Day 3 - Portomarin to Palas de Rei

This was a very interesting day.  Many of us had trouble getting to sleep, as the musicians last night did not stop until 2:30 AM, and at around that time, people set off firecrackers that sounded like gunshots.  So breakfast at 7AM came very early!

First, a few general observations and impressions.  Our group of people is wonderful; although many of us did not know each other until our arrival, we are bonding and becoming good friends.  We often do not see much of each other on the trail, as form and break up and re-form.  And we often find ourselves talking with other hikers and pilgrims (mostly hikers).  The number of people on the trail is amazing - someone compared it to a 10-k walkathon for some charity; you are always able to see people in front of you and behind.

I have been surprised how many people do not speak English.  Considering that there are many travelers who are from the US and UK; plus all of the Europeans and Asians for whom English is a second or third language, I would expect that the hoteliers and shopkeepers who want their business would make an effort to use English.  However, I also have found that people are very patient with my efforts to speak Spanish.   It's been 47 years since my Spanish studies ended at high school graduation.  I still remember "Habla usted ingles?" (do you speak English?).   When the answer is either "no" or "poquito" (a little); I will try to communicate in Spanish and people have been very tolerant of my poor grammar and limited vocabulary.  More on that below.

I spent a lot of today with Barb, who arrived a day late.   She handled her jet lag very well, and we met many fun people together.   I also spent some time with Debby and Bert and with Sue and Arthur (Debby and Sue are cousins) - of those four, I only knew Debby before this week and then only barely.

Barb and I were the first of the group to arrive at our destination.   It turned out to be a small local restaurant, which was managing a hotel a block away.   Unbeknownst to us, the travel agency had failed to make the reservations where we thought we would be, and made them at this little hotel/restaurant at the last moment.   Nobody there spoke any English, so I had to try my hand at Spanish.   Explaining that you have 19 Americans in a combination of single and double rooms, and who will all be arriving at different times, is a challenge when one doesn't speak the language well.   We finally figured it out.   The hotel turned out to have very small (although clean) rooms, and the WiFi worked fine except for one small problem - their router wasn't connected to the Internet.  That's why this entry is a day late!  Then getting to dinner (at our originally-planned hotel) and breakfast (at the restaurant that owns the hotel) meant extra walking when we had planned to be doing other things.  Oh well, that's part of the adventures!

Here are a few of the sights along the way:

Now Bert has a new friend.
His family may have trouble
understanding why the dog
knows "sit" and "roll over"
in English!

Not sure what this is - lots of
miscellaneous things dangling
from a cross.

Bert has found a rock shaped
exactly like the state of Ohio

Bob, Barb, Sue, Karen, Arthur, and Bert
are taking a quick break

This shows a few things about the
El Camino signs:
1) note the rocks piled on top.  I don't know
why people pile them on.   It looks
a little like a Jewish cemetery.
2)  The brass mileage marker has been
ripped out by vandals.  We have seen
very few of them since we left
Portomarin.
3) There is lots of graffiti.  It appears
that Americans are not the only
people who can desecrate a
public work.

The main road shows the exit
for the cities where we stayed
the past two nights.

This sign was left in honor of a pilgrim who
deeply loved El Camino.  He surely died
the way he would have wanted to.

Peter, Joe, and Ron enjoy a
quick rest

Barb has lost the hankerchief
which was adorning her hat,
but looks great after about
twelve miles of hiking!