Biscainho – Vila Franca de Xira
A short, direct chronicle, because yours truly needs to sleep and arrive well rested in the promised land (and also because tomorrow we have to look good on TV).
The day began with the second-to-last hour of silence, which lost all its reflective atmosphere when a burp worthy of Shrek ripped through the night. The culprit is still being hunted down…
The stage was marked by a splendid police operation clearing the way for us: patrol cars, the GNR, four motorbikes and several officers closed the main road so that these young people could finish their adventure. We looked like a presidential motorcade.
In this context, a few orang-utans (namely: Miguel del Pozo, Beto Gel, Jaume Morer, Martí Ramió and Tato Salvador) didn’t stop bellowing songs while the drivers of stopped lorries and cars filmed the veins in their necks, which stood out like family trees.
The music cheered up pilgrims and police officers alike, who were smiling behind their balaclavas, to the point that one officer started singing “Caminando por la vida” with us. Our Melendi has definitely gone international.
So, as a quick round-up of iconic moments, we have Jaime and Luis passing a watermelon to each other as if they were training with the All Blacks; the wind, which carried off the caps of Paula González and Nil Bou (providence allowed another pilgrim to rescue one of them from the tarmac); another makeshift hosepipe shower for the testosterone herd, and the composition of a new hit by the Rolling Smokes to take the girls’ band Canto de Locos down a peg (they can’t hold a candle to us).
After a dinner at which some sprinklers left us wetter than Don Lockwood in Singin’ in the Rain, we had a legendary get-together, joined by 7 young people from Arbúcies and Fr Dito.
During the get-together, our 3 Germans delighted us with a German folk song; the Canto de Locos girls sang their single for us again; the boys answered with their anthem, accompanied by Santi Salvador on the guitar; Uri Gel brought out his forbidden moves dancing to “Cuando un cristiano baila”, and Fer Marqués interrupted Fr Toni’s speech with his classic “Twist and Shout”.
That’s all, family. Just one Vietnamese-style wake-up left: tomorrow we crown the pilgrimage. Thank you for following us; we’re praying for you. And remember: es irmão do senhor Martines.