I just realized, I was so tired last night I told you I walked from Porriño to Redondela. Actually, yesterday I walked from Tui to Porriño. The distances were right, just not the names of the towns. I think sleep deprivation is making me dingiest than usual. If that is even possible.
The Albergue I stayed in last night was a private one. It had wide beds built into the wall with curtains for privacy. In each compartment was a light and an electrical plug. And you got a locker for your belongings. But it was crowded, meaning there was only a little space to move around. I met a nice group of people from Seville there. And I ran into the folks from Northern Californa. I don't remember if I told you about them, but the woman graduated from the same college I did, Cal State Hayward. That was when I was 22 and got my first degree. Anyway, it was a nice place, but I still only got 5 hours of sleep.
I put Mr Burple in the pack in case we ran into any drunken teenagers in the morning in Porriño, which we didn't. However, I forgot and left him in the pack for the whole walk. He didn't seem to mind, maybe he was hibernating.
It was a beautiful walk again, through country and small pueblos. I was coming up a hillside, listening to Joan Baez and all of a sudden I heard a large boom. In the country in Spain, you often hear gun fire from fellows hunting birds for dinner. That is disturbing enough, but this boom didn't come from any rifle. It was much too loud. Then there was another and another and as I was cresting the hill I saw flashes and smoke with each boom. I'm thinking maybe it is mortar fire, and wondering if I should duck behind something large and solid.
I got to the top of the hill and saw the guy creating this ruckus at about 9 am. He was by the church. So, when I got to the cafe and saw the Spanish family, I asked the mom if she knew what was going on. She said they are having a fiesta for Saint Christopher's Saint day and I guess this announces that fact. Who knows. Well at least it wasn't mortar fire and an invasion. lol.
So, I got to the municipal Albergue and put my pack in the line. That's the method here of determining the order of entry while waiting for the Albergue to open. 
I went and sat down and met my new Camino friends, Diego from Burgos and Silke from Germany. They both speak English. Silke lived in Caifornia for a while. We had a nice chat. Silke said she had been noticing me for a couple of days and wondered about me walking alone and being in shape. Again I was asked how old I was, and again I was met with disbelief by both her and Diego.When I look in the mirror, I think I look old. Silke says she wants to be like me and now she knows she has lots of time to get there. I'd guess she is in her 40s. She has a 17 yr old son and a 14 year old daughter.
Silke has to leave for home tomorrow because she developed glen iris in her leg. She was feeling like a failure. I got to share my experience from last year and how it took me some time to learn the lesson I was supposed to learn from that Camino. I believe the Camino doesn't begin or end at any one place. It is just part of the continuum of our lif experiences.
Silke, Diego and I went to a restaurant to eat and watch the Euro Cup Final, but the doors on the Albergue close at 10 pm, so we didn't get to watch the whole match.
There are a lot more people on the way now. You need to walk a hundred kilometers to get a Compostela. So a lot of people start at that distance. On the Camino Frances that means a start at Sarría and on the Portuguese it means a start at Tui. Today there were several packs of people, like 6 to 12 walking together. I like to walk alone, which means I like to walk alone. So I would stop and wait for a pack to pass and start again. Then another pack would come. I had to put myself in a time out for an attitude adjustment. It's their Camino and if they want to walk it with family or friends, they have every right to do it. Just relax and go with the flow. As soon as I adjusted my attitude, I was walking alone. Go figure!
Here's a picture of the walk into Redondela, which I did alone. lol
It all sounds like great fun. I'm glad you were able to share with the the young woman... Very cool. All is well on the home front... Much love, Juan
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