The Way-Slow Way

Wynette. Sunday. We stopped for coffee in Azofra this morning. Two German men, photo above, were at the next table and speaking to each other in German while Charlie and I talked to each other in English. When they got up to leave we all wished each other “buen camino”, as is the custom. Then one of them playfully said to us in English “Have a nice way.” That is pretty much the English translation of “buen camino”. We all laughed at that.

Update Monday: This morning when we went down to breakfast, we found ourselves sitting across from these same men. We had all ended up in the same B&B. We found out they are from Berlin and are a father and son. (Father with the ponytail.) They are walking the Camino over four years, one week each year. We really liked them.

Charlie. They are everywhere in La Rioja, right by the trail, and look luscious. They are very good.

Charlie.

Only on the second plate please.

Charlie. With some loners that got away. Maybe haybale stack would be more accurate.

Charlie. FYI

Charlie. We have walked 12 days, gone 88.2 miles, 7.6 miles a day. We have used our sheet sleeping bags once, had sheets the other 11 days, and had towels 10 day. Six of the places were albergues.

Amazingly we are one quarter done. We are a day ahead of our planned schedule. We will get to Ponferrada. Coincidentally we were watching a bicycle race going through Ponferrada as we were having lunch today. The last quarter will be the Camino Finisterre.

The way-slow way is working out well. Wynette’s feet are doing okay and not too stressed. We are not tired at the end of the days. We sleep until we wake up.

It has been a bit hot and humid but it is cooling off now.

We have had almost all good food and sometimes amazingly good food.

People have been friendly and helpful. The main exception, the albergue in Los Arcos, makes a great story. It was so bad it was funny.

Wynette has been doing great with her Spanish. It has been very useful. We have learned to ask for things, like salad instead of French fries.

Because we go slowly we can stop a lot and look at things and think about what we are seeing.

Taking pictures of markers has been fun and keeps a record of the day on the trail. It is fun to go through them and recall the day’s walk.

Daily Log:
Date, Day, Miles, Average, Town, Hotel
16, 0, 0, Zizur Mayor,  AC hotel 
17, 1, 8.4, 8.4, Uterga, Perdon 
18, 2, 6.5, 14.9, Puerta la Reina, Jakue 
19, 3, 9.5, 24.4, Lorca,  Bodega 
20, 4, 6.5, 30.9, Estella, Christina
21, 5, 6.6, 37.5, Monjardin, Montdeio
22, 6, 7.5, 45.0, Los Arcos, Puente 
23, 7, 5.0, 50.0, Torres del Rio, Oca
24, 8, 7.1, 57,1, Logrono, Portales
25, 9, 8.2, 65.3, Navarrette, Cantaro
26, 10, 5.4, 70.7, Ventosa, Aguadas
27, 11, 7.0, 77.7, Najera, Calle Mayor 
28, 12, 10.5, 88.2, Ciruena, Victoria 

We have gotten a lot of enjoyment as we get to places remembering the first time we were there. We remember little things like what people were standing there as we passed and where we talked to the woman from Ireland (for example).

We are finding that we didn’t get enough of these places the first time. We were too tired or distracted or something. This gives us a chance to complete the experience. It has been very satisfying.

Wynette. We are in Cirueña where we’ll stay the night. We walked about 10 miles today. Around 2:30 we arrived at our B&B , Casa Victoria. After checking in with a nice man we walked next door to Bar Jacobeo for lunch, pictured above. (The only place for lunch in this tiny town. Not even a grocery store.) We thought we’d just ask for fried eggs and toast. But that caused quite a stir. They definitely could not make us toast. Our only option was a bocadilla or the pilgrim’s menu. So we had the menu. Fine, because we were hungry. We placed our order and sat down. Our waiter (man in black shirt standing and watching TV above) brought our water and napkins. He’d placed the napkins at our right hand. After he left I unconsciously moved mine to my left the way we do it in the States. He returned with the silverware and saw I’d moved my napkin and he made me move it back over to the right. He seemed genuinely upset I’d moved my napkin. Soon he brought the first course. Charlie had ordered garbanzo beans and I had ordered the soup. What we got was probably the best pilgrim’s meal we’ve had so far. The garbanzos came with two kinds of sausage and a pork rib. The soup was cod with potatoes and vegetables. Everything perfectly cooked and flavored. We decided that in the kitchen of this unassuming bar was someone’s grandmother. When the waiter brought us the second course, we asked “Who is la cocinera (the cook)?” He smiled for the first time and pointed to a woman sitting at the end of the bar. She was probably around 30, not grandmotherly at all. She must have heard us ask because she waved and smiled at us. Our second courses (beef and chicken) were delicious, too.

(Everyone in the bar was watching a big bike race on the TV.)

First course with silverware on the right :