Day 7, Estrella to Los Arcos

I woke at 5.45 and quietly tended to my blister prevention duties while everyone else in the room slept. We set off around 7.30 with the slight worry that today’s section of the Camino includes the longest period without access to food and drink. Fiona was a little twitchy about the possibility of walking without coffee and I was worried my supplies of dried apple, nuts and yogurt might not sustain me.
The first treat was the wine fountain where Bodegas Irache, the local wine producers, provide free supplies to pilgrims. We suspected this only made economic sense because most pilgrims pass by around 8am! The second treat was the discovery of a cafe about 8km into our walk - probably the most universally welcome sight for any Camino pilgrim.
Today marked the end of our first week. We’ve walked 135km and have made a wonderful start. We were blessed with another stunning day of wide skies and spectacular views. We ended with dinner at Los Arcos with Sheryl and Janice, our Canadian friends, and Denis and Bernie from Ireland, Camino veterans who are now Mammy and Daddy to us all. What’s more, I didn’t get a blister, despite yesterday’s ominous signs and, all in all, would count this as one of the best days to date.

As we tramped along today, one of the lessons of the Camino crystallised in my mind: whenever you admire a wonderful hillside or hilltop village in the distance, factor in the 90% chance that this is your next destination. It got me thinking about what else I had learned. So here goes:
1. Walk at your own pace. You test the patience of your companion if you are always urging them to slow down and you can’t enjoy the experience yourself if you are chasing someone else’s tail.
2. Invest in some sponges to cushion your collarbone from the friction caused by rucksack straps. Currently we are each sporting a yellow bath sponge on one side and a flat cleaning sponge on the other. Fiona’s is blue, mine pink. They do the job! We aspire to 2 flat sponges each. They work better!
3. Wear your sun hat
4. Don’t think you only need heavy-duty sun cream on your left hand side (because you’re walking Westwards and the left hand side gets the brunt if the sun). Despite this clever advice, it’s my more neglected righthand side that’s a bit red tonight.
5. Be paranoid about blisters and leap on all hot spots before the nascent little bastards have a chance to bubble up.
6. Enjoy!Read more