Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Sept. 9,2014 Puente la Reina to Estella 22 km 13.6 miles

The peregrinos woke me up at 5:00, tried to go back to sleep but too noisy so I just got up & got ready with my headlamp. Made tea & baguette with peach jelly & cheese, 2 hard oiled eggs. Started my walk by 06:30, still dark so the full moon was beautiful & lit our way. I guess a pilgrim's day is basically the same, up early, walk paths of loose gravel, hard concrete, dried up mud, at times very narrow mountain ridge or along fields. The daily experience may vary on the different people I meet, Australians, Germans, Irish, South Korean, Japanese, Spanish, Canadians & Americans. Everyone has been so nice & helpful. I learned from Robert (Toronto) about Cocoa beans to prevent sunburn, Pedro from Madrid took my pic at the river where I had my lunch. I keep walking into my "old" Calgary ladies. Tonight a young Hungarian cooked too much pasta & sauce, he invited me & 2 Mexican girls to dinner at the Albergue. I told him to put up a note " Help Yourself" in the kitchen. Later he told us the spaghetti is gone.
Everyday I learn a bit more on how to pack without taking everything out. I thought I put things according to need but most showers do not have any hooks to hang your clothes & toiletries, no soap holder so I have to be so creative as to how to take my valuables with me, US passport, IPad, money. So many things we take for granted. Such is the life of a pilgrim on the Camino.