Day 8, September 8, Los Arcos to Viana – late post

     From Los Arcos, we headed to Viana which was a hilly town and found ourselves an albergue on the edge of the historical district. There was a beautiful cathedral along the main historical block that unfortunately we were not able to enter. We must have returned 2 or 3 times with various company but the doors remained locked.


     At the end of the street, we saw another old church with a beautiful arch and moldings and a huge wooden door. We excitedly walked through the door only to find that the facade was sadly all it had left. Inside we saw only remnants of an altar, the arches which were connected to the wall and parts of the old ceiling but no other roofing. It was quite literally, just standing walls. Some local kids seem to be using

 
























 it as a playground now. In this place we met Michael who was walking with his niece, Eve. We already ran into each other around midday today.  Anj and I were sitting under a tree and having our picnic lunch when they stopped by to share in our shade and for a bit of a chat, but seeing as we were only ¾ of the way to Viana, they went on ahead after wishing us “Buen Camino!” It was good to run into each other again and we started talking about the walk, people we met and the state the church we were standing in was in. They were such good company that we ended up having dinner together.  It was a delightful dinner! All night, we were swapping stories of travels, of people, of faith, of family and especially of why we were on this camino. I think this kind of connection with people and fellow pilgrims is what gives the camino a deeper and more personal depth.

     One sad thing about Viana was that we had to say goodbye to a lot of fellow pilgrims we’ve started the walk with. This is because we were only taking a short walk in the morning. We had to say goodbye to Patrick and his daughter Eve. Patrick was good company during the camino because he liked to talk and share amusing stories of his life in Ireland.

     There was also Susan and her husband, a wonderful couple whom we see on the walk every day. Her husband is a pastor, a sweet man who said that whenever they see us at any point of the walk, they know that all is right with the world.

     Of course, we also said goodbye to Michael and Eve, after knowing each other for only a short time. I think we could have been good friends, if time permitted. We gave everyone warm hugs and wished each other ‘Buen Camino!’ before calling it a night.