Camino Surprises ....

• There is a rumour that one lady is doing a “commando camino” after she left her underwear behind and now classes undies as a luxury
• I regret going down to 2 pairs of undies and throwing the bottom half of my zip up trousers away
• Meeting two friends who met 30 years ago as they were in the same ten pin bowling team.  They were the best in Finland at one point but now they are not so good as “we have new younger members and they need to learn a lot”.  The husband wouldn't walk with them as he plays ice hockey three times a week (he´s 78).
• Planning the day ahead and  thinking, ah, that stretch is only 12 kms - no problem.
• Eating ALOT (including three course meals with chips most days) and losing around 4 kilos so far.
• That the homeopathy snoring spray is actually working (a little).
• That we haven´t got bed bugs yet.
• Jumping in the back of a car as the guy who was driving said he was an amigo of the owner.  We were hobbling into town (well I was) at about 8 at night and I think the guy felt sorry for us as it looked as though we´d walked all day.  He wasn't to know we decided to have a short day and a long lunch instead and had only been walking for 3 hours!  Needless to say we didn't end up in black bin bags...
• Suddenly crying as I thought it was super sweet that a truck driver beeped and waved to us when we were walking along a motorway.  (We wave at a lot of truck drivers to get them to honk their horns and it usually works, but this was the first time one had made the first move so to speak).
• Enjoying spending time with people who don´t speak English.  The quiet is nice and the charades are fun.
• Remembering odd things that people say... “you gotta look back or you don´t know how far you’ve come kid”
• Developing a taste for strawberry jam.
• Naturally waking up at 6.30am.
• Totally by accident staying at a hostel sponsored by the author of the pilgrimage, Paulo Coelho.  I´m not sure what this website says but you can see pictures of the hostel http://www.icaljacobeo.es/Mostrar.cfm/Reportajes/I/camino/8000/kilometros/fecha/caducidad/193044 it was so peaceful and a bit of a magical experience.
• Making it to the half way mark!!!!!!