36. Lubián

Today’s stage was pretty mixed. As the evening approached yesterday the rain clouds rolled in.

It rained through the night and was raining in the morning as I left the albergue.

Most of the pilgrims were talking about walking to Lubián via the road because it was so wet. I was keen to get off-road when ever I could but, of course, within minutes my feet were soaked and my legs covered with mud.

There was water everywhere and the drains and creeks were flowing strongly.

But rain wasn’t the real issue, it was the way this stage has been shredded by the autovia (freeway) and a new high-speed rail line. The Camino path has been serverely compromised and in many places it had been re-routed to the road. I did more road walking today than on any other stage of this camino.

Where I could, I followed the track, but even then these monsters were never far away.

I was expecting a good climb today as this stage passed through the second highest point on the way, but it was really just a gentle incline up the sealed road. When I did get off road the old path was quite beautiful. 

I caught up with Jacques from Belgium coming out of this bar and we walked together for the rest of the stage.

He speaks good English as well as French and Flemish so I enjoyed a freer conversation than has been the norm on this camino.

Earlier in the day, I passed by some interesting wayside crosses. This one had Santiago on one side and Mary on the cross holding the baby Jesus. It was a striking way of capturing Mary’s pain as the mother of Jesus (I guess) - something that many mothers may relate to.

This one had Santiago on one side of the cross and Christ on the other - a reminder perhaps of the true way of St James and that the practice of pilgrimage can take one to some challenging and painful places.

So, here’s the view from my window in the albergue in Lubián - not bad for a suffering pilgrim!!

And, here’s today’s feature door, from a building just down the road from the pub where I am typing this blog.