Life's a Stitch

A short day, only 3.25 hours of walking, however, we were met by the plague of the Meseta, moscas. Flies. Well organized contingents, a strategy of three flies to one human, buzzing directly in front of your eyes and dive bombing your face and hair nonstop for two hours. Periodically one would land on the ground a few feet in front of you awaiting the perfect opportunity to strike again. Using our hats as makeshift windshield wipers, we were called wimps by an Australian priest, who explained to us what flies were really like.

We'd heard of the vicious Camino dogs, how hiking poles are a good defensive strategy, but hadn't encountered any. Until today. See that fuzzy sweet terrier? He's a wolf in dog's clothing.

Apparently he didn't like having his picture taken, turning into a canine Mr. Hyde and charging at me, with teeth bared accompanied by an impressive growl.

We walked through villages with old buildings constructed of straw and clay. No huffing and puffing have blown these places down.

Lunch was an interesting discussion with the Aussie priest and others giving a strong argument that gave more understanding regarding the wealth and faults of the Catholic Church and the relationship to poverty and social impact. They introduced points we hadn't considered.

We ended the day at Casa el Cura, owned and run by a husband and wife, he's Cuban and she's Spanish. Another example of a family wanting to support pilgrims. They were part host, chef and comedy act. Once again Chuck was recognized for his resemblance to Hemmingway.

We had elected to take the scenic route today. What we didn't know is that the town where we ended had no bus to Leon, which meant cabbing to the alternative route to catch a train into Leon for our half Camino rest day. But look what we would have missed had we changed our route.