Puente la Reina to Villamayor de Monjardin

32.2 km - 20.12 miles
Up 742 m and down 541 m

Various people have commented about all the food and drink we have been consuming. Well that was in France, but now we are in Spain and the pilgrims meals are smaller. However, this morning we had a first for Spain, as the hostal, for a fee, provided us with breakfast.

As we get deeper into Spain the agriculture is changing and today we have walked past fields of peppers, asparagus artichokes and olives.

The route today has been on tracks parrallel with a new motorway. Some of them only recently built. However, for a few miles we also walked on an old Roman road and crossed over streams and rivers on old Roman bridges.


As we walked into our first village we bumped into Lucas from Belgium and Jonas from Sweden. We then walked with them to Estella where we carried on.

LUC
Jonas

Just before lunch we came to the "Ermita de San Miguel". Outside was a picnic area, so we decided to see if the chapel was open before we picnicked. For once the chapel was open. It was obvious that it is no longer used for services or looked after by anyone. On the altar many people had left written prayers. However, they had also left, what I can only call, offerings, as well. [On the Camino on wayside crosses and marker posts people place stones, a bit like walkers adding stones to cairns]. Many, many stones had been placed on this altar along with olive branches, cans of coke, packets of cigarettes, sweets and many other strange things. There was somthing animistic about it.

I must admit I found it all a bit disturbing. Not because I am narrow minded, we have travelled to the East and visited temples where offerings are left for the gods. But this wasn't in the East, this was in Spain in a Christian church.

As well as being disturbed I have also been reflecting that somewhere, along the way, we in the Church have let a lot of people down. The evidence of their offerings and the fact they are walking the camino, suggests that they are searching for somthing, trying to fill a spiritual void in their lives, a void that the Churches have not been able to fill. We can't smuggly point the finger at other denominations and say we have it right, as the pilgrims that have left these offerings are from all over the world, including Britain, and probably were exposed to many denominations including our own. The question for us all to think about, is how can we now help them.

After we left Lucas and Jonas in Estella, we passed through the village of Irache whose claim to fame is the "Fuente del Vino", a wine fountain, providing free wine to thirsty pilgrims. Of course we had to stop, but before I could try the vintage, I had to fish for one of Lesley's trekking poles she lost through the bars of the Bodega into a locked yard.


I can report that the wine is very smooth and would highly recommend Vino del Irache!

We then continued on our way, rising gently through woodland and grapevines up to the village of Villamayor de Monjardin.

We had read earlier in the day about the hostal at Villamayor de Monjardin run by a Dutch Christian group, Oasis Trails, and decided we wanted to stay at their hostal. As we arrived, we bumped into Johannes a Swiss German we had last seen at La Fontaille in France five weeks ago, when we shared a mobile home with him. The world of the camino can indeed be very small.


We checked into the hostal and were charged the sum of €35 for a bed each, our evening meal and breakfast, (it should have been €40 but they only charged me €5 for my evening meal, because I had last nights vegetarian meal, as the meal they were cooking contained fish).

We booked in and went in search of beds. Unfortunately all the bottom bunks had been taken and Lesley was not a happy bunny. I demonstrated the technique for climbing in and out and she put on a brave face! Whilst she was in the shower another room was opened for an Austrian couple and I asked if we could move our stuff into the other two beds in that room. On emerging from her shower Lesley found that she would be sleeping in a bottom bunk after all, (the bonus for me is I got a ladder up to my top bunk!)

The four Dutch & one Canadian (of Dutch extraction) staff who ran the hostal all spoke excellent English and made us all feel very much at home. Other guests included four Americans and a Australian, Chris, who was celebrating her birthday, so English was very much the language of choice.

After the meal we were offered copies of John's Gospel, (we explained that we had already recieved one in Conques). They also invited us to join them for evening prayer, which was very moving and was a good antidote to our visit to "The Ermita de San Miguel".

After the prayers, we sat around an open fire talking to the other pilgrims before going to bed.

On the Camino in Spain