Day 1 - The Rain in Spain

Sept 12

Destination - Orrison

Distance - 8 km

Hours of walking - under three hours

Terrain - straight up, great paved roads, and some rocky terrain (where we think Emilio Estevez died)

Weather - so wet

Nature - cows (with bells intact), snails

Misadventure - Wendy tangled with a gate and Brenda tried to save her, potentially causing more injury. 

After a beautiful day, we woke up to the patter of rain and then the rumbles of thunder. The rain in Spain is not only on the plains. It was a terrential down pour through the mountains. But mostly a warm rain, until we got closer to Orrison, then it got downright chilly. 

Total cloud cover

Getting to Orrison was then a treat. In came a flux of wet and cold pilgrims. We treated ourself to a hot bowl of soup. We were led to our room and found we were sharing with a German couple. The couple are on their seventh year of their pilgrimage. They started in Germany with small day trips, their trips getting longer as they got further from their home town. They have already walked 2,000 kms. This year they will go to Burgos and the start again next year. 

The Alburgue in Orrison

My bed for the night

In Orrison, the pilgrims gather for supper. Forty pilgrims gathered in the hall. We met some amazing friends over a bowl of soup. Prior to the main course, the clouds lifted and pilgrims started to migrate outside. The view was amazing. We had no idea of how beautiful the view was. After taking photos, we went back to enjoy a wonderful chicken stew and Basque Cake, which is a regional dessert. After supper, all the pilgrims introduced themselves and where they were from. It was amazing to hear people's stories and where they were from. Lots of people walking by themselves, which I think is so courageous. Lots of Americans and Canadian. Two wonderful men from Malaysia, a fun group from Ireland, and one from New Zealand. 

It was such a sense of community. All people with the same mission and purpose. We became a family. The sound in the room was incredible. It was like a family wedding banquet. You would have guessed that all forty people were family with much to catch up on. 

Family dinner

We were happy to be reunited with Ari, a 19 year old from Oakville, ON. She is a wonderful young lady, whom we met on the train from Batonne. She is a wonderful addition to our pilgrim family as she is cheerful and fun and can actually sing. Although she is very capable, she is filling our need to 'mom' someone. She thinks our kids are so lucky to have us. 

Ethel and Ari- our adopted pilgrim family 

Even with the rain, it was an amazing day. We are walking our Camino and meeting people with the same goals and excitement that we have. 

Cheer of the day from Wendy - there are so many things to cheer about, that it is hard to chose one. The biggest cheer is that, we stick to our motto. Even though it was raining, we all stayed positive and sang our way up the mountain. Life is good. 

Buen Camino