Salamanca!

For the last few days I have been very excited to reach Salamanca for this is where I lived for a year back in 1989. I love Salamanca and the year that I spent here was one of the best in my life. I arrived today along with my companions of the past week, Alfonso (French-Canadian) and Gemma (Catalan). We ate lunch together and shortly before leaving the restaurant it began to rain...hard...with hail. We have been SO lucky with the weather and were lucky that the one time it rained, we were inside. We checked in to the albergue which is in the very best part of town, right next to the cathedral. I decided to walk around town to visit all of my old haunts. I went by my old apartment building, the bars I used to go to, the school where I used to work (which is now owned by one of the teachers I used to work with -side note to LAM--It was "Fancy Pants" I talked to her awhile. She was really nice.). Then I went to the big Corte Ingles department store which did not exist in Salamanca when I lived here but is now located across the street from the apartment I lived in my first month here. I bought a new camera so I hope I will be able to download pictures for future posts.
In other news. I have reached the halfway point! I've walked over 300 miles but, sadly, have that much left to go. On the first camino that I walked, I enjoyed it so much that I NEVER wanted to arrive in Santiago. I wanted it to be longer. This time around, I definitely want to arrive...and soon! I am happy to be here, I love the scenery and the villages. I love meeting people and speaking Spanish and eating Spanish food. I love that there was a 13 year old bartender waiting on us the other night (learning the family business) and love that 85 year old men in the street taking a stroll around the village stop to ask how the walk is going. I love that nearly every person I see everyday has a kind word to share. But this walk is really hard. My feet hurt everyday. The blisters are completely better but my feet just feel sore and worn out...a lot of this walk is on pavement which always seems to be the last 10 miles each day and always uphill. Today was a great day. It was short (15 miles), not hot (cloudy), and not on pavement. It was a joy. I'm glad to be here but this isn't easy and I have to think if I had done this walk first, I would not have returned to do another. I have mapped out my remaining days and it is doable but I will have quite a few hard days ahead of me. Gemma only has two more days before she must return to Barcelona and Alfonso a couple more after that. It will be quite a blow to me when they are both gone. We also see alot of Jose Luis and Cecilio, the aforementioned two Spanish men. Cecilio is particularly nice. He is, get this, SEVENTY THREE! He is quite a trooper. He looks to be about 10 years younger than he is and when I doubted his age, he provided documentation. He is quite a wonder. It seems I have seen a lot and done a lot and it seems to much to remember to bring you up to date. I need to get a bite to eat and return to the albergue as there is a curfew at 10:00 p.m. so LAM, I won ´t be able to go to Piper, MOderno, Country, Puerto de Chus, or Piper which still seem to exist. Roses and Submarino were there but look to be different places now.