Day 36 Jaca to Santa Cruz, 27 km

Jaca to Santa Cruz de la Séros and then to the San Juan de la Peña monasteries

The gods intervened this morning. One minute from my hotel was an open bar for coffee and where I could get 2 tiny sandwiches for later. And then the intervention was even more clear as I walked by the place I had been planning to go, on the other side of town, and it was closed.

Surprising thing about Jaca that I learned after seeing a sculpture of a figure skating pair in a park. In Jaca! In the 1990s a famous Russian coach brought his skaters here to train in the summers. They were told exhibitions for the public and Jaca got a reputation as an important training center.

Then a very easy 13 km, with one surprisingly large hill, to the turnoff to Santa Cruz. Along the way there was a big field of picnic tables where I ate my first little sandwich. Just as I stood up to go, I was passed by a long parade of what I think were antique Fiats. I also saw that someone was coming up behind me. He didn’t catch up until quite a ways later. Rueben from Germany, who just started today and who had been packed and ready to go for about a month, but then he got sick and didn’t think he’d be able to come. Three days ago he finally decided he could. He was really happy to be here. He was going to Arrés, so I won’t see him again.

At the turn off to Santa Cruz I sat on a big rock to eat the second sandwich. A few minutes later there was a tick walking up my arm. That was the end of my break. There was a lot of checking and shaking off of clothes and I brushed off my pack. Earlier in the morning, I had been thinking that, it was so much long grass, I have been so lucky not to see any. And then here was one in a place where there was barely any grass or vegetation at all. Maybe it had travelled with me. Horrified face emoji here.

I got to Santa Cruz before noon. My room was not quite ready, but I was allowed to leave my stuff there. I took everything out of my pack except rain gear, and then I walked up to the monasteries. 600 and something metres up and, later, 600 and something metres down. It’s a good path but it’s steep and rocky. On the way up I met 5 people who were on the Camino from Monserrat, 4 women and a man, one German, one Dutch, three Korean. A sixth person with a pack also passed me but he was going too fast to learn a thing about him. . And then in the new monastery there were another three women with packs. That’s as many pilgrims as I have seen in weeks.

No guided visits or significant learning for me at the top. I had lunch instead! No small food in the cafeteria so it was lunch or nothing. I think that was the first hot lunch. I’ve had on this trip. And after lunch I ran into the American students from last night’s hotel. They are here because their Spanish course will be taking place on the the Camino Frances with their professor. They are from a college in Utah. Because of the colleges rules, they cannot stay in albergues. There can only be so many students per bathroom and they have to be sleeping in rooms that lock. I can’t remember what else. They have each paid $7000 to cover their costs and their tuition. Today they had a driver. They will have their luggage transported, but they will walk from Roncesvalles to Santiago. They were extremely polite. And curious. I can’t imagine taking students on a trip!

The way down the mountain was much faster, in part because, well, down, but also because it started to rain and I wanted to make sure I got back before the dirt paths turned to mud. About 2/3 of the way down there was thunder in the distance. Yikes. I got down before it got closer. And about five minutes after I got back to the hotel there was a deluge. I enjoyed it from inside with a clara and, because I am now in Spain, a bowl of very salty nuts.

When I went back to my very nice room, there were no lights. The storm did something. No one here could fix them. So they had to move me to a way less nice room around the back of the hotel, some kind of annex. If I had not seen the first room, and how nice it was, this room would have seemed fine, in the sense of it’s a room. But I am sad to have missed the bathtub and the very good beds.

Tomorrow is short so I will take my time in the morning. Breakfast is not until 8:30.

It’s pouring out now. But the morning is supposed to be dry.Read more