Mark and I ate breakfast in our new favourite cafe, Cafe de Jaime, in Grandas La Salime. We
had some burgers and Austurias cidre there last night for supper with Scarlet, a pilgrim from
Hong Kong. Yesterday was our last full day in the principality of Austurias so we had to have
some of their famous cider. It is inexpensive and poured from great height to aerate. The
walls of the cafe were all dark wood and mirrors and their soundtrack was very chill. The cafe
was open this morning so we had the usual, dos pollo sandwiches, un cafe come leche, and
un Cola Cao. The place reminded me of the old Goudies department store cafeteria in
Kitchener for those of you old enough to remember it.
It took us almost two hours to climb out of the fog filled valley this morning. When we finally
got above the fog we had some great views of windmills and our last look at Austurias. We
walked on and entered the principality of Galicia. We stopped at a lovely cafe/bar just across
the border and ate Galician ham sandwiches with friends in the sun. It was a warm day and
this was the only cafe, so… we ordered quattro Coca Zeros. We weren’t messing around.
Klaudia
Klaudia is from Hungary. This was her third camino. She first walked Camino Frances 18
years ago. We were like the hare and Klaudia, the tortoise. We usually passed her early on in
the day, but with our frequent stops, her constant pace would put her ahead in the end.
Ten more kms on well worn trails, up and down a few more times and we reached A
Fonsagrada. Our albergue, Casa Cuartel, was renovated in 2020. The facilities are really
nice. We even got cotton sheets and a towel. Small things can make our days here.
Matias and Lucia
Matias and Lucia are from Argentina and this is their first camino. They are avid hikers in
Argentina, but are really enjoying meeting so many people from around the world here in
Spain. They are drinking Yerba mate, a traditional Argentinian tea with Yerba mate leaves
infused. This was their early evening ritual.
Tonight Anton is cooking pasta with a tomato sauce and local chorizo. It’s been a good day.