Day 11 - Azofra to Granon

Day 11 - Azofra to Granon

Mostly sunny

Perseverance. Winnie took a tumble just outside of Santo Domingo today. Got a nasty scrape on the knee. Once you lose your balance with 13 lbs on your back, there is no getting it back. You might even strain something trying. Perhaps a scrape is not such a bad outcome given the unfortunate event. Cleaned up the wound as much as we can with what we have, put on big bandages and off we went. The way Winnie led most of the way to Granon, you wouldn't know that she has the injury.

As with most days, we were planning to have breakfast when we come up to the first cafe, usually one or two hours in. Today we first came up to a restaurant in a golf club in a small town, I thought that is for their exclusive clients only and walked right by. Only later that Gigi and Winnie said that there is breakfast serving pilgrims. We had to walk past the entire modern area to get to the old town and ended up wasting half an hour trying to hunt for the last bar before we leave town.

We were called out twice today when fellow pilgrims saw our Canadian flags. The first was a Western alumnus from Niagara Falls. Talk about connections. The other were a couple of Australians who also displayed very large Australian flags on their bags.

The parroquial albergue that we stay in is very different from what we have seen so far. It is donativo, meaning the cost is by donation, as much as you want to give. There is no bed but just a foam mat. There isn't even a walkway between mats so you really are sleeping with strangers right next to you. The meal will be a community dinner that the pilgrims help to prepare. The laundry is also in a strange place near the top of the church, inside. There is not much hope that the clothes are going to dry. I am not too thrilled by the foam mat but we will put up with one night. With or without Winnie's injury, it is much too hot to continue to the next town.