. . . perhaps the perfect stage . . . or half stage anyway . . . leaving Ruesta at eight . . . hospitable hosts, Maria - feisty, Carmen type; Jose-Marie (Joseph-Mary?) manly and gentle, his two part name combining masculine and feminine qualities . . . maybe the perfect complement to fiery Maria . . . she speaks some English . . . explains about Ruesta's ruin . . . not inundated, the excavation of the reservoir undermined the foundations of the town . . . I could not resist the more dramatic story and the town/drown rhyme . . . shower, two course evening meal, bed, breakfast, snack for the road and wifi all for €24 . . .
. . . an hour of gentle climbing through the forest, an hour descending, half an hour up to Undues de Lerda, another hill village, alberge, bar . . . cafe con leche outside in the warm sun . . . reverie . . . birdsong and a brief moment of bliss . . .
. . . Sergio arrives . . . I left him chatting with Jose-Marie . . . we prefer walking alone, at our own pace . . . another coffee . . . at dinner last night, a jug of wine and a jug of water . . . only briefly interested . . . we both took water . . . I'm not not drinking alcohol on the trip, I just have not wanted it so far . . . something about aligning with the frequency of the universe perhaps . . . I remember from previous trips coffee with brandy in the morning . . . maybe when it gets cold . . . meanwhile maybe coffee is not conducive to aligning the vibrations . . . I will let you know how that goes . . . and talking about spiritual aspects of the journey, John O'Donohue quotes Meister Eckhart: If there were a spiritual path, it would be a quarter of an inch long and many miles deep . . .
. . . writing this in Undues . . . already over halfway . . . 70 minutes coffee break seems right . . . Sergio leaves first . . . his feet are better after he punctured the blisters . . . he has socks marked L and R . . . asks which is which, in Spanish it's E and D . . . not sure it makes a difference, maybe they are special socks, maybe placebo effect . . .
and so to Sanguesa in Navarra . . . first town since Jaca . . . spread out . . . horticultural suburbs with small houses and big vegetable gardens . . . a small albergue, very simple . . . 16 beds, a shower, kitchen . . . €5 a night, cheaper than the free one at Arres, where €10 seemed right as a donation . . . Sergio has been to the supermarket and is cooking pasta . . . after that, a search for wifi . . .there is none here . . .
. . . and after a pleasant meander around town, a visit to the supermarket . . . thought to make porridge with honey and banana for breakfast . . . an English treat for my pilgrim pal . . . the library has free wifi and a map of the Camino all the way to Santiago . . . one of my pleasures after the morning hike is to walk without the pack . . . tomorrow to Monreal . . . my local map says 29 km . . . the sign by the bridge says 24.5 . . . either way, it's the next Albergue . . the one at Izco is closed until March . . .
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