Last night we didn't get a lot of sleep as there was some kind of local fiesta going on until the wee hours. Between 9 and midnight a band was playing up and down the streets loud enough to fill the town with its music. And even when that seemed to finish people were raucously partying right outside the albergue until at least 3 am.
Despite the wildness going during the night ruining any possibility of sleep we were still up at 5.30 and back out before six.
Something I love about the Camino is the cameraderie. Everyone says hello and wishes each other 'Buen Camino'. Knowledge and stories are freely shared as are provisions and offers of help. Despite the mix of languages everyone tries to communicate the best way they can. This may simply be with nods, smiles and gestures, or more often than not in each other's languages. English more often than not is the lingua franca, spoken in so many different accents. I love hearing the different ways people try to express themselves in my language.
If possible I try to at least acknowledge others in their language, be it French, German, or Spanish. This is most often well received but sometimes causes a little confusion. No one ever mistakes me for Spanish but today when I greeted a French'
woman with 'bonjour' she asked which part of France I was from, explaining later that my French accent was excellent. If only that were true of my Spanish accent.
Our walk this morning was full of the sights, sounds and wonder that is the Camino. Nature at its best buoying us along. Even a light rain as we entered Santo Domingo didn't dampen our spirits. I may have mentioned this before but it really does have a magic of its own why else would we return every year?
We are now comfortably ensconced in the albergue that we stayed in back in 2010, which is just as we remembered, although it isn't quite as bright and new as it was back then, but I guess that we too have aged a bit.
Tomorrow rain storms are predicted along the way so we shall suit up accordingly. We've enjoyed walking the way in the rain before and no doubt shall do so again. ...
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