This is a convent town, all the pilgrims facilities are provided by religous orders. I went into one of the churches because I wanted to see one of the few surviving Romanesque churches (12th century). A group of young women came in dressed in long robes and begain a service which included sung prayers accompanied by clavicord that echoed through the vast space of the church. There are many catholics on the camino. I am not one of them, but all prayers go to the same place…
On a less spiritual note a broke down and bought a bar of soap. I was using shampoo to wash myself and my clothes. Soap is heavy. Now I am carrying one extra thing, a pair of shorts I bought in Burgos. It is too cold for shorts in the morning and evenings so the zipoffs are the best thing to wear. I like shorts so much that I dont want to abondon them. Now I have one pair of zipoffs, one pair of pants when I am washing the zipoffs, and one somewhat extra pair of shorts, I have three pair of underwear(Just in case I cant wash and dry one) two T shirts, one long sleeved T, one shirt and two pairs of socks.
Fascinating reading about all this: the preps, the people you meet, the things you learn, and what great shape you are in… thanks for posting it all. I have been very busy preparing for my own transition back to Montreal.
I just wrote this to mention that I read some time back that the reason women have menopause but live long after is because they are not only helping successive generations with caring for children, but they are also the repositories of wisdom about where to find food and how to preserve it for later consumption. The hunting and gathering societies relied on gathering in a big way, since the hunt could fail spectacularly and lead to famine if there were no wise old women to guide the society toward fruit, leaves and roots.
You walk for many
The joys of traveling light…