Fifth day on the way, but first dip into the sea.
After a very pleasant evening at the albergue in Güemes, where we met around 70 pilgrims from more than a dozen countries, we woke up in a timely manner and got ready for breakfast, which was served to all the pilgrims from 7 AM.
Breakfast slowed us down a bit, but we got underway without too many issues. We saw some interesting birds for the first time: black kites, which are quite common around here, and green woodpeckers.
The highlight of the day, however, was our first walk on an actual beach. The temptation to stop and take a quick dip was too high. My feet were boiling as usual, which further added to the motivations to take off our shoes and walk to the water’s edge.
We spent some time on the beach, called Playa de los Tranquillos, before carefully removing all of the sand from our feet (or, at least, most of it) and starting to walk again.
After a long stretch on the beach and under the sun, we took the suggested ferry boat ride from Somo to Santander, our second big city on the way. We didn’t want to stop there, however, so we kept on walking a further 9 km to Santa Cruz de Bezana, where we stopped at a regular hotel. The owner was kind enough to give us a pilgrims discount, which we happily took.
All in all, it was a regular stage. The town of Santander was honestly nothing to write home about. I don’t think we missed much by skipping it.
The only thing that would have made me stop there was to keep in touch with some of the pilgrims we met yesterday. We had a pleasant chat with two women who met on the Camino and were walking together, Ana from Germany and Veronique from France. Both of them will end their Camino in a week however, so they will not get to Santiago. Shame.
The last part of the walk was, as usual, the most difficult one. Laura’s knees were still troubling her, first the right one and then the left one. Luckily both didn’t hurt at the same time.
Because we had to wait for the ferry and the time spent at sea, we arrived at the hotel later than we would have wished for. After a quick shower and laundry duty, we went downstairs for dinner.
During our dinner we realized that the opening ceremony for the Olympic games was going on. We saw the different national teams go by on the Seine river and cheered for the Italian team.
Apparently, there’s still stuff going on in the world while we are here, walking.
It’s funny how the Camino absorbs you completely. You are only worried by whatever part of your body is hurting in that moment, and by how many kilometers are missing from your next shower and meal.
Two athletes are just now lighting what looks like a giant hot air balloon. The Paris Olympic games have officially begun.
As I’m writing this, the balloon has just taken off.
It will be a bright spot in the Parisian sky for a while. Those lights have been switched on, as we switch the ones in our room off.
Tomorrow our usual alarm will wake us up at 6 AM, and there will be another stage waiting for us.
As far as I know, there won’t be a balloon to take us to Santillana del Mar, our intended destination.
We will have to walk there, the old way.