Nothing ever turns out like what you expected. Asi es la vida.
After hearing that Antonette was going to be sent home under hospice care, we began the grinding process of changing travel arrangements to come home. The choice was easy. Joe’s heart told him to get home to his mother, and we agreed to cancel the rest of our trip and travel home. I worked with our travel company and the airlines to make new plans.
So yesterday we cherished the one hour that we were able to walk on the Camino out of Villafranca del Bierzo, and I will share pictures. We enjoyed finding and following the yellow arrows and scallop shell signs as we wound through the narrow streets. We saw dozens of pilgrims trudging up the path with heavy packs, pilgrims of every age, nationality and fitness level. And we saw some of the life of Spain.
Then we climbed on a bus to Santiago and zoomed over the 200 kilometers we had been scheduled to walk. We arrived in Santiago in the evening and walked around the cathedral in the moonlight. We ate tapas al fresco– mussels, mushrooms in oil, and spicy Galician pork loin. During the meal Joe talked to Mary and heard that Antonette had an upturn and is being sent to a nursing facility to get stronger. Asi es la vida.
This morning we will walk a little of the Camino here in town and then pack to hop the train to Madrid. The company that made our arrangements, Walks in Spain, was invaluable in helping us make new arrangements to find our way back to Madrid. Our 150 mile Camino will actually be about three miles on foot and the rest by bus. There are peregrinos, bicigrinos, and us, busigrinos. And it’s all good.