Camino Day Nine

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Najera to Granon

28.2 km (17.5 miles)

Morning photo, with Saint James

We stopped here for a water break after climbing a long hill. That town you can see behind us is this weird, ugly brand new housing development that was completely devoid of people, save for a tour bus of older pilgrims who smiled at us eagerly as we passed. As we walked through, we felt like we were on a movie set or something. It was eerie. From my journal: After this we got into a weird little village of ugly, uniform, modern houses--like a vacation spot, because there is a golf course?

At this point, I'd like to note that I am not looking through my journal before I type in this. So the fact that I called it weird and ugly twice, without referring back to notes written at the time...well, you can imagine how we perceived the town!

On the other side of the town, however, was an older village, which of course means there is a bar. We stopped there for coffee, and Adam got a beer. It was while we were sitting there that Adam noticed the program on TV was called Desayunos. "Breakfast?" he thought. Sure enough, even though we had walked 15 km (9+ miles), it was only 9:45 a.m!

From my journal: We walked straight through the last town listed in the book (for the day's schedule) and on to Granon. The last couple of km were rough. It was hot, we were on a path w/o shade and right by a highway. 

However, we were blessed with a grand reception when arrived at the albergue! We were welcomed with a hug (despite our smelly bodies) and a glass of water. It was our first parish albergue (located in the upper rooms of San Juan Bautista), and we were completely sold on the idea. The idea being communal meals, mass in the cathedral downstairs, and leaving a donation for it all instead of paying a set price.

This is the main room of the albergue. At the top of the picture, you can see Judith (pronounced "YOU-dit"), who was playing the piano and singing. She has a beautiful, ethereal voice and is trying to get a cd of religious music produced. 

Adam is at the top left of the picture, attending to his blisters. In between Judith and Adam is the medicine chest, where we found a needle and some thread, as well as rubbing alcohol, which he used to pierce his blister, then leave some thread hanging out. We met several pilgrims who swore by it.

Next to Adam are two guys playing chess, and then two other men sitting around the room are two of the Italians, just enjoying Judith's impromptu concert.

Another concert, outside in the courtyard. Christian, a German guy, was playing the guitar and making up songs. One was about how he was sick of hearing the phrase, "Buen camino!"

In the picture, from left to right, are: Judith (German), Marco (Italian), Frieda (German), Tuna (Norweigian), Anna (Norwegian), and Regina (German). Bridget from Ireland is the one wearing pink, in the background.

This it the laundry room. It is difficult to see, but in the front right are steps leading from the sinks to the clothes lines. The floor is concrete, and is dome-shaped because the laundry room is directly over the narthex of the church. It was a bit strange hanging our laundry in a room where I could clearly see pigeon droppings, but our clothes stayed clean.

This was during the big communal supper. I think there were at least 40 people. Judith played a song and a prayer for us. We sat with the Italian guys and some Germans. The salad unfortunately had tuna on it (not uncommon), so I picked around that, and my tablemates decided that I could have two servings of wine, since I didn't get as much food :)  I ended up getting to know Tuna a bit better this evening, as we finished up washing the dishes together. After asking me why we are walking the camino, she mentioned that she and her family are not religious, which she thought would be a problem on the camino. I don't think she felt judged by or uncomfortable around other pilgrims.

We attended mass in the church, and from the sanctuary, if you looked up you could see the other side of this window. The mass was in Spanish. At the end, the priest invited up the pilgrims and blessed us. 

This is a map of Spain. You can see the route we were walking (the Camino Frances). We walked from the east side of Spain to the west, starting at that yellow line (the border of France and Spain), and going across the top of the country.