Day 9 Logrono

Temperature: Mild

Mood: Feeling great!

Woke up this morning with some blisters but nothing that some compeed couldn´t buffer. Had a bit of a late start because the pharmacy didn´t open until about 9 a.m. But, I think it was all part of a divine plan because I got to walk with Hernan, the Spanish man on the left, and Zoli, the Hungarian man on the right (he´s holding the flute).

Both men were amazing in their own separate ways. Hernan, a 73 year old guy from the Basque country and with the strength of a race horce, spent the day telling me all about the Spanish history. For the most part I could understand him until he would get really excited and would speak rapid castellano - then I only got the gist of it.

Some interesting factoids:

The prince of Spain got a new law passed in parlament that now the first born female can inherit the throne. Never been done in the history of Spain. He has two small daughters.

In Barcelona, bullfighting is never broadcast. It is not at all a popular sport in Cataluna.

Spain suffered from an extreme shortage of food after the civil war. One reason, all of the farms were abandoned and two, Argentina sent many boats of food over to Spain but Franco, who was a friend of Hitler, sent them all to Germany. What a way to look out for your country.

Anyway, Hernan was a joy, always laughing, giving me encouragement during kilometer 20 of the day´s journey when I thought I would drop, teaching me some new Spanish vocab. He was great!

And Zoli - he was fun too. His English was limited and he spoke no Spanish. So I served as a traslator for these guys. Zoli is only 33 years old and is an accomplished musician from Budapest. He writes scores for various local operas. And boy can he sing. His voice as pure and as piercing as an angel. This he did by surprise when the three of us were exploring an abandoned cathedral. The acostics just carried his voice....

The stretch of the el camino has plenty of roman bridges and aqueducts. The concept of the arch and a keystone really withstanding the test of time. I imagine myself following in the tracks of thousands, actually at this point, millions of pilgrims who have travelled over these same bridges.
I feel united with current and past pilgrims.

Hasta pronto,
Andrea