Day 11
The bunk room I was in was all early risers and they knew me from previous albergues and so did not hesitate to flip the lights on at 5:30.
There was a coffee shop outside of town and so I stopped to make a call over coffee… putting myself in 1st-2nd place to leave town down to 30th place… not that it’s a race, and things have a way of balancing out over the day depending upon how folks walk, but I definitely enjoy being first and farthest out in the morning… the cool air and solitude.
So, that day I pretty much walked within the morning rush crowd, always someone not too far behind, and not too far in front, and seeing plenty of familiar faces as I took breaks along the way.
I stopped at one point in El Ganso where two pilgrims from California were playing “this land is your land,…” for the pilgrims passing by…
Towards the end of the walk I started the climb up the mountains to Rabanal, which was gradual and bearable, but still a good workout. Also, the landscape is starting to change with elevation and proximity to the coast where I walked a good portion of the way in the shade of various scrub oak and pine forests.
The scrub oak back home in California seem withered and diseased compared to these, perhaps the climate or the variety.
A lot of Spain feels like home with respect to climate, topography, and vegetation.
1/2 way up te mountain I ran into a falconer dressed in knights clothing and he gave good advice on how to handle the next few stages of the camino, as well as his generic advise, “si quieres llegar a Santiago como joven, hay que caminar como viejo.” / “if you want to arrive to Santiago with vigor, walk with vigilance.” (Interpretive translation)
Upon entering rabanal I “sniffed out” the best location, first by passing up the albergue at entrance, which is usually the newest or worst, and then followed and talked to the other pilgrims, headed toward the municipal but then taking the last minute detour to Casa de Pilar, which was a perfect little oasis to spend the day.
Later that evening I walked to the little Romanesque chapel where the local monastic order was to do some Gregorian chant, but discovered that it was part of Latin vespers, and to my surprise, one of the priests asked me to do the Spanish scripture reading, Colossians 1:9-11
““For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,”
This was totally unexpected and I got to sit in those little wooden benches together with the priests until my portion of the liturgy was due.
We also sang a few New Testament canticles in Latin, including…
2 Tim 1 and Luke 1
After vespers I had a huge plate of penne pasta and a glass of rosado before hitting the sack.