Walked about 17.6km today. The first half was gradually uphill but the last part was steep downhill, the kind that's rough on the knees.
The Cruz de Ferro (Iron Cross): tradition dictates that pilgrims bring a stone from home and carry it for their journey. These stones are symbolic, as well as real burdens, representing lost loved ones, hardships and other things weighing on the hearts and souls of those who travel the camino.
I brought six rocks from Cape Cod. The largest one represents the things that have been in my great and on my mind, my family, my friends, the kids at Our Children's. The four smaller are ones I carried on behalf of the souls of family members: Poppop, Grandpa Chromik, David and Tony. The littlest one is for the miscarriages several of my friends have had over the last few years. To see their joy then to see their loss and pain has affected me deeply. These women live across the country and don't know each other but I love you guys.
The non-native Cape rocks are now non-native rocks in another part of the world.
A few kilometers up the road the "town" of Manjarin has an albergue, a small store and a population of 2. This one guy turned the ruins of the town into a crazy pilgrim oasis. The best part is a sign that says "we do not serve bocadillos here" hahaha.
Yup that's the entire town
Lots of beautiful butterflies
I stopped in El Acabo at the Albergue Meson el Acebo. It is a cute little albergue attached to a bar/restaurant where I ate late lunch/early dinner. I had a huge plate of delicious green beans with ham for the starter. Second course was steak and fries. Dessert was a delightfully tangy lemon mouse.
Later I was able to use the Internet in the bar to call home on Skype. Uncle Marty was there cooking up a storm.
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