To try and not succeed is far preferable to not trying at all……

but to try and then succeed is a wonderful thing!

Oh dear , you’ve gone all philosophical on us – what on earth has happened , I hear you wonder !

Well, we woke this morning to a decidedly sensory experience. Firstly, the lovely smell of eucalyptus- unbelievably the smell of eucalyptus ( clearly from the rain drenched trees)from our walk yesterday, clung to our rucksacks and clothes and acted as a rather delightful room freshener!

Then, the sound of torrential rain bashing on our window accompanied by the occasional clap of thunder, and finally the sight of lightening and a very wet view from our window .

We are not faint hearted nor do we give up easily , but in that rain we would have been two drowned rats within 60 seconds ! So at 7.30 am we made the ( sensible) decision to abort today’s walk . We decided we’d get a taxi to our next destination and if the weather had improved, do some walking in the afternoon

Now I’m going to digress here …. all relevant don’t worry, though you may wonder where I’m going with it initially… please be patient ! I’m taking you back to last evening and our hotel the Hostal la Mezquita. Now, Kathleen had researched (and inwardly digested such research ) our booked places of rest along our route . She had read negative comments about this hostal – and all noting that the lady in charge was grumpy and miserable. We arrived to be received by her husband but then saw his wife and at first sight, where these negative comments came from . So Kathleen challenged me to “ break” her and make her smile . So, to cut a long story short ( the DB will be sitting in his study saying “ chance’ll be a fine thing”) , I didn’t succeed last night . However this morning ……. we’d asked her ( shaking in our boots ) to fill up our water bottles . We started a discussion about the Camino and the day ahead – and I asked her what she would do if she were us ( at this point the rain had considerably subsided and almost stopped) She then gave us some brilliant advice – “ there is a restaurant in 6 km so you can walk there and if there is heavy rain , call a taxi. If not, there is a restaurant in 12 km so you can continue to there and then again call a taxi if necessary ” This advice spurred us both to at least start today’s walk ( hence the blog title )- we told her this and with a big smile , she wished us “Buen Camino” and off we set . Goal achieved! Marie Carmen, thank you , you are a very hard working lady who is clearly exhausted – we won’t forget you !

So we were on our way , not sure how far the rain would let us go ….. yes, it was uphill but totally different from yesterday . We could appreciate our surroundings – with the smell of eucalyptus all around.

However as we progressed suddenly the smell changed …….silage or pickled grass …. how come? , then suddenly we encountered said grass and the animals eating it !

There is a tale that links with that – but it is not for tonight Dear Reader, you are spared! Soon after, we reached the 6 km mark ( we didn’t see a restaurant) but we had decided to continue anyway. In places the paths were rocky and care was needed to descend ….

Before we knew it we were at the 12 km mark where we stopped for a very nice coffee ( no birds or bacon slicers in site !) – and felt elated . We both knew we would have been very disappointed not to have even tried the walk today – but accepted that as long as we had tried … we would be happy . However there was no stopping us now – we were well and truly on our way 👏👏👏👏

I should at this point mention a small celebration we had last evening – we both brought walking poles with us ( we had to pay to put a case in the hold to do so! Those of you who followed this blog in 2019 may recall the hassle we had in security with our poles in our hand luggage! To take walking poles separately according to the website of our airline would have been £35 each , each way 🙈🙈Personally, I don’t understand why they are not allowed in the cabin – although I suppose either one of us could have rushed at the cabin crew or worse, the captain, and either held them to ransom or beat them about their person, with some part of the pole …..so in the case in the hold they went )

Anyway when we got to Santiago I assembled my poles ( they had to be taken apart into 3 pieces you understand to fit in the case ) but could Kathleen assemble hers … no, is the answer. Despite trying every which way we were both truly stumped- so yesterday she walked the whole day ( yes ,up that 2.8 km nightmare of a mountain) without them – I offered to share mine but to no avail . So last night,just as we were about to go to bed and much needed sleep – she had a eureka moment and “ boom” the poles were fixed 👏👏👏👏

Despite the slopes we had to climb we have felt a great sense of achievement – I had my pedometer on and we were watching miles pass by so when we reached 13.1 miles and a very nice bar ( with loads of other pilgrims) we stopped for a beer ( as is our want !!)

We were ready to stop at this point , but it wasn’t where we were heading . When we looked at our map we realised the company we are travelling with had made a slightly humongous mistake – and the hotel we were booked in was at least another 4 miles away .

However, undeterred but stiff from our sojourn , the brave travellers decided to continue – I would like to tell you we completed those 4+ miles and gallantly arrived at Casa Jurjo on foot. Dear reader, I cannot lie to you and at 16.3 miles we realised that if we continued we wouldn’t be able to get out of bed in the morning. So we called the delightful owner of the hotel and he came and collected us – and we are safely ensconced for the night ! Needless to say, an email is wending it’s way to our your operator with a few choice comments !

So tomorrow as we have over-walked today, we have a very easy day – a 5 km walk from A Picota to Olveiroa- have no fear , still have plenty to write about ! And you know us, anything can happen !

According to Leonardo da Vinci “ a well- spent day brings happy sleep” – I’m all for happy sleep so Good night Dear Reader – until tomorrow!