Feeling refreshed after my rest in Logroño, I start out on the next leg. Of course as soon as I leave the city proper, I am greeted with the following:
Just another stunning village view right? Well, yes except I sent all of my cold weather gear on to Santiago two days ago. I am now a bit worried that I have yet another mountain crossing ahead of me and this one seems even gnarlier then the first. I keep consulting my maps and guides as I trek, but I just can’t tell for certain yet if I’ve royally screwed myself.
I’m opting to stay in the moment and I’ll deal with mountaineering if and when it becomes a reality. Snow aside, we are definitely in wine country now. I feel a bit like I’m back in California.
When I got to the albergue, I was shown to the dorm at the same time as a ‘gentleman.’ We were shown to a bunk bed and he immediately claimed the bottom bunk citing age. I fell back to my manners and didn’t push, even though I had checked in first and specifically asked for a bottom bunk. I also figured he was going to be a pain getting up and down the ladder. However, he immediately plopped down on the bed and began unpacking his backpack, taking up all the space in front of the bunk. Okay, again, fine. I needed a snack anyway, so I headed to the cantina. A beer and a smoothie and a walk back to the albergue later, he’s still plopped on the bed with all of his stuff everywhere. Someone clearly didn’t learn sharing in kindergarten! So, I grab my shower stuff and clean clothes and get in line. I get cleaned up and head out to the patio to let my hair dry and write some postcards. Come back, and you guessed it! No movement. So, finally I ask ‘Heya, can I get maybe two minutes to unpack my sleeping bag and set up my bunk?’ He says, ‘sure’ and continues to sit there. I pull out my stuff sack, still nothing. I stand in front of him with my stuff sack in hand, nothing. Finally I say ‘So, can you get up for a few minutes? I actually need to spread things out and that’ s much easier to do from the ground, but I can’t do that with you sitting in the middle of the bunk.’ He then sneers at me ‘Well, you just have to ask me to move!’ I set up my bed and make a note to stay clear as much as possible.
That night, it turns out that OF COURSE bottom bunk is a snorer. However, one of the other guys in our dorm was having none of it. Everytime BB would start snoring, dude on the other side of the room would shout ‘Stop it!!’ This went on all night long. I mean, not much the snorer can do but dude yelling at him could certainly stop yelling. The joys of communal living I suppose.
I arrive in Grañón on a high holiday. This is a tiny hilltop village and everyone is out in the square, decked out in their finest. I walk past and meet my casa rural owner to find him impatiently waiting for me at our agreed upon time. I hurriedly checks me in and then tells me he’s late for church. As I get settled into my room, I realize that the town is processing thru the streets with an icon and that a bishop has joined the festivities. Later that night, I learned that this was a huge and unexpected honor for the town. The festival occurs every year, but this was apparently the first time in many years that the bishop attended. The casa rural owner’s impatience made a lot more sense in that context!
The unfortunate by-product of the festival was that, even by hilltop village standards, they were rolling the sidewalks up early that night. Another pilgram and I walked to the one open bar and learned that the kitchen was closed, but we could have our choice between a bocadillo (ham and cheese!) or a tortilla (egg and potato.) Or, we could try the hotel next door, which had a restaurant that *might* be open. We walked around the corner and discovered a supper swank little hotel restaurant. It turns out, the owner had moved to town several years ago from Barcelona specifically to open this restaurant. The other pilgram and I split a local cheese plate and a bottle of Rioja and I had some of the best beef cheeks ever! A total and delightful surprise in a fairly nondescript village and a nice way to end this segment of the Way.
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