Oh god it’s raining…

…But I’m not complaining
It’s filling me up with new life
The stars in the sky
Bring tears to my eyes
They’re lighting my way tonight

And I haven’t felt so alive
In years

Just for a day
On a day like today
I’ll get away from this constant debauchery
The wind in my hair
Makes me so aware
How good it is to live tonight

And I haven’t felt so alive
In years

The moon
Is shining in the sky
Reminding me
Of so many other nights
But they’re not like tonight

Oh God it’s raining
And I’m not containing
My pleasure at being so wet
Here on my own
All on my own
How good it feels to be alone tonight

And I haven’t felt so alive
In years

The moon
Is shining in the sky
Reminding me
Of so many other nights
When my eyes had been so red
I’d been mistaken for dead
But not tonight

‘But Not Tonight’

Depeche Mode

 

Day 4-Arcos to Barcelos

The day started out grey and windy, but my ridiculously high level of enthusiasm had me marching forward.  I made a new playlist last night and as soon as the pavement gave way to forest trails, I was belting out 80s tunes at the top of my lungs.  In the rare areas where pavement reappeared, i was still singing my heart out, and my walking stick became the baton for the invisible marching band I was leading.  It’s probably what made this guy hotfoot it out of my way.

(He was moving so fast that I didn’t have time to ask him ‘why?’…ohhhhh bad joke!)

My luck with the weather finally ran out today, just as Accuweather predicted, and at 14.00 nearly on the dot, the skies opened and it began to rain.  Not just rain, but come down in torrential sheets of it.  It wasn’t just raining down, it was raining SIDEWAYS.  I only had another 5km to go to Barcelos, but it was a very loooooooong 5km.  I was sure that within a few minutes I was going to be a soggy and miserable mess, but it actually made me sing LOUDER (I’m sorry Portugal, I do actually know how bad my singing is and should not be subjecting you to it) and feel even more in love with this crazy adventure game called the Camino de Santiago.  Either I am really mental, or have found something that I really love that’s so far away from everywhere I know.  I’m thinking both.

Literally, so far away from what I know, having visited or live in all of those cities except one.

So far, I have not seen anyone else on the Camino, and I’m grateful for it.  It’s pretty selfish of me, but I’m wanting to keep this to myself for as long as possible.  So far this journey has been an introvert’s dream and I’m so full of energy right now.

I’m turning in early tonight, tomorrow is the very long trek to Ponte do Lima, and accuweather is giving a 50/50 chance of rain.  Lala salama world!

 

Notes about Arcos-Barcelos

-Now on the historic original Camino, it’s impossible to get lost.  The waymarks are everywhere.  The only place I questioned it was in Barcelino where the marks pointed to a a slip road along the motorway that seemed a bit weird.  It was correct though, it takes you to a little underpass that is seemingly pedestrians only.

-The elevation starts to climb about 3,5km out of Arcos, and goes from about 55m to nearly 160km around Goios.

-At the moment the forest paths are muddy, but nothing overly difficult.