English speakers, but just about everyone spoke English.  We started off with introductions:  name and country we were from.

As usual,  we were quite a diverse group with pilgrims from Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Hungary,  Venezuela,  Hungary,  Poland, Czech, Mexico (Gisela) and USA in a group of 25.  We then started with different prayers; sometimes in Spanish,  sometimes in each of our languages separately,  then the Lords Prayer in our own languages  together. 

It was special to spend the time together with fellow pilgrims.   We ended by passing a candle around and having everyone express what ghe camino means to them, why they are doing it, or something that we have discovered along the way.  It was touching to hear my family speak about how the camino wad impacting their lives.

The camino is a time where I am putting my Saint Vincent de Paul practice into action.  I seek spiritual growth, fellowship with the other pilgrims,  and an attempt to help others out with their Camino.   Most importantly,  I am able to enjoy a lot of time together with my family.

After about 30 minutes of prayer time, we moved into the dining room for dinner.  We sat with another American who had just graduated from Veterinary school.  We were served a lentil stew with sausage and vegetables,  wine, bread, salad, and watermelon for dessert.   It was delicious.  After dinner, song sheets were passed out and we all sang a funny Spanish song about the plight of a pilgrim. ..hurt feet, blisters, trouble sleeping,  etc.  It was a blast and hysterical.

The albergue is funded through donations from the pilgrims and the local church, staffed by volunteers,  and was one of the best places that we stayed.  They made us feel connected to one another and welcome.  We gave a generous donation for the bed and dinner.

Quite time was until 6am with breakfast at 6:30.  We decided to shorten our day to 13 miles and stay for breakfast.   When they pulled out the giant jars of Nutella,  we knew we had made the right decision.  Everyone ate their fill.  At breakfast,  we met a 16 year old girl fron California who was walking with her parents.  Unfortunately,  we had to hit the trail before meeting her parents.   It was already a late start to the day and more hot weather was forecast.

The day's walk was long, flat and straight with only one town along the way.  It was relatively uneventful.   We arrived in Reliegos by noon and checked into a nice, new albergue with a kitchen.   Back to cooking after a few days of cafes due to a lack of kitchen facilities.

Tomorrow we are off to Leon and the big city.