This morning, at 3 a.m., the mattresses were already deflating with their own particular sound: that’s our alarm clock.
The hour of silence was only half silent, because there was a concert in the town and at that hour they still had the music blaring. It was quite a while before we stopped hearing it.
At the breakfast stop, some had built up so much energy that, when a goat turned up, they cornered it. The shepherds were Tato, Fer, Nacho Lorda and Nacho Campmany. The goat was forced to charge Nacho Campmany to break out of the circle of shepherds. Meanwhile, others filled their rucksacks with juice cartons for the road, with the classic “you never know”.
It must also be made public that Fr “Berni” has more than earned the title of sports news smuggler, because he feels a moral obligation to secretly bring the pilgrims up to date with the latest from the competitions.
Today we crossed into Extremadura. The arrival wasn’t easy: it was a 37 km stage, but the pace set by Joan Xipell and Álvaro Peregrín is very steady. When we arrived, Father decided we should rest: a good nap until lunchtime. And afterwards, anyone who wanted could go to the swimming pool next door. The truth is it was very tempting to have a newly opened pool 15 metres from where we were sleeping, and almost all of us ended up diving in.
As always, at 16.15 we went to the parish of Talarrubias. We were all amazed at the number of storks’ nests on the roof. Don Francisco looked after us wonderfully in the beautiful church of St Catherine of Alexandria. Don Francisco was impressed by the pilgrimage, which is a metaphor for life: sometimes it gets hard, but you always walk in the Lord’s company. As we came out of Mass we were given some of the local pastries. How good they were, and how kind Manoli, one of the parishioners, was, along with Pedro, the local seminarian.
When we came back from the church, surprise: the door of the sports hall had shut. Luckily Lourdes, with her locksmith skills, managed to open it by lifting the bottom latch. We have pilgrims who can do anything!
Even at dinner, which was fajitas, Martí Ramió did a bit of fajita art: he made some holes in it and wore it as a mask. Even so, dinner was delicious, served with gazpacho. Some piled on more meat than would fit, but you get hungry on this pilgrimage.
After a while of sharing all together, we’re off to bed. Tomorrow is a stage with beautiful scenery, but 34 km long.
We plug in the fans, pray Compline and good night, parents, see you tomorrow!