Day Seventeen: Cheers to Paulo Coelho

Yup- you guessed it. Much like last night, no food for breakfast either. We had 11km to walk before we would have our first meal. I carried my bag again today, but experienced much less pain. Thank god. We made incredible time- arriving to our breakfast point by 9:30am. We had tostas and cafe con leche and to avoid being without food in the future, loaded up on mars bars, snickers and chocolate.

The rest of the walk that afternoon was fairly seemless, just a minor issue with the achilles, and in no time we made it to Castrojeriz. We made our way up and into this hillside town and as luck would have it, stumbled upon a brandnew albergue- we were their first guests! Charles and Bianca were also staying here. Albergue Ultreia is beautiful. Modern interior but with classic Spanish touches like the tile work and exposed beams. Heaven.

After we washed up we headed to a local cafe where Paulo Coelho used to dine. We had the best black bean soup, vino tinto and beers. Charles joined us for a while as we relaxed in this uber friendly establishment and enjoyed a hearty meal. Our bellies were full and thankful. Next step, naps.

That night our albergue hosts made dinner for us. We had garlic soup, pork and chocolate mousse. Inside the dining area is an old grape press for wine making. Our hosts taught us how it is used and the process of making homemade wine. A Frenchman and I shared the job of turning the press. Harder than it looked! He then shared a few local and traditional spirits with us. Cameron and Charles enjoyed these, Bianca and myself not so much. Very strong.

We spent the rest of the night sharing updates on long lost pilgrim friends from the first leg of our trip- back to Roncesvalles- laughing and drinking our spirits.