A600AASS Day 17 - Portomarín to Palas de Rei
30.10.22
28 Km
A beautiful day for walking.
Crisp, cool air, rinsed clean by the rain. Space for smells to emerge. Heart notes of wet, heavy soil. Top notes of pine needles warming in the sun. Base notes of cow shit and rotting autumn leaves.
And, without the drumming of raindrops on hoods; birdsong, the trickling of streams, motorcycles racing through the valley. The wind, sibilant through pine trees.
We talked about family and, perhaps, one day, extending it. A sense of possibility emerging for the two of us. A redressing of an imbalance in perspectives on the future.
I remember the first time I saw gum trees in Europe. I was driving with my parents, somewhere in the south of France. We were listening to The Beatles Ballads, a cassette they’d given me as a Christmas present. Like aliens come to earth, a stand of the trees I’d only ever associated with Australia stood outrageous and awkward in the mid-distance. They still look odd in Europe.
We settled in to an easy rhythm: 5 kilometres of walking, and then a stop for a snack and something to drink. It kept the energy up and the distances manageable, although the last 4 kilometres hit us hard. We both seem to be fighting some kind of bug.
Back in a dorm tonight, modelled on a Japanese capsule hotel, but without the Japanese courtesy to make it more than bearable. Paper sheets and pillow slips, already torn before bedtime, will be a rumpled mess on the vinyl mattress by the time I wake.
More rain tomorrow (in the morning at least). 28 kilometres or 15? Let’s see what a night of rest will do for us.
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