Since there is no one else to compete with, we are able to prepare for the day in leisure. We follow the path to the bar from the night before but it is closed, so breakfast will have to wait until we reach Sarria. Although we are not starting from Sarria this morning (4 km short of the mark), we are on schedule to reach Santiago on foot.
We arrive in Sarria for a late breakfast. Since this is the last major town before the 100-km mark, many people start their Camino here. Everyone out here has a story and I have made a promise to remember that. I will not judge or compare. Actually, I find that I really do not care whether someone started today or 5 weeks ago. Our Camino has not been the "perfect" Camino either, and I have gotten over that, so how hypocritical would it be of me to judge whether someone else's is worthy (if there is such a thing anyway)?
We do encounter more people, including families with children. Most of the newly starting pilgrims are easy to spot. The overt clue is their straight-out-of-the-box looking shoes. With the recent weather and the condition of some paths, no one who has been already walking has shoes that clean. There is also a freshness about them. Some of them look clueless about things we've learned along the way, and we share that knowledge. Some of them have a spring to their step and we just know they are new to the trail. Some of them are part of organized groups with support buses, etc., traveling with small or no backpacks (because their luggage travels in the bus/van). Sometimes there is no explanation. In any case, once they start, we're all walking the same path.
In Sarria we also visit the church of Santa Mariña for a new set of credencials, which should last us until Santiago. There is a really cool pilgrimage mural on the wall surrounding the church.
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