< Norte Day 19 — Norte Day 21 > < Norte Index >
16 kilometers, 3.5 hours, passing through El Pito, San Juan de Piñera, and Playa Concho de Artedo.
I left the albergue into the dawn’s light and crossed the plaza following a €2 breakfast of toast and tea. Saturday marketeers were setting up early. Fresh fruits and vegetables were available to all. Though, I must wonder who buys from these folks. It seems every house in rural Spain has a garden, and they were still producing. I’m sort of envious that the growing season was so long there along the coast. (I’d be more so if I could actually grow anything at home at any time of year.)
In the tiny guidebook and phone apps that I used for the Norte, it was hard to tell what a village or town might look like, gauge its size, or have a good idea of resources for we pilgrims. The first town of this day was El Pito, and boy did it surprise. Hendrik had caught up to me by then and we marveled at the many stunning homes and a huge manor house with a well-maintained and very long garden. Of course, there was a beautiful church, too.
It rained this whole day. Fortunately, not hard and a short distance to Soto de Luiña, we arrived by noon. Too early to enter the albergue, we stopped at the first bar/cafe, Bar Ecu. Busy, the place hummed with the Saturday crowd, or maybe the everyday crowd.
An older Spanish guy who had stayed where we had the previous night was at the Ecu, too. Later, a woman we saw early in the day came in. She ordered some food and joined us. Her name Antionette and came from County Sligo, Ireland. She planned to press on—though the barman cautioned her on the distance and effort to get to Cadavado, her planned destination. She left anyway. Her advantage was that she had sent her backpack ahead with the postal service. She carried only a small day pack.
The municipal albergue resided in an old school. It had updated showers, vending machines, and a washer and dryer. It’s always a delight to have clean, dry clothes. Even if only until you step out into the rain.
Being such a short day, we spent a lot of time at the Bar Ecu. In small towns like Soto, these bars are the hub of society. Everyone knows everyone else. Friends meet, families stop by for a quick meal, coworkers have lunch together. Young and old, man, woman, and child in waves of activity. One elderly lady by a long window sat in the same chair, a newspaper in hands, every time we visited. By the end of the day, she was a little tipsy and loud. A young man, perhaps her grandson, eventually helped her home.
Once the only store in town had opened, we bought supplies for the next day, then a few of us went to dinner at the Ecu.
That night I attended an online writer’s critique group meeting. I only mention this because of the setting: The real-life meeting was in California, so it was late for me. It started at 9:00 p.m., Spanish time. I could only stay on the line until about 11:00, needing to get some sleep for our planned 35 kilometers the next day. While I was online, I laid in my bunk with headphones in and the covers pulled over the screen of my iPad. Fortunately, the WiFi was excellent and the connection trouble-free. Around me were a dozen other pilgrims, some reading, some snoring.
I eventually had to leave the meeting. I needed to sleep. 278 kilometers remained to Santiago.