We walked past more farms and were soon climbing the one hill for the day. As we got further up the hill, we observed a very noticible difference in the types of trees and season. It was like as we went further up, we traveled back into winter. There were no leaves on any trees except the evergreens that lined the path. Everything was brown and there were only a few flowers poking their heads out of the ground. We had passed through the few towns for the day very early on in the walk and had picked up sandwiches to go. Like I have mentioned before, our favorite part of The Way is passing through towns, so with no towns in sight, the walk went on forever.
We went slowly today because blisters were hurting my feet. Abe has not gotten any blisters (lucky) and when I complain about mine rubbing in my shoes, he just doesn't fully understand how it hurts and how I really can't go any faster. We walked through miles and miles of evergreen forest, eventually getting extremely bored. It was like we were on a never-ending treadmill of dirt and forest. It started to get more cloudy and eventually began to rain, which turned into hail. Walking in the cold forest while hail falls on your head does not make for the best experience.
San Juan eventually popped out of the trees and we stopped for a snack and to debate going on or staying. This tiny town (population: 20) had only one albergue and it was in a cold, stone building. I was pretty exhaused but Abe convinced me that we should keep going since the sun had come out. Agés was only another 3.5 KM away, surely I could make it. I put my headphones on and sang as we walked (we were the only pilgrims around).
Agés came before I knew it and we headed to an albergue to get checked in. We were met by a man who said "Completo" and shut the door in our faces. We tried another albergue who told us we could sleep on the floor for 10 euros. Surely there had to be a better option than that for us! We headed to the last albergue and were again told "Completo" (full). I spotted some of our friends and thought maybe we could all convince the man to give Abe and I a bed. They said to the man "These are our friends! Give them a bed!" and he just shook his head. At that point I was exhausted (we had walked almost 30 KM)and it seemed like there was nowhere for us to stay, and I began to cry. The man pinched my cheek and said "Un momento". He then had a Czech lady take us to a Spanish woman's very old home. There we met Anya. She said that we could sleep in her attic and that she would only accept a donation. We were both so dazed that we said yes and headed up to the room. After she left us, I began to cry harder as Abe set up our mattresses on the floor. I wanted a warm bed and to be around friends, not in some lady's attic!
After we got showered and I pulled myself together we headed to the local pub for some food and to meet back up with our friends. We split a whole bottle of wine and had a small pizza. It was warm there and we had people to talk with so we were happy. We even stayed to have a proper Pilgrim's Meal at this pub. By 9:30 we decided it was time to head back to our attic.
We walked in and suddenly the house was FULL of Spanish pilgrims. We had again stumbled upon a strange albergue that caters to a specific nationality. We crept upstairs and inturrupted some sort of Pilgrim yoga class. There was a woman leading a group of Spanish Pilgrims in stretches right where our beds were! We silenly sat on our beds, waiting for the class to end.
Eventually they did finish and as they were leaving, a Spanish man came up to Abe and I with food. He didn't speak English, but he kept pushing the food on us and so we weren't rude, we took his offering. We decided to join the rest of the Pilgrims downstairs in the kitchen. When we walked in they immediately offered us vino tinto from a wine bag thing (I swear it was like a game of Spanish Slap the Bag). They tipped the bag into my mouth, spilling wine all down my shirt but I could only laugh because they were being so nice and welcoming. We spent an hour downstairs listening to their rapid Spanish conversations before heading up to our mattresses to sleep.
That night, we had the coldest sleep of our lives. There was no heat at all in the old house and we had trouble sleeping while shivering. I went to sleep with pants, a shirt, socks, and my coat on and I was still freezing. It was the strangest experience, but after the warm welcome from the Spanish Pilgrims, we couldn't deny that we did end up having fun here!
Buen Camino!
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