Day 3 on the Camino

October 4, 2009

I didn’t write on this day. I guess that I was tired. It’s amazing that I can say that because in comparison we are not walking anyway near as much as when we were in Shikoku but I am still tired. It’s all relative really. There is tired and then there is exhaustion and here we are just tired, really tired. It makes me think of the scene out of Lawrence of Arabia where El Orance puts out a lighted match with his fingers and his companion asks him how he does it. “What’s the trick?’ he asks. Lawrence replies, “The trick is not minding the pain”. So we hurt; everyone hurts, but the trick is not to give in to the pain.

On this day our hotel is across from one of the largest cathedrals in Europe. It looms as a large object right outside our window. We tour the same cathedral after checking in and washing up. Nancy is not allowed to lead us. A Spaniard takes us around. He is funny but he is not our beloved Nancy. The place is huge. There are over 20 chapels within the structure. Quasimodo occupies several. Later that night we attend mass to hear a special performance from a special choir. It is very beautiful and inspiring. I half expect Charleston Heston to appear dressed in red robes, carrying Jean Simmons in his arms.

The night is a free night and we must once again fend for ourselves. Everyone is tired so we do not do another Pincho night but choose a sit down restaurante. We order two kinds of Paella and casa de tinto y blanco. It is good and our little group is happy.

Our informal group consists of Steve & Hope, a couple from Los Altos, their neighbor, Paula, who has since returned to her birthplace of Oahu, and Robert, who lives in New York City. It was coincidental, but understandable when the ladies (4 ladies from Florida) and a couple from the East coast appeared at the same restaurant. They were tired too and chose the nearest sit down restaurant that Nancy had recommended.