Behind the Albergue Door: Inspiration Agony Adventure on the Camino de Santiago

People make fun of me when I stand there drinking my morning coffee with my backpack on but it’s better than putting it down when I only have to lift it back up. Sometimes I hate it, I really do. Most times in fact.
    On a brighter note, went to Catholic mass in Burgos a few days ago. What an experience! I’m not a Catholic but it was fascinating to see the whole process. It is so solemn and focused. Really helped me understand how big a deal this is for the people doing the Camino for religious purposes. But these cathedrals, the extravagance is unbelievable. Feels like being in a Vegas casino – this incredible building where everybody’s all intense and serious and handing their money over. Weird vibe.

    To Everyone (group)
    Bored
    On Fri, Oct 19 at 8:22 PM, Virgil Larrimore wrote:
    There have been some different route options the last couple days and I ended up hiking all by myself for the first time. Didn’t really see anyone I knew for over a day and half. That is a lot of time inside your own head. Realized something. I am SO bored with hiking.

    To Everyone (group)
    Some people
    On Sun, Oct 21 at 3:34 PM, Virgil Larrimore wrote:
    Almost packed it in the other day. It’s been raining forever, it seems like. We’re constantly wet and cold and tired and in pain and I don’t know how but it seems like my backpack still isn’t any lighter than before I got rid of all that other stuff. I thought it was going to be easier by now. Plus the last three nights in a row I’ve been sharing a dorm with the same group of Germans. What next?
    Oh, yeah, almost forgot. Yesterday it actually stopped raining for a bit in the afternoon so I quickly did some laundry and hung it on the balcony. Then I went for supper (about my hundredth Pilgrim’s Menu, if I see one more tough pork chop I might snap) and when I came back all my laundry was gone, blown off the line I guess. I went looking for it and a guy in the restaurant below had my pants and socks but not my underwear. How the hell does that work!? What would anyone want with my old underwear!? Seriously, I don’t know how much more of this I can take.

    To Everyone (group)
    Welcome to the livestock
    On Thur, Oct 25 at 6:19 PM, Virgil Larrimore wrote:
    We’ve made it into Galicia now. The scenery is more impressive but the hiking is harder. A lot more hills. A lot more cows. A lot more cow shit. Almost every farm has those little stone fences like you’d see in Ireland or somewhere. I assumed it was to keep the sheep in until I was sitting having lunch the other day and I saw one jump right over the wall, eat some grass for a while in the ditch, then just jump back over like it wasn’t even there. How long must it have taken to build those things, and they don’t serve ANY purpose?

    To Everyone (group)
    Crazy old men
    On Thur, Nov 1 at 7:04 PM, Virgil Larrimore wrote:
    Was a really long day today and guess what? It rained all damned day again. What did we do to deserve this? Is it because I got my son to download all that free music for me? I knew that didn’t seem right. Just make the rain stop, please. When we finally dragged our asses into whatever town we’re in now, I can’t keep them straight any more, Palace something, we’re passing by this run-down old church in a pretty bad mood, all of us. Then this little old man comes out and starts yelling at us in Spanish, and I couldn’t understand much. So I plod over to him (I almost didn’t since I had to go up at least 8 steps), the rest of them just ignore him and keep walking. He waves me over and tells me to lean down to listen and he starts whispering in my ear in Spanish . I only caught a couple words, “dry” and “saviour” and “Tiago” and then he smiled and touched my arm, kind of slow and weird, but then all of a sudden it was like all my fatigue and pain just melted away. It was the strangest thing. I started walking in circles, to see if my legs really were as much better as they felt, and that I wasn’t imagining it. But I wasn’t. Then I turned around to thank him and he was gone. What the hell is going on around here?

    To Everyone (group)
    TV and tampons
    On Fri, Nov 2 at 9:19 PM, Virgil Larrimore wrote:
    I’ve been hiking with the same three or four people most days and for the last week or so we’ve been trying to find 4 -person dorms so we know what