Day 7: Learning to walk again

Dear traveler,

I opened my eyes at first light and I got up to pack my sleeping bag. As we slept alone in our room, there was no noise around us, but the excitement that today we're hitting the road did not let me sleep in more. I woke up my folks as well, who apparently had an alarm clock set up, but my energy level was higher than that of the alarm clock.

We eat something quick and let's hit the road because my feet are tingling.

The chilly autumn air is welcoming us as we step outside and we slowly find our way out of Estella, a beautiful city, but a city where we already sat in one place for too long.

The streets are empty, only some cats are bathing in the sun's warm light. It's a must to stop and pet them.

From Estella we enter a smaller town, with other cats, courtyards filled with flowers and pebble mosaic. In one of the courtyards, a gigantic plant that resembles an octopus is guarding a house.

Mamarmot says that this plant is aloe vera and it's a plant with many benefits for our health. Yes, based on its appearance it certainly has the power to keep people away.

We continue walking through wine yards to the left and to the right and anywhere you look.

We meet Jack from Australia, a witty old guy, which tells us that we're about to find something amazing on our way and asks us to take a picture together so he can send it to his family. A few moments later, I see my folks excited by a courtyard where a fountain lies. Perfect, I was thirsty!

Ah, dar fântâna asta nu are apă, ci viiiin…aaa, de asta spunea Jack. Desigur că eu nu mă ating de așa ceva, dar ai mei își scot scoicile ca să guste din el.

Come on, parents, who's actually drinking wine at 9 a.m? Maybe just a pirate. Ooook.

This is a good moment to take a picture of Mamarmot. You don't see that too often.

Now I need to figure out how to get my folks away from here. I'm just kidding. We continue walking quite soon, happy about what we saw and of what lies ahead.

Enormous surroundings and paths and hills, sights I've never saw before but which I've missed. Fulgeraș is in my backpack, and he will be the first lightning that walked the Camino. 

It's been so long that I feel like I'm learning to walk again. Maybe it will take me a few days to get used to this, because although I'm happy to be here, at some point my feet need a bigger break. But for this I got my parents back, literally. We'll manage.

My folks make me a big surprise and we stop on the road for an orange juice and potato pie. Finaaaally. One year of waiting, but now, the pie is mine. Do I have to learn how to eat this pie as well? Neah, I'm good at this already.

We arrive early in the last town for today and we check in. At this albergue we find something wonderful, a fountain with cold water for our feetc, in which I immediately step. My feet thank me!

We have time for games and reading, for visiting the small town of Los Arcos, to eat something delicious and admire views. It's so good I woke everybody up and we hit the road early!

In the evening, we gather with the other pilgrims for a chit chat and the guy from the albergue offers me a gift made by him. It's a braided wire with my name and a small pilgrim. I'll put this wonderful gift in my backpack, next to Fulgeraș, so he can take care of it.

It's time to sleep now, so I'm tucking in once more in my fluffy sleeping bag. I still cannot believe we are here again, on the road. But I feel that we are exactly where we have to be. A place where we belong. Yellow hills awaited us to step onto their paths, the wind awaited us to blow through our hair, the potato pie awaited to be eaten.

Come on, Fulgeraș, let's go to sleep as a long day awaits tomorrow..