Our 25k day to Fromista...I learned a lot.

Left Grandmother Camino at 6:30 am after realizing we had told her we wanted to get up at 6am and then kicking ourselves as we were trying to get going to meet our own self created wake up call.  She had prepared for us toast, bread (it's different than toast, believe me), and the donuts she offered with her homemade jelly, us the day before.  We shoved this down with cafe con leche and smiles as she asked in her kind Spanish if we would like her on Facebook and asked if she could take our pictures. Took off into the night and started climbing a steep incline, turning around to see a steady stream of headlamps in the morning darkness.  Went on like this for a long time and finally reached the top.  As we descended, another pilgrim of whom we did not make his acquaintance said he felt as if he was on a roller coaster and put his arms up and flew down the hill laughing all the way with his sticks up in the air. We laughed and laughed as he went on his way, reminding us of what this is really all about.

We stopped at a hermitage where if you stay there they do a ritual of washing pilgrims feet, another amazing experience if you are lucky enough to stay here. The proprietress gave us a stamp in our credential and as we were leaving John and Debbie walked up. We started on with them and kept up with them the rest of the walk stopping once in a strange little desolate town for coffee and on into another place where we stopped for lunch. Their pace is a lot faster and I found myself kicking my own butt trying to keep up.  The lunch stop was much needed where we could take off our boots and massage our feet and play with the little kittens that were no way more than a few days old and obsessed with Johns backpack. They were so cute.

John and Debbie left us in the dust into Fromista where we stopped for a beer to figure out where we wanted to stay.  We decided on a private albergue with about 12 bunks in a single room.  We had gone to a hostal that had a lovely private room for 45 euro. For some reason we ended up in the albergue where we reunited with our friends Rick and Christine from Boston!  This Camino is one of departures and reunions that are so amazing!  We bunked next to Greg and Melody, an exhausted pair of Australians, who had walked over 50k that day.

Went and had a lovely pilgrims meal (very fancy) at 11euro. I was so happy to reconnect with our Camino comedian.  I was very tired this night, from the walking and the laughing, and finally realized that you really can't follow in anyone else's footsteps. You must walk at your own pace, in life and otherwise....