Woke up this morning to monsoon level rain going on. A look at the forecast showed that rain was predicted all day. After some research on google, I found a bus that would take me to Comillas with possible drop off in the town before. Considering it was Sunday, this was a surprise, but it worked flawlessly. As we arrived in the town before it was still raining so I decided to stay on the bus the whole way. This turned out to be a good choice, checked into the hotel and then went and did the little tourist train around town, 20min, then found a hearty lunch. Turns out that Comillas is a pretty big town with some nice squares lots of old buildings and a beach. It has some very interesting Gaudi buildings, among the few outside of Catalonia. After walking down to the beach, I found a gate that Gaudi had designed and then went to the Capricho de Gaudi, Gaudi’s Caprice and interesting building built for someone who had made his riches in Cuba. Next door is a palace and so on. Quite a surprise for a town that I have never heard of.

So I want to write a little about an important travel skill that also is useful in life. I call it the “pivot.” When it was raining hard today, I just did not want to end up walking in the rain for 6 hours and being soaking wet. So the Pivot was to explore the options, which included a taxi or a bus or possibly another transport option. As it turned out the bus was great and, because I arrived in Comillas not having walked for 6 hours, I was able to go and explore the sites. This would not have happened if I had stuck to my original plans. I remember another pivot I made on my second camino outing, I arrived in Sahagun after 7 days of walking on the flat Meseta with a golf ball sized lump on my right calcaneus, Dr. Google said Calcaneal Bursitis. So, the choice was to stop walking rather than risk permanent injury. I was very disappointed at the time, but ended up taking the train to Seville, where it so happened that it was Easter week, the famed Semana Santa. Anyone who has been to this in Seville knows that it is remarkable! So, that was another pivot that worked out to be better than the original plan. The ability to pivot in travel, life, business and tango is critical!