We’re now six days in to our Camino, and very much looking forward
to a rest day in Logrono. I neglected to
mention a bit of drama we had a couple of days back in Cizur Menor. We had a pilgrim meal at the bar across the street
from our hostal. Dinner on the Camino is
uncharacteristically early for Spain; usually around 7pm. The group ate at several tables, and so my
table returned to the hostal to watch the Germany-Ghana World Cup match. A while later one of the students came in and
said that the restaurant was claiming we didn’t pay for five of our meals, so I
headed over to sorted things out with the help of another pilgrim, Carlos, who’s
from Miami. It turns out the restaurant
didn’t actually know how many meals they’d served, so we theorize that they
were just trying to take advantage of the students. Once we showed up things got sorted out
really quickly. I wish I could tell you
that things like this didn’t happen on the Camino, but where humans are
involved, misunderstandings happen
I returned to the hostal hoping to catch the end of the
match, only to have the hostal owner tell me that two of the group hadn’t paid
for their bed yet. This was in fact
true, but it was because they had tried to track her down to pay and she was
absent. The hostal owner was rather
snippy, and we had several weird issue with her earlier in the day, so on the
whole, I was not impressed with this hostal, in spite of Mr. Brierly, who
writes our Camino guide, who recommends the place. I may have to send him an email; as it
appears that the hostal owner is definitely biased toward older pilgrims, which
is certainly her prerogative.
Two days ago our walk was over the Alto del Perdon, the
point at which pilgrims have supposedly alked enough to do penance for their
sins. I’m not sure how true this is, but
it was sure good to get to the top of the hill.
We stayed last night in the medieval town of Puente La Reina, known for
its 1th century bridge, built by the Queen of Navarra so that pilgrims could
cross the river without having to ford it.
I was very grateful for this bridge, but not especially grateful that
our hostal last night was at the top of the hill across the bridge. Nonetheless, it was a nice hostal, and I was
able to relax and have several good conversations with the students.
Yesterday was another short-ish 13 miles to the town of
Estella. We made good time, and so had
trouble finding an albergue that was open.
Not wanting to wait an hour and a half for them to open we opted to stay
in a pension, which I’ll admit has a pretty fantastic view, and is run by a
very nice retired lady. We met some
other pilgrims for dinner, and had a bit of a convocation/group meeting with
the students to assess where they are and encourage them. This is the part where the walking stops
being fun and the mental game is key. If
I can get them to the rest day on Thursday, things will reset, and it will get
easier mentally.
Today, we moved at a slower pace; all of us are feeling the
strain on our bodies. Drake has had
shinsplints and knee issues; my right knee and hamstring are carrying on a constant
conversation with me, and several of the students are battling blisters and
pulled tendons. We’ve used up our supply
of tape; so I’ll need to replenish that.
The highlight of the day was an early stop at the wine
fountain. One of the wineries on the
route has been kind to pilgrims in that they have provided free wine via a
spigot to pilgrims. Needless to say,
this was a big hit with our students, though I made clear that it was a
cultural experience and I would not be pouring any students wine from the
fountain. There is also a webcam for
people to watch; I’m not sure if any parents got to see their kids drinking
from the fountain.
The terrain is gentler,but we were moving slower today, and
it seemed like a long, but beautiful 13 miles in to Los Arcos through
vineyards, olive groves, and wheat fields. I will admit that Drake and I have had several good singalong sessions, mostly involving VeggieTales from back in the day, but two of our students, Liz, and Katie, were walking with us today, and so we had to oblige them with Michelle Branch and Vanessa Carlton renditions as well.
Beds are in somewhat short supply here in Los Arcos, so Drake and I gave up our beds
for a privte room (such a sacrifice, I know!) so that a coupe of our straggling
students could get a bed. We will get an early start tomorrow for the very long
18 miles into Logrono for a rest day and a hotel!
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