Pilgrim parade

Roman bridge outside our

hotel window

We had walked nearly 20 miles the day before. So today was an abbreviated walking program with only 3.5 miles to our next destination, the medieval pilgrim resting place of Hospital de Orbigo. 

That crisp morning we skipped and danced more than we walked, and we arrived in the village around 9:30 am by crossing a long (19 arches!) 13^th century bridge. Our hotel lay at the foot of the bridge. Until our room was ready, we settled down at an outside table with a cup of coffee.

Settling in for the Pilgrim Parade

Every pilgrim walking through Hospital de Orbigo had to cross that bridge … with us as the welcoming party. It was Pilgrims on Parade!  So many familiar faces, hearty acknowledgements of recognition in English, French, and Spanish.

Elaine sat with us for a while. We moved from coffee to Coke Zero and a tapa. Jan and David settled in and we drifted into having lunch together. Time disappeared. It was 2:30 pm. We had been enjoying our Pilgrim Parade for five hours.  Life on the Camino ... enjoying the moment.  <Music up, James Taylor sings, “The secret of life is enjoying the passing of time …”> 

Here’s a side note, especially for fans of the Monty Python scene of a knight defending a bridge. In the Jacobean Holy Year of 1424, the honored knight Suero de Quiñones issued a challenge to the best lances in all of Europe, vowing to meet them in battle for 30 days on this stone bridge in order to prove his devotion to a noble lady who had rejected his declaration of love. Some 300 winning jousts and one month later, having proved his love for his lady, he considered himself released from his "prison of love". The victorious knight removed the iron collar he had worn around his neck as a symbol of his enslavement of love and took to the Camino de Santiago as a pilgrim.

This was the bridge we viewed from our hotel room! With a jousting ground being set up for the following festival weekend to celebrate the honorable knight Suero de Quiñones.