San Juan de Ortega – October 8, 2016

When we left this morning the temperature was 5C  (40F), so it was time to put away the shorts and go for a heavier coat.  The first 3/4 hour was a climb out of the river  valley which raised the body temperature sufficiently.  The rest of the 12 km was a level gravel road through pine and oak forests.

San Juan de Ortega – how much smaller can the towns get?  This is a T junction with a church.  Population 40.  The church is lovely – built, or at least started by Juan himself.  As a result of surviving a shipwreck on his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he devoted his life to pilgrims.  The forests mentioned earlier were a convenient place to rob pilgrims, and he was responsible for clearing a road, and establishing a hostel at the midpoint.  It eventually became a large monastery, which is currently being converted to a large alberque. The church is simple and unadorned.  There are two 16th century carved and painted retablos, obviously from before the baroque guiding obsession hit; two sets of carved capitals that wouldn’t be noticed unless pointed out, and a large reja against one wall that seems quite out of place.  The central aisle is devoted to the tomb of the saint himself, with an ornate Gothic baldachin. The exterior has a three bell campanile in the style of those in the American southwest.

The hotel we are in is more like a B&B without a host.  The building is built as a large ranch style house, letting out their bedrooms.  Register at the bar across the street.  Supper is served at the bar across the street. Breakfast?  Pick up your packed breakfast tonight at 7 at the bar across the street.  The lounge area in the house has a huge coffee vending machine that will make every combination of coffee, chocolate and milk that you could possibly want.  This, in a country that cannot design a shower stall that doesn’t flood the bathroom.

We’ll see how supper turns out.  The priest that was responsible for rejuvenating the church was renown on the Camino for his garlic soup. We have found garlic soup to actually be garlic flavored bread soup.

Rather than bandits, the woods today were more frightening  because of Spaniards with guns.  There were signs along the trail of a yellow triangle with a pig in it, and some Spanish that didn’t translate well.  Yield to  pigs?  We heard rifle fire all morning, and this afternoon the jeep convoy pulled in at the bar across the street with three dead pigs to be admired and photographed by all.

Via is walking lighter today – she left her toenail  behind.  That seems to have removed much of the pain associated with that toe. Now, as to the others …..

Vic also went mass tonight.  I chose not to go.