Naming of the Staff

• September 23, 2014
• Antoinette Bodeau
• Activities
• Tags: Camino de Santiago, The Camino

Day five:

Cirauqui To Villamayor de Monjardin 24 km

This was the first day we had rain while walking. It only rained for the first few hours. At least I put my rain gear to good use! It was lovely and cool and made for an easier day of walking.

Gerard and his stick “Zoe”

Eighty percent of the Pilgrims walk with poles or one staff (you can buy one in Saint Jean quite reasonably) I opted to leave mine at home (It was just one more item to keep track of and lose) and other than the first day of climbing, I haven’t felt the need for them. Gerald, the lucky Irishman, is the only person in our group to have one. We had a morning of naming of his staff. It was christened “Zoe” which means “embracing life in all it’s fullest”. Very fitting, especially for Gerald. He is probably one of the happiest people I have ever met.

We have a theme song that Gerald taught us called “Good Morning to You” and we start our day harmonizing the verses as we are heading out for the day’s walk. We certainly entertain ourselves as well the other Pilgrims!

Day six:
Villamayor to Viana 30 km

By far the longest day and I was thankful for having a clouldy cooler day. The terrain has certainly opened up and the walk consisted of rolling hills.

Pilgrims greet each other with this saying.

The town of Viana is small and the place we stayed was in the the old part of town. There was a wonderful cafe called “The Chill Cafe”, serving teas and snacks with relaxing music playing. Perfect for how I was feeling.

One of the Pilgrims approached us when we arrived at the Alburgue saying that he was funding his Camino by cooking for Pilgrim’s when a kitchen was available. We had a wonderful meal that he and his traveling companion cooked for twenty-four of us. Perfect ending to a long day!