Camino de Santiago, Day 32: Random Field in Spain to Hospital de Orbigo and a Medieval Festival

Medieval Festival

I woke up with a snail on my face.

Enough said.

Our sleeping conditions were less than ideal.  However, I appreciated the fact that we acted in solidarity for our stupid freedom crusade.

Snail fatalities were all around me.  I’ve worked so hard, every step of the way on the Camino, to avoid stepping on the tiny critters, and here in one night I caused a massacre.

Jamie packed up the tent.  We had no idea where we were.  It’s hard to tell at night how far you’re walking.  I found it astounding that we somehow managed to stay on the Camino.  We walked, in the blazing sun, desperate for a Coca-Cola and having no idea how far it might be until we found one.

What we discovered, 45 minutes later, when we arrived in the small town of Hospital de Órbigo, was that our bad fortune had turned to good!  We arrived just as the annual Medieval Festival was beginning!  The town, which has a medieval bridge running through it, needed no decoration to meet the scenery requirements, and yet the whole of the village was decked out in banners and flags and many of the locals were costumed.  The last 36 hours have felt like I might have entered a vortex of an alternate reality. Each day on the Camino is an adventure!

We immediately checked into a hotel, showered to get the snail remnants off, and hit the town.  In the afternoon, we watched incredible horsemen in full costume compete in Medieval games.  It was amazing and colorful.  Each horseman had a character and would get the crowd riled up – the Dark Knight (scary and on a black horse), the Good Knight (on the white horse) etc.  A man in knight ‘s armor on a horse that is galloping at full speed is scary.  I don’t know how those medieval guys lived to pass on their genes.  Had I seen one of those guys coming towards me I would have died of fright.

A fun day in the end and a total surprise, just like every other day on the Camino!

We walked a measly, but difficult, 6 kilometers today (about 3 miles) today.

Photos of the Day: