Susan, yes, it probably was in Los Arcos where Chris and his friends cooked dinner, as the municipal there did look like a big, nice place - we couldn't get in, though, it was filled - and probably had a nice spacious, well -equipped kitchen and dining area as many of the municipals do. Yes, buying food from the supermercado and cooking up a meal was a smart idea on the part of Chris and his friends. In response to my friend Birdie's observation that my backpack doesn't look light: actually, it does fell a lot heavier this time than last time, The computer I brought along this time has, unfortunately added about 3 pounds by the time you add the protective case bought I bought and the charger. And, small as it is, it takes up space in the backpack and kind of squishes everything together. And then there's the half-dozen rolls of TPand all the little jars of vaseline I also had squished in there But read on. Yesterday we walked another 19 k’s from Los Arcos to the town of Viana. Though the trail was much hillier today, with some inclines and descents, today’s walk was much easier for me than yesterday’s. This may be because yesterday morning I removed from my pack the Giant Eagle shopping bag I’d been using to tote laundry in and in it put a spare pair of socks, my camping pillow, my extra toothbrush, about half-dozen wooden clothespins, my bottle of sunscreen (Tom has a bottle, too), my wrist brace, a pair of free earbuds I’d gotten on the train from Madrid to Pamplona to use for the movie (Spanish trains show free movies), and one roll from my TP stash. I then left the bag of stuff on the “help yourself” shelf in the albergue. Next I removed two of the three remaining rolls of TP from my sack, gave one roll to Tom to carry and stuffed the other roll, flattened and minus its cardboard center, into one of my side pockets. I also removed a couple of my small jars of foot-Vaseline and shoved those into my side pockets, as well. My backpack now felt lighter than it had been the day before. But now, with all the new stuff I’d just stuffed into my side pockets along with all the stuff already in them, I was now definitely the hippiest Pilgrim on the Camino. But my back felt better. Anyway, a few kilometers outside Los Arcos we passed a flock of sheep within which some of the big-hornedrams were having a head-butting tournements. They'd separate, then run towards each other.and bump heads. Then they'd separate and run together again. They reminded me of football players. Off to the side some young lambs whose horns hadn’t yet developed were also practicing their head-butting. I guess they were the junior lamb league. Lamby see, lamby do, right? After we’d been walking for about two hours we passed through Torres del Rio, the last town until Vienna, about another four hours away, though we didn’t realize it was the last town, otherwise we’d have bought some provisions for the way.. After a few more hours we had our eyes pealed for a little town where we could get some , but of course there weren't any. But we did pass a pilgrim rock-garden where pilgrims piled rocks and stones for their prayers and intentions. Lunch time came and went and we were beyond ravenous with nothing on the horizon but fields and mountains off in the distance. Then suddenly on the crest of a hill in the middle of nowhere there appeared, like a dessert mirage, this: A lovely man and wife from Vilna drive up to this hill every day to set up this little Oasis called Casa Lucia to sell grateful pilgrims cold drinks, snacks,and the most delicious ham and cheese canines, with a panini machine powered by a generator they lugged up to this place. The man told me does this because he was a pilgrim, too, having walked the Camino twice. When we got our food the couple’s little dog Foo-Foo became our best friend, especially when I shared. Little Foo-Foo sure loves her some ham and cheese panini. When we arrived in Viana, a beautiful, hilly town with architecture dating from the middle ages and the place where César Borgia was killed in battle, though I don’t know the details, as HBO just had to go and cancel the “The Borgias” after the second season, Anyway, we headed for the same albergue we'd stayed at last time, the Izar, a big, modern building with bunks for 8€ or, a new option, private doubles for 40€, of which we snagged the last one. It was by luck that we happened to be in Viana at this time, as this week is the running of the bulls here. Every evening is a big fiesta, and the streets ar filled with people, especially the youngsters, dressed in the traditional bull-running costume, white tee-shirt and pants with a red neckerchief and red sash belt. There were costume-structures of the festival characters that the children could climg into and dance around in. It was so sweet.. For dnner we got our 9.5€ yummy-as-usual pilgrim meal at a little bar on a tiny street Then after dinner we returned to town to watch the running of the bulls. The main street was barricaded off and the crowds watched as about a dozen bulls the bulls ran up and down the street. Several teen-aged boys participated in the sport of running with the bulls, that is, running ahead of the bulls with the purpose of out-running them. Happily, all the boys did.
3 Comments
Claire
9/15/2015 07:10:55 am
The running of the bulls sounds exciting! How neat that you got to see it. I also love the story of the lambs practicing the head butting. You have had a plentiful day.
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Mj and grandpa
9/15/2015 12:59:55 pm
Love reading about your adventures. The running of the bulls was probably so cool. I bet you guys are too tired to try that.
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AuthorPatti Liszkay Archives
November 2015
CategoriesThe sequel to "Equal and Opposite Reactions" in which a woman discovers the naked truth about herself.
A romantic comedy of errors. Lots and lots of errors. "Equal And Opposite Reactions"
by Patti Liszkay Buy it on Kindle: http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa or in print: http://www.blackrosewriting.com/romance/equalandoppositereactions or from The Book Loft of German Village, Columbus, Ohio Or check it out at the Columbus Metropolitan Library
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