No Sweat Pilgrim

Total walked today: 19 kms
Total walked: 87 kms
Kms left until Navarrete: 21 kms

Last night a strong wind blew into Los Arcos, and today the temperature plummeted from 90°F/30°C down to 70°F/20°C. We had planned a shortened walk today- 19kms instead of 30kms- based on the expected heat. But! With now-cloudy skies and cooler temps, the 19kms felt almost effortless. It was literally no sweat.

After leaving Los Arcos, our morning walk was an easy, flat 7 kilometers to the first town of Sansol (which I noted sounded more like a detergent or a vegetable oil brand than a town, but you do you, Sansol). Sansol is a VERY tiny town, and it's Sunday in Spain, so nothing was open except single shop near the town square. I felt pity for the elderly proprietor who was in nonstop motion serving espressos and baguettes to all the hungry pilgrims.

We were sipping our coffees when a man started yelling in Spanish and threatening another pilgrim- and we realized the pilgrim was our French friend Alan. Apparently this crazy dude was accusing Alan of stealing his euros last night in the town's pilgrim dormitory- and Alan speaks no Spanish and little English, so he was a bit terrified. The police arrived, and we vouched for Alan and attempted to translate the weird situation. It took so long to resolve that there was no longer enough time for Alan to walk to his planned stopping point; he was forced to cut his day's walk short to the town of Viana...which coincidentally was also our final destination for the day.

Our day's walk was gorgeous. There are no other adjectives. We spent much of it walking along a high ridge overlooking lush green valleys; the descent into Viana was via a lovely flagstone-paved path, bordered by wildflowers and olive groves. As we walked into Viana, we passed by the Pilgrim's Oasis Café...owned by the very same people as yesterday's Pilgrim's Oasis food truck. We walked in and were immediately recognized and welcomed by the owners, who gave us free coffee and cookies while we chatted and exchanged contact info. We expect to see them in Barcelona soon!

We checked into our Viana hotel- tonight we're splashing out for a room in a former medieval palace, with a balcony overlooking the astonishing ruins of Iglesia San Pedro. And an hour later, as I was sitting on the balcony of our plush digs, I saw Alan down on the street below. The three of us went out for drinks, and in another weird coincidence, in that bar were two other French pilgrims who had been at the Sansol shop that morning. The five of us ended up closing the bar, after many bottles of Rioja, pintxos, and Google-translated conversations. It was a perfect Camino evening.

I always quote the idiom "the Camino provides." For me, this time around the Camino has provided unexpected moments of friendship with incredibly kind people. The Camino is awesome.

Tomorrow we cross into Rioja country for our final day of walking!Read more