Miles: 8.97/Steps: 19,666

Today was the first real day of my Camino. The hostel played beautiful music that sounded like angels singing at 6:30am to wake us up. I asked the name from Joseph and it was MIRACLES OF SANTIAGO , ANONYMOUS 4 and was a brilliant way to be woken up. There was a great breakfast of boiled eggs, fruit, cereal and toast. We packed up and were on our way by 8:00am.

My first stop was the Camino Office to pick up my credential. (Think of it as a passport to get stamped each day to prove you actually completed the stages of the Camino.) I was helped by a lovely lady from Germany who was volunteering for the week. She gave me tons of advice and information and was the perfect ambassador for the Camino. I also got my Camino scallop shell. The shell is a metaphor in that its lines represent the different routes traveled by pilgrims from around the world to the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.
 The Scallop Shell is also on the milestone markers on the Camino, guiding pilgrims in the right direction.

The Camino office was kind enough to offer shells to attach to our backpacks.
Lastly, I weighed my pack. With water and walking sticks it came in at 11kg or 22 pounds. UGH!

From there, I walked to the Gate of St James which is the official beginning of the Camino de Santiago Frances and then I was on my way. The walk out of SJPDP was beautiful. The cobbled stone roads and historic buildings are unlike anything we have in the US and such a treat to look at.

The walk out of town was steep from the beginning. The views and animals made things more bearable but it was tough. Pretty early on I met Viv and Brett. They are the loveliest people. Both are international ping pong players and have lived very adventurous lives. We walked the same speed and I really enjoyed their company. We also needed “catch your breath” breaks at the same rate so they felt like the perfect walking partners!

Pictures don’t really give the incline any justice but it was really steep the entire way! Just when I’d think it was about to level off, I’d turn a corner only to find another, even steeper, hill. 

Words can’t express how happy I was to see the hostel beyond this bend! The climb was hard but we did get there before earlier than I thought I would. I stayed at Le Refuge Orrison my first night. It had a gorgeous deck with amazing views.

First we had a drink and some lunch. (How much do these guys look like Matthew Perry from Friends and Kurtwood Smith (the dad from That 70’s Show?!) Then I checked in, took a shower, did some laundry and started going through my pack to see what I could get rid of. If you guessed rocks, you are 100% correct! 😊 in all I think I probably dropped at least 2 pounds with the things I got rid of.
Below are some pictures of the hostel:

Showers were coin operated and you got 5×1 minute bursts of water. I was just happy to get warm water!
Toilets didn’t have toilet seats. (Ugh)
My home for the night. I am sharingshared the room with 5 other ladies.
View from my bed. Let’s hope I don’t have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

We had a communal dinner again and I got to know some really interesting people. I have mostly met Australians, Koreans, Germans and Americans but there are people here from all over the world!
It’s 9:30pm and time for bed. Tomorrow is another hard day but should get much better afterwards…