Bill Arney

A peaceful, often meditative day. Flat, good, well waymarked roads all the way to Melide, where the Primitivo ended. Thomas Melcher, an Austrian who has walked the Camino yearly since 2009, took us into the main church to get the final Primitivo sello. We waited through the end of a baptism mass and went into the sacristry for the stamp; a good end to that way.

I thought I would stay in Melide, but, having nothing else to do,  I walked on another 10 km, 30+ for the day,  to Ribadisio do Baixo where there is a beautiful, large albergue right on the river. Sam and I stayed here last year after we saw the big uphill into Azura and decided to call it a day here.  Stories now complemented by memories.

On having nothing else to do: Yesterday Sophie and I were deciding, around 2:30, whether or not to go on. She said, “I don’t have anything else to do.” A few minutes later, this usually somber person started laughing and laughing and eventually got out, “I don’t have anything else to do!” When she stopped laughing, she explained that at home there is her job and at home her husband who was severely disable by a car accident some 25 years ago. She always has so much to do, but here, “I don’t have anything else to do.” Another chuckle.  Later, just before dinner,  I saw her lounging back on a chair in the sun reading her Bible and smiling. Nothing else to do.