I was in a funky mood when I woke up. When I was putting my boots on in the lobby, I saw Musk and DJT on Spanish TV news and it was upsetting. I might have sworn out loud. It was time to walk.
I left Estella around 7:30 and walked (without coffee) for about an hour. I stopped at a busy cafe in the suburbs connected to a hotel where lot of pilgrims were eating breakfast in the hotel dining room. They seemed to be on an organized walking trip. They looked so relaxed and the women looked so put together. Their van was leaving with their luggage. It read, “Camino fácil” aka “easy Camino.”
My inner critic was giving me a hard time, like why aren’t you doing this the fácil way? Why are you making this so difícil? Why do you look so…Ugh. I felt a little better after an Americano and a tosta with jamón y tomate.
But my inner critic kept after me and I realized this is the perfect time to say hello, inner critic, what do you want?
Fortunately, once I got started my inner critic went back to their cave. I walked on and arrived at the famous Bodega de Irache and its wine fountain right when it opened at 9:00.
I’d missed this back in 2013 when I took the bus to Los Arcos bypassing this section of the Camino. There was quite a scrum of pilgrims waiting their turn at the fountain. A Japanese Camino tour group was in front of me and their guide gave them each a paper cup. I unhooked my shell, and poured myself a sip. It wasn’t great wine but the whole exercise was fun.
I realized that my funky mood was probably old emotions bubbling up as they usually do on the Camino. I had been so focused on just physically getting through the day on the trail that I hadn’t had room for any of those moments of emotional processing. Now I was finally feeling more fit, even though the uphill segments were still slowing me way down.
An hour or so after the wine fountain the trail went through an area of beautiful green forest and wheat fields. Off in the distance was a dramatic ridge of cliffs. It was quiet and I felt unexpected joy in walking and just being there.
The beauty continued. The next village Azqueta was cute, and had an open bar with tables outside. I stopped for an Aquarius and a small flatbread pizza. There were some nice pilgrims there, and there was easy conversation about the cost of living, Tesla, and the Camino. The owner was French and had one of those romantic Camino stories. While walking the Camino he met the owner of the local albergue, fell in love, and bought the abandoned bar, and left his corporate job for life in a small village.
As I sat there I noticed that a flock of sheep were huddled next to the building. It was one of those fun, unexpected moments of surprise and delight.
It was a pretty short day. I was going halfway to Los Arcos, staying at Villamayor de Monjardín at Albergue Oasis Trails.
I got there early in the afternoon and had a long, relaxed time sitting on the terrace with the hospitaderos and other guests in the warm sun before dinner at 7 pm.
I enjoyed talking to the lead host, a young Dutch woman who moved there with her parents. The albergue is run by an evangelical Dutch group and I was wondering how that would play out over the course of the evening.
She told me about living in the village, going to school in Estella, and how it was hard to get to know people if you were a foreigner.
I started talking with a fellow guest, a 40 ish year old guy from the Netherlands. His English was excellent and I found myself talking about American politics. I should have noticed a red flag when he asked how bad San Francisco was with all the drugs and homelessness. It was a classic case of mansplaining me about how I should support the current regime since they’d won the election and it was the other side of the coin from Obama. Hmmm. I don’t think so.
Dinner was good, served family style, and afterwards we were invited to a meditation service. I decided to go. I was glad I did. We sat on the floor with blankets around us while the host read a gospel passage and meditative music played. Then there was a “talking stick” exercise. Several guys only spoke French but that was ok.
I visited with the hosts after and they asked to pray for me. What’s in your heart on your Camino, they asked. Good question. Maybe what’s God calling me to do next?
I had the one private room in that ancient house, way up under the eaves. I drifted off to sleep looking forward to walking to Los Arcos, one of my favorite places on the Camino, the next day,
One Footestep at a Time 