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Radical Decisions

PUENTE LA REINE

Puente La Reine has fantastic churches in attractive streets. The refuge is friendly and clean with no more than ten people per room. There's a kitchen too, and even an Internet connection.

WITH A FRIENDLY WINK

At dusk we go for a walk and buy a number of things, including pasta. We see a tourist guide talking about the churches and the pilgrimage to a group of camera-clicking Japanese people who have just clambered off their coach. When she mentions pilgrims, she points to us, with a friendly wink. So, after only a week or so, we have become stereotypical pilgrims. Perhaps, at this very moment, there are Japanese people showing their grandchildren photos of us, “...and here are some typical pilgrims. They must be from Italy - see - they are carrying spaghetti...”

That night Gergő shows us his culinary skills: he makes a wonderful meal for us. At 10 o'clock we go into the garden, where the lawn smells freshly mowed, and it's very pleasant to sit in the cool breeze, under the Milky Way.

MEETING THE ROBOT

We feel very relaxed here, watching the stars, but the hospitalero - the staff at the auberge - asks us to go to bed. This time I don’t resent the ‘request’ because it is phrased in a kindly manner. We're in the same room with a tan girl, who has a nice face, black, curly hair, and she's in very good shape. We nickname her The Robot. On the road, she whizzes past everyone. She's quick and agile and no man can keep up the pace with her. Some, as we see, try to impress her, but none of them can follow her for more than two days.

A SNAKE BETWEEN YOUR LEGS

The next morning, after buying some bread, we set off towards Cirauqui. Dani starts out with us but soon decides to go faster than us, so we're on our own again. The path leads through a field of yellow straw. At once, Csaba recoils in shock, but we don't know why!

When he’s got his breath back he explains what happened. It was a green snake of about one metre in length that slid through his legs. For minutes, he can't talk about anything but the snake. He isn’t frightened of snakes like some people are - it was simply the element of surprise that shocked him. We all watch out for snakes from then on.

CIRAUQUI

It's noon when we arrive in Cirauqui. The streets are completely deserted except for a few kids playing with their mechanical bull.

It's wonderful how innovative a culture can be. I'm sure you'd never find such a toy anywhere other than Spain. Imagine a bull's horns, fixed on a wheel, which the kids push like a wheel-barrow. One kid is the torrero, the other is the bull, and they play bullfighting.

Leaving the city, we pass through many other villages. Walking through Villatuerta, a child offers me an apple.

When was the last time you gave something away? Did you get a buzz from it?

In many countries it's not polite to accept anything, but when you're in Spain, feel free to accept what they offer you, because they really mean it. Even the poorest of people have the spirit of generosity in their hearts.

ESTELLA

In Estella, the refuge is very good. We take a walk and are surprised how big and picturesque the town is. In the downtown area there is a medieval fair with all kinds of interesting spectacles like a falconry demonstration and a fire-eating show. Estella is a city I could live in because the people are so warm-hearted. When I ask an old man where the supermarket is, he tries to tell us everything that can be of any use. I can't praise the city enough - go there and see it for yourself.

WATER AND WINE

Next day we head for Irache , in the wine-growing area. To our surprise, the Bodegas Irache has made a drinking fountain for the pilgrims. There are two taps, from one of them water flows, from the other wine. Unfortunately, the wine tap is empty when we arrive. Oh well, who wants wine anyway?

The monastery of Irache is an enormous building, one of the oldest in Spain, and it's rather early when we get there, so it's still shrouded in mist. In the distance, there are rocks in the mist, and the sight is breathtaking.

ACCEPTING THE RULES

The normal course of each day is walking and walking and more - you guessed it - walking. Really, we've come to settle for less recently. We've accepted the rules of the camino, although we don't get up very early, we're usually on our way by 8, and we're learning to rejoice in small things.

GREED IS NEVER FAR AWAY

We arrive in Los Arcos which seems to be a calm town with some medieval streets and a greedy hospitalero. When we stop at the auberge, an old lady, his neighbour from the opposite side waves her hand to sign something, and then in a very low voice she stutters that the hospitalero charges too much, we shouldn't buy anything here, there's a shop if we go further. And she was right - later we went to check out the auberge and it was double the price of anywhere else.

There are two auberges in town, but both of them are full, so we decide to take a nap under a big tree, and then continue our journey.

TORRES DEL RIO

We go to Torres del Rió, another calm little town but when we find the auberge they tell us it costs 7 euros to stay overnight. It's too much for our budget! The next stop, Viana is 9.5 kilometres away, we can't walk that much today.

Thinking what we should do, we go to the local shop to buy some food. There's only one shop in the little town, and as we buy a number of things, apples, hot sausages, and so on, they're very helpful.

We're really enjoying our little meal there, and the shopkeeper even boils water for us to have a tea. He tells us of a cheap option: spending the night in front of the church.

SLEEPING IN A CHURCHYARD

The churchyard is really an earthly paradise, with fine lawn, a fountain, beautiful oleanders. We're very happy, all of us. We wake up early but very fresh. This sleep was the best in days.

LOGROÑO

It’s a long trek before our next stop. Our, rests get longer and longer, because it's not only our feet that need a rest but also our spirits. Andi’s toes are giving her serious trouble but she keeps up the pace with us. From a distance, Logroño looks very uninteresting, and Andi is rather sad about this - she's a big city girl.

We cross a big river and find the auberge in a very nice medieval street. It's fantastic: there's a little water basin with ice cold water, and a fountain in the middle of it, and it gives a fantastic relief to sore feet. The auberge is very big, and there's a big statue of St. James, too.

St. James, along with his brother John (the Evangelist), was one of the disciples of Jesus. They were fishermen who were called by Jesus to join him in teaching the new ideas. With Peter and John, James was one of Jesus's closest friends. It’s thought that when the Apostles divided the known world into missionary zones, the Iberian peninsula fell to James. Legend has it he spent a number of years preaching in Spain before his death.

CAMINO BARBIE

We meet a Dutch girl who is very attractive. We’ve seen her at a number of points along the way but this is the first time we get to chat to her. We don’t tell her, but we’ve already given her a nickname - Camino Barbie - because every day she appears in a completely different outfit and always looks posh. We have no idea how she can carry so many clothes but after much speculation we assume she must be buying new clothes every day and throwing the old ones away!

After a long soaking of our feet, Csaba and Gábor and I go for a walk in the city. The city is rather strange. It's big, on the one hand majestic, on the other crumbling down! On the main square, next to the cathedral, we decide to have a drink, which is very refreshing. From here I can see at least 10 banks. For some reason, I like to see banks around me. Banks and supermarkets make me feel safe.

It's not yet dark, but we have to go back to the auberge. We find Andi in tears with Gergő trying to comfort her. We ask what has upset her and she announces she can’t go on any further. She wants us to give up the Camino and return to Hungary tomorrow.

We are shocked at the very idea. Gergő explains that two more of her toenails have come off (just as the English man predicted) and she is in too much pain to consider walking any further!

Csaba tries to console his sister, explaining the many reasons why we can’t give up now but Andi is in no mood for compromise - she has made her decision. She tells us that we can do what we want but she’s getting on a bus tomorrow and going home - and that’s final!!

There is no way we can let Andi go off by herself. It’s starting to look like we’re not going to complete the Camino!

End of Part 3. Back to the Main menu.

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© copyright Culham Institute / REEP March 2004.