We decided to miss the rush today, and placed our luggage in the lobby for pick up at 8 am. The daily routine is that the luggage has to be in the lobby by 8, even though some mornings it is still sitting there at 10! We had a nice leisurely breakfast and hit the trail at the crack of 10. This worked out well; all the big groups were already gone.
I guess we walk at an average to slightly faster-than-average speed, so we don’t really get passed by a lot of other folks. But then we will hear a ruckus behind us and here come the teens! There are lots of school groups on the Camino and they are loud and fun and mostly very respectful of us. They are also predictable, stopping at the first coffee/pop stand to have a break, while their teachers are pointing at the watches!
Today we saw some other large groups of folks that hopped off a bus, walked one leg, then got picked back up by the bus. That group wa even older than me so I could catch and pass them. I always can blame the girls for making me go fast, as I am usually bringing up the rear.
Trailing behind again!
Maybe this guy had been on the road for awhile!
Something a person really doesn’t think about too often are the various smells that one runs into during a day on the Camino. These are just some random smells from the last few days:
The smell of the forest on a misty morning, fresh cut hay, a dairy barn, dust from the gravel trail, a silage pit, eucalyptus leaves, a lemon tree, chicken pens, ladies making lunch, a magnolia tree, a manure spreader, a laurel tree. Even more, but you get the idea. Look I have a lot on my mind!
This lemon tree was fenced, I guess to stop us pilgrims from helping ourselves to the lemons.
Day Seven - Aruza to A Brea 13.3kms, 5 hours, mostly flat with a few little ups and downs, descended from 387 metres to 376 metres, so not overly strenuous. Stopped to smell the flowers quite a lot!
Almost there, 25kms and 2 days to go, my feet are pretty good, only three blisters, had to perform a little surgery on one this morning. An open and drain job, otherwise I might not have got my boot on, well maybe not quite that bad!
Still lots of cutesy scenery and villages, but let’s talk food today.
Some interesting things about food in this part of Spain: they do not like anything spicy, or much seasoning of any kind. There is usually olive oil, vinegar and salt set out on the table, but no pepper. Lots of times when you ask for pepper they only have paprika.
Most of the restaurants have a “Pilgrims Meal” which is a set menu for €15 and consists of a first course, (one of salad, soup, or other appetizer) the second course (usually a meat or fish with potato fries), and a desert of choice (local cake or an ice cream bar). Oh, and water or a glass of wine. The wine here is very good, we just get the house wine and it’s always great. Sometimes they just bring the bottle and one glass might turn into a couple!
There is a really good soup with the pilgrim meal called caldo. A very simple soup made with white beans, potatoes and chopped kale or some other green, doesn’t sound great but it is tasty.
We have been alternating between just ordering the pilgrims meal or ordering dishes to share.
We could order off this menu, or this one
Prawns, Galician pie, seared Padron peppers, anchovies on cheese
Or this one!
Bread, Padron peppers, mixed salad, Spanish omelette, and octopus (a regional specialty)
We think that it is pretty much farm-to-table here as the country is full of gardens, beef and dairy cattle, sheep and chickens, although we have not seen many menus with lamb or mutton, which we think are mainly raised for cheese. Here are a couple of pictures of food availability:
Farmers Market
Cheese and meat shop
Steak with the grill master!
And paella
So all in all pretty varied and certainly fills us up!
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