Week 1 done!

We made it through the first week! It’s hard to believe it, but here we are in Los Arcos after walking for seven days and 114km (70mi). So far, so good.

Today’s trek was from Estella to Los Arcos, a more quiet path with fewer towns along the way. (In fact, no town for the last 12km of the route, so we stocked up on water and snacks.) After a great buffet breakfast in Estella, we hit the trail under overcast skies (which kept us cool but still no rain) and stopped at the Fuente del Vino, or wine fountain. Yes, at 8:15 in the morning we were drinking wine because, hey, FREE WINE (courtesy of the Bodegas Irache to fortify pilgrims on their journey)… I love this country!

After that fortification, we had a bit of a climb up to a little town called Arzqueta where we stopped for coffee with another new trail friend, Jack. From there, it was more uphill to Villamayor de Monjardin before starting a gentle descent through vineyards and olive groves into Los Arcos.

A few reflections after a week on the Camino…

Rory and I are still speaking to each other. It surprises most people we encounter - when we tell them we are sisters - that we haven’t killed each other yet. I think we’re too damn tired at the end of the day to argue, let alone get into a fist fight!

Many Spaniards have dogs. We see them out walking as we leave the towns in the morning, and often when we arrive in the afternoons. I like that. People with dogs are trustworthy, IMHO.

They eat dinner late here. Many restaurants don’t open till 7:30 or 8:00pm, which is tough when you come in from walking for 13 miles and are hungry at 5! Coffee and wine are super inexpensive - like 1,5 to 2 Euros. And it’s all very decent. It’s so easy to indulge one’s vices. (Again I love this country!)

The hotels often have “French fry” or body pillows that I (mostly my knees) have become obsessed with. The door hangers that say, “Por favor, no molestar” does not mean what it looks like. (Cognates can sometimes be confusing.) They also have tile or wood floors instead of carpeting, and the rooms are also fairly small for two people. So my morning yoga is a bit cramped and less comfortable, but still very necessary.

The daily packing and unpacking is getting old. I haven’t bought any souvenirs or additional gear, but it’s getting harder and harder to close my suitcase. Does the accumulated dirt and sweat on my clothes really account for that much volume? Maybe it’s just that when the clothes are dirty, I don’t pack them as neatly. (That trick of rolling clothes and using packing cubes really does save space!)

Onward toward Santiago… only 665km (413mi) to go!