Hello dear friends!! 

It’s been heating up in Spain and we are definitely feeling it. Friday – Sunday are all 26 degree days. Today we had a pretty “simple” walk that was very flat and straight forward, which we certainly needed. We walked 14km today which felt like a treat since we’ve been doing longer days lately. 

On the way we stopped at a great little Cafe for coffee and food. The owner proceeded to give us a lesson on Spanish grammar, because little did I know, you order “un cafe” not “uno cafe.” He was very kind and we enjoyed the help! At the same cafe we met two lovely women from Ohio. Turns out, one of the women knows Franciscan University very well (a Catholic university I take online courses through). It made my heart so happy to meet some people who know and understand some of what I love back home. In a country so far away, I never anticipated meeting someone who would even know of the university. We took a photo together, so please enjoy seeing my very tired, messy self, haha. 

We continued to travel towards Frómista, where we stayed for the night. We stayed at a lovely hostel that is an old mansion. This giant home fit a ton of bunk beds per room. My Dad and I “splurged” and got a private room. Really, it was only a few more euro and was definitely a treat! We shared a homemade meal with other pilgrims and went to the Church across the street to listen to Gregorian Chant and then attend Mass.  

Another absolute treat was seeing our friends from Belgium! We had been following each other for a while now, constantly running into each other at Mass. It was them who we had lunch with the other day. We got to attend Mass with them and had a tearful goodbye, since it was their last day on the Camino until next year. It’s incredible how close you can become, in such a short period of time, and especially when you all share the gift of faith.

This weekend was a big party in Fromista celebrating their patron saint, San Telmo, who was born there.  There was a ‘disco’ with a DJ, and live music later on. We caught the very beginnings of it but that was all. From what I hear it was quite the large event. We could hear the music from our hostel throughout the night, but thankfully it wasn’t so loud that it kept us up. 

Tomorrow (Sunday) will be another hot day, so we are preparing to leave early to beat some of the heat. Hopefully it works! 

We are continuing to pray for you. Please pray for us, and send along any intentions you may have. 

God Bless, 

Hannah and Tony