Queridos amigos,
Last time I checked, I’m more than a hundred miles in. Nice feeling. The best is virtually no foot pain.
Several days ago, I was walking through a wheat field and heard a ghastly sound. My first thought was that a pig was being slaughtered. But all I could see were wheat fields to the horizon and a 4x8 cement tank, open to the sky. As I drew closer, the sound grew worse; I expected to see one animal eviscerating another on the opposite side of the tank.
As I approached the tank, which was filled with green water, I heard two mighty plops. I had intruded on a furious courtship. In spring, a young frog´s fancy...
The hotel in Logroño was nice, but the rooms were out of sequence. Twice I pushed into the room that should have been mine, and surprised a woman. After the second time I feared the police would be summoned with a report that a serial room crasher was loose in the hotel.
The Spanish must be among the most sociable people on earth. Several times so far I’ve seen these afternoon gatherings. The children play with abandon in front of the local cathedral or on the square, while their parents, grandparents, and neighbors sip aperitifs at tables nearby. This is not a weekly gathering; it is a daily gathering. And the children I’m encountering are extraordinarily beautiful.
As I approached Navarrete today, I passed by an Osborne bull. The story is that in preparation for the Barcelona Olympics, all the billboards in Spain, which were probably as tacky as those in Texas, were ordered removed. But there was general agreement that there should be one exception. Osborne makes sherry and port. Their bull is an enormous black silhouette that you can see for miles. No words, just a black bull with sharp horns and mighty testicles. This was seen as a symbol of Spain and they are all over the country.
The Osborne Bull
A number of the hotels offer a connection to a pilgrim massage. Today´s hotel offered the services of Veronica, Las Manos del Vino, the hands of wine. I decided to give it a go. As it turned out, Veronica is the boss. Nancy from Peru knocked on my hotel door, set up her table, and helped my aching shoulders recover. I asked her about the manos del vino, and she said it was just that the massage is offered in the wine country.
Several people have inquired about my pack and my gear. I fretted so much about the weight of my pack. Ideally, they say, it should be no more than 10% of your body weight, about 17 lbs for me. But it was already climbing toward 20 in Austin and I knew I had a lot more to add. It´s probably close to 10 kilograms or 24 pounds now but once it´s on, I never think about it. A non-issue.
I packed good rain gear: rain pants and hat from L.L. Bean, and arguably the best poncho in the world, the Altus Atmospheric from Spain. Covers the pack, your head, the works.
I took Vasque hiking boots and Birkenstock sandals. As a precaution, many pilgrims bring an extra pair of walking boots or shoes. I’m taking a chance with no backup. If I don’t need them, it will have been a smart move; if my boots come apart, which happens, I’m toast.
Boot Kaput
Also brought two pairs of pants, both grey nylon convertible trousers from REI. Very light weight, dry quickly. When I took them home, I unzipped the bottoms on one pair and then could not reattach them for the life of me. A lady at REI showed me the trick.
After a day´s muddy hike here, I removed the bottoms to wash them, but then couldn´t reattach them. The zipper would open instead of close. I tried the other side and the bottoms got stuck. So I had shorts on one side, and shorts plus a dangling leg on the other. I found a tailor in Logroño who was able to separate the dangling leg but had the same problem I did in reattaching them. Nothing wrong with wearing shorts; I´m wearing them now. But I found during my training that all kinds of stuff gets into your boots when you wear shorts.
So I´ve got just one pair of wearable long pants. Unfortunately, my ball point pen leaked all over them. Now, like Don Quixote, I´m truly a man of la mancha. (mancha = stain)
They´re mopping the floors at the bar; they close in 10 minutes, so I´d best say good night.
Un abrazo,
John
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