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| Jayne and Lea at dinner last night at the Albergue |
I decided to start out with some P words about the Camino. Jayne and Lea helped out.
Pilgrims/people: there are people from all over the world; very nice people. People who will help you and provide for you.
Path: two ways to look at that. There is the physical Camino path and also the spiritual path you may be on. The physical path is often breathtaking. Beautiful valleys, animals, crops, forests and towns.
Peace: walk alone in nature. Meditate.
Purpose: most people on the Camino will tell you what their purpose is for being here. They may not have known why they came, but it becomes apparent.
Pleasure: I refer you back to this entire blog. It goes without saying again.
Pain: you are going to feel some pain. You will be sore. Your feet may hurt. These are long walks, carrying a pack
Pintxos: for me this goes into the pleasure department. I love to eat. Most bars/cafes have some snack food on the bar - pintxos. Yummy skewers and thingees with peppers, olives, eggs, anchovies, etc. So good!
Perspective: a chance to get out of and away from your every day life. To examine your life and yourself. Along with a group of strangers doing the same thing.
Peaches: I keep finding stands and stores with delicious peaches along the route. I stop and eat the peaches at every opportunity.
Pack: you have you physical pack with all your clothes and stuff. Don’t carry too much or it is a burden. Also, how much emotional baggage are you carrying on your journey in life. Maybe the Camino is a place to let some of that go?
Every morning we stop olong the route for Breakfast.
It is one of my favorite parts of the day. The breakfast stops are packed with pilgrims. Here is what we typically eat:
Coffee con leche
Tortillas - thick potato and egg pie
Fresh squeezed orange juice
Bocadillos: long sandwiches on soft roll. Cheese, egg, ham, chorizo, salami, bacon
Croissants
An early start is better. We left about six today. We planned to get up later and leave later. However, at about 5 AM the alarms started going off in our room in the Albergue. It was impossible not to get up early. The walk in the dark before the heat is magical.
15 mile walk today to the town of San Juan de Ortega. I did not find it terribly challenging. There Was a very long steep hill. My experience on the bicycle made it easy. I like to climb. I wanted to walk alone so I sped up the hill and distanced myself from the others.
After the hill, I walked through miles of pine forests and oak forests. it was very peaceful. Lots of solitude. I am going to try to spend a lot more time alone on this trip. I enjoy it.
It was supposed to rain today. There were a lot of clouds blue way. It’s windy right now. I stopped here at the end of today’s stage at a little café. I’m having an Aquarius (Spanish Gatorade) and a Bocadillo (salami and cheese sandwich). I am waiting for Jayne, Justin and Lea to show up. We’re staying somewhere about a mile away from here. Jayne and gang arrived. We drank sangria with the doctors from San Francisco.
Then, off to the Albergue. Total miles today 16 plus.
Ugh. Another dorm. This one, like some others, hands you a little white packet when you check in. It contains a paper sheet and pillow case.
I hate them. They are hard to put on and don’t stay on. I always imagine that the place has bedbugs and is trying to keep us safe. It took me five minutes to get the pillow case on. And I got the fucking upper bunk! Life is not fair. I am too old to climb a ladder into bed.
After a shower, we went down to the bar at the Albergue.
Over beer and appetizers we met some new (to us) pilgrims: Benedict and his wife from Koln, Germany; Bob from Sidney, Australia and Lori from Phoenix. Bob ordered a small beer. I told him he had destroyed my stereotype of Aussies. Lori is going to walk with us tomorrow.
We’ll have dinner later, here at the Albergue.
Love,
the bear
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