April 26, 2024
Two nights here at Art ‘Otel allowed me to take a rest day, an early unscheduled one. I need to pace myself at least until this hamstring gets used to what we’re doing here.
Judy and Merideth left this morning to carry on without me. Here they are, out on the trail, in living color. As always. As I write this, rain is coming down in sheets. I sure hope they’re able to sing through it.
Since I stayed back, it made sense for me to do a little laundry for us. A day is never wasted. It turns out it takes quite a while to find my way to the lavandaria, asking for directions along the way with the two or three Portuguese words I know. People are so friendly and helpful. The man in the dry cleaners and I had a fun conversation trying to understand each other. And the woman who was mopping the tile in front of her business not only did her best to direct me but walked all the way out to the road, in her heels, to help me.
I found the lavandaria only to find they don’t sell soap there so I made my way to the grocery store, spending a lot of time trying to read soap boxes to get the right soap for machines. The timing was perfect because when I arrived back at the lavandaria, there was a lovely young man named Caio. After quite a long conversation, we are now friends. He and his wife are from Brazil and have lived in Barcelos for 1.5 years. They’ll return to Brazil maybe this year sometime as they miss family and want to get back to their regular life
He was happy to practice his English and I was happy to share stories with him and make a new friend. So sitting out a day on the Camino, even if early on, is not a disappointment.
Joy McGinnis - Camino de Santiago 