14 Days on the Camino

Today was our 14th day of walking the Camino. The albergue that we stayed at last night was great, but lacked doors. On our room, on the bathrooms, on the kitchen – it was pretty much a free range hostel. Which would have been fine, but for a group of French ladies who decided that 4am was a good time for their breakfast in the kitchen (the room next to ours).
Now, whilst we aren’t always the first ones up when we wake at 5.45am, this morning’s shenanigans took early starts to a whole new level. And rather than enjoying their ‘petit dejeuner’ in silence out of respect for sleeping albergue- mates, these ladies chatted loudly and made good use of all of the plastic bags in the vicinity.
My instinct was to get up and say bonjour – and maybe BE QUIET – but then I thought that this might be a Camino test (you know, to enhance my personal growth & development), so I lay in my bed listening to the commotion until they left at about 5.30am. I did not feel at all Zen-like, I gotta tell you.
Anyways, after we had our breakfast, we headed off by moonlight and soon came to the steepest hill that we have climbed in a while – 12% incline…followed by the inevitable decline of 18%…but although it was tough, it wasn’t quite as bad as the early days – proof that our fitness must be improving. The rest of the day passed uneventfully as we walked the long and flat Meseta. It wasn’t anywhere near as intimidating as we’d expected after what we’d read about this part of the Camino. Many people see it as a tough mental challenge – trudging through the boredom and sameness of the terrain. But with good company like our walking group, it was another day spent chatting about a whole range of topics, or walking along quietly, as the kilometres ticked over.
We arrived at our destination – Fromista – at around 12.30pm and we’re staying in another great albergue here. As I type this, we are relaxing in the beautiful garden after our pilgrims’ lunch. This siesta idea is pure genius!