We are writing tonight from Terradillos de los Templarios, which is the halfway point between St. Jean Pied de Port (where we started) and Santiago. We are having the time of our lives!
I thought I would tell you about a typical day in the life of these two peregriños. We usually wake up about 6:15 or so. Sometimes we wake earlier (if there are rude people in our dorm room) -- but most of the pilgrims are really respectful so we usually get to sleep until 6:15. We get up quietly in the dark, get dressed and take our stuff to the common room to pack so we don´t disturb the late sleepers. If the albergue has a kitchen or a microwave (which most do) we like to heat some water, make tea and have some fruit before we leave about 7 or so. If there is no kitchen we leave a little earlier and try to stop for breakfast at the first bar or cafe we come across.
During the time we have been walking we have met up with a number of pilgrims who are moving at the same pace as we move. When we heat our tea at the albergue, we usually sit with Michelle and Marie-Claude, from France. If we go to a cafe we almost always run into Josef, DeeDee and Marie from Holland.
We walk for a couple of hours and at about 10:30 or 11 we like to take a mid morning break. We often stop at a cafe for tea and, my favorite, -- cafe con leche (basically a latte). We are almost never alone at this break. Like me, Josef, our Dutch friend, loves cafe con leche and we can usually count on seeing him and his two colleagues even if we did not see them at breakfast. Lots of times we also stop and shop at this break. We like to buy bread, cheese, bi-fruitas (more on these later), nuts, fruit, and dried fruit for our lunch supplies.
After the mid morning break we usually walk until sometime between 12:30 and 1:30 depending on where the most convenient stop is. Tom and I tend to eat lunch on our own (although our various fellow travellers often greet us as they pass). I mentioned our typical lunch supplies above. The Bi-fruitas I mentioned are these great drinks we have found that are a combination of milk and fruit juice. They come in a wax paper-foil container like a kids drink and although it seems like the milk would curdle, it doesn´t. They are very refreshing and come in flavors like tropical and meditereaneo.
After lunch we usually walk to our desitnation albergue and arrive sometime between 2 and 3. If we still have a long walk, we might also stop for coke or more cafe con leche before we get to our stop depending on how we feel.
At the albergue, we shower and get organized for the next day. We usually wash our clothes by hand (in cold water) and hang them outside to dry. About once a week, we try to stay at an albergue that has a laundry service where we can pay about 7 euros, hand the hospitaliero all our dírty clothes and get them back a few hours later clean and dry!
After laundry we most often walk around town, find the shops, a spot for dinner and to visit the local sights (usually the church). We often will stop to sit at an outdoor cafe with others and relax. Our favorite late afternoon companions are Jacob and Stella from the US. I have to say there is almost nothing better than sitting in the Spanish sun about 4 in the afternoon drinking vino tinto (red wine) or cerveza (beer). Life is good! This is also the time we scope out our route for the next day, figure out whether we need any supplies, organize pictures. I also use this time to write in my journal.
About 7 or 7:30 we like to go to a local bar or restaurant that serves a "pilgrim menu". This is a great deal. the typical menu consists of three courses (including dessert), wine and bread. We pay anything from 7.50 to 12 euro each for the whole meal. Usually the choices for each course are limited to two or three things. Typically we might have ensalada (a green salad often with tuna fish) for a starter. The main course will consist of pork, stewed beef, some kind of chicken and chips. Our favorite dessert is flan which is ubiquitous here. We usually sit with other pilgrims at dinner. Sometimes the tables are big with 8 or 10 and other times they are small. No matter what, the company is good.
When we finish dinner at 8:30 or 9 we head back to the albergue and are usually in bed deaming by 9 or 9:30.
I will write later about some of the people we have met. To a person they are wonderful and we are loving their stories. For example, today we ran into a Russian guy who has lost 75 kilos in weight (I lost about 67 to put his loss in perspective). Needless to say we had a lot to talk about! The group of fellow travellers is constantly changing yet stable. Some people we have loved we have never seen again. Others we don´t see for a couple of days and then out of the blue there they are again. Still others seem to move along at our pace.
We are three days walk from Leon where we plan to stay at a nice hotel and take an extra day of rest and to sight see. I suspect that will be the next time we write. We have decided that we cannot keep on uplading all our pictures as the internet connections we get are not fast enough and often the software is antiquated. We will put up an edited slide show later this spring after we have time to get it together. In the meantime, Tom took the picture with this post at dinner a week ago or so.
Buen Camino,
Liz
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