a long overdue update...

All is well on the camino! I am in Villadangos del Paramo - blink and you´ll miss it! Much like many of the small towns along the way. It was a short 20km hike this morning from Leon and I am happy to give my feet a bit of a rest. The only part of my body that aches now is my feet. They feel really tired in the morning when I wake up but they keep moving me forward nonetheless!

I checked into the albergue at 11am and was the first pilgrim to arrive. I got to choose my bed - which is really rare on the camino! and I have no one waiting in line for the computer... it must be my lucky day!

I am feeling pretty lucky these days in fact. My walking parnter Susan left yesterday to return to the U.S.A and I was hoping to run into some familiar faces in Leon and find a companion for the next stretch. Earlier on the camino Milton and I stopped at the fuente del vino and ran into someone I know from Waterloo and I was hoping to catch up to her. I stumbled upon her on a terrace in Leon which was lucky since she didn´t stay at the official albergue.
My luck gets even better... I knew that the town of Astorga was famous for its chocolate production and it was the scheduled stop for Friday. I discovered yesterday that the chocolate festival starts today and will be in full swing for my arrival tomorrow! I will be needing the 26km walk tomorrow to pre-burn the calories I will consume in chocolate once I get to Astorga! I consider it a very important lesson in Spanish culture to sample all Spain has to offer in gastronomy, especially chocolate!

This brings me to an important thing I´ve learned about the camino... it is not going to help anyone lose weight! The food along the camino consists of a great deal of bread for starters. It is the easiest and cheapest thing to pack and to eat while walking. On top of that, Spanish cuisine involves the foloowing: a) lots of oil b) lots of cheese c) french fries and d) often all of the above! Most restaurants offer a set menu for around 10 euros and includes an entree, a main course, and a dessert, with endless wine and bread. The first course is often vegetables (salad or bean soup) followed by a meat course that is ALWAYS accompanied by french fries, and who can say no to dessert when it is included with the price of the meal?!

I have tried a few dishes that I would like to find the recipes for when I get home. In Logrono we had a fantastic meal and I ate these tiny little red peppers stuffed with some kind of ground meat and lots of cheese. they were covered in a crepe like batter and fried, and served with a roasted red pepper coulis - mmm! The other thing I have really enjoyed is a bean soup/stew with red peppers and chorizo sausage. It sounds simple but the secret is in the broth and I am yet to figure out the secret! This is one that I think you´ll really love Dad!

On top of all that delicious stuff there are pastry shops all over the place, and though I haven´t had an ice cream yet, it is some sort of national rule that everyone eat ice cream between 4 and 6pm everyday and parade up and down the main street or main square to see others and to be seen by others. I´m not appropraitely dressed for this event. The locals put on their most beautiful, colourful outfits and best shoes to eat their ice cream while i sit and watch and try to dust off my pants that i´ve been wearing for almost 3 weeks now!

I´m having great fun walking and learning about Spain - this really is the best way to do it!
Well I´m off for lunch and then a nice siesta and maybe some sun on teh patio .. what a pleasure it is to be a pilgrim!

I will be sure to eat lots of chocolate for everyone and report my findings after my Spanish chocolate degustation! ;)

Lots of love from the camino!