Day 34 - to Arzua

Thanks, as always, to my 5000 step and day sponsors. I am amazed that people are still walking into the parish offices to sponsor me.

I had just spent 30 minutes typing up a report on the day and I have lost it all!  Maybe, God is trying to tell me something. Obviously, I don't need to write an in-dpeth report about how bad last night was. Just take it that I lost my temper with people talking and fluffing around until all hours of the morning.

I had, in fact, been a little bit impatient and intolerant the last few days. Thankfully, I had an opportunity to go to confession again yesterday. The confessor was excellent. But, the grace of the sacrament did not especially help me to bear with those in my room last night.

I went back out of town to join my friend at her hotel for dinner. Neither of us was especially hungry, so we ordered a three cheese platter and a platter of a selection of local meats. Goodness gracious, they were huge. The cheeses came with quince paste, a reminder of home. The meat platter consisted of chorizo, a local sausage and three cured meats. It was wonderful. Even though we weren't very hungry, we did eat a sizable portion of it.

This morning, we began what the spanish refer to as "the leg breaker." This is the longest section in the five day Sarria to Santiago walk. Most of it is fairly simple, but the last five kilometres consists of three very difficult uphill stretches. They are rendered more difficult by coming late in the day when the sun is shining very, very brightly. 

In fact, most of the day consisted of walking through forests and down tree lined paths. It was, once again, quite magical. Further, a number of churches were open along the way. These small romanesque churches were very pretty and very prayerful. 

Over the last couple of days, I have begun collecting stamps in my pilgrim passport. For most of the way, I simply had my credential stamped at the hostel. I managed to fill one side this way. Those who walk only the last 100 kilometres need to majke sure that they have at least two stamps per day. As a result, together with my friend, I have been making sure that I get our documents stamped in every cafe and in every church along the way. I have so far already claimed vistory in the "Stamp Wars" because I have an orange one!

Hasta el luego!