Day 22 - Lovely stuff!

I didn't end up joining the morning yoga session but did benefit from a breakfast very similar to what I normally eat at home, muesli,  yogurt, banana and some brown toast with jam. As we went over the mountain the scenery became even more fantastic. We encountered more snow and this time I did sink right in, the top of my boots filling with snow. The villages we walked through were ramshackle and falling down apparently being brought back to life by the Camino. We walked through one village which now has a resident population on one thanks to the Hospitalerio living there.

The views remained stunning and I started to feel overwhelmed and sad. Overwhelmed because I felt I couldn't take in all this amazingness and I might not be able to store it properly in my memory. Sad because I only had less then 9 days untill I reach Santiago where I will have to stop walking. Then I remembered I had my pencils so I sat and tried to capture some of the snowcapped mountains and forests. The end result did not even begin to do justice but the exercise gave me a way of absorbing with what saw.

Lunch was very late and involved a picnic of cheese, ham, empanada, olives, nuts, dried prunes and figs, and a croissant. This was eaten in a village Plaza next to a river, a picturesque bridge and church. My fellow picnicker was Canadian Damien who has been my main walking buddy and is great company. As we walk along we have been taking it in turns to ask interesting questions (favourite teacher, earliest memory, biggest regret). Some really interesting conversation has come out of this little game. I did however get very laughed at for my bucket list (things you want to do before you die). Put on the spot with this question I said I wanted to drink milk straight from a cow. Perhaps he was expecting something a little more ambitious.

The evening was spent relaxing on bunkbeds sharing the remainder of the picnic and a bottle of wine with The Todd ("The" has been added to his name because he is a medic and been such a hero sorting various knackered feet and limbs) and Neringa (energetic Lithuanian who we normally lose within the first hour of walking as she speeds ahead). We started talking about what we were going to miss about Spain and what it will be like getting to Santiago. Apparently Pilgrims arriving in Santiago are quite the tourist attraction and we shouldn't be surprised to be subjected to a Paparazzi-type experience.