First Days

The first two days of the Camino were supposed to be the most challenging physically. Today we took about two and a half hours to travel 5.5 miles on twisty mountain roads. The changing elevation was about 3,000 ft.

Our room wasn't available until 2:30 p.m., so we went back down the mountain a half mile to grab lunch and then come back up. Lunch was fairly traditional. A vegetable soup, and an egg and potato quiche called a tortilla.

The Albergie (hostel) we are staying in has a dormitory for 15 people.  They share a shower and bathroom.  We are in the "luxury suite" with a private bath and just two beds.  

There is a theory that people who do the Camino seriously do it as close to the poverty level as possible. We run the risk of being seen as elitist by paying 10 times more for our overnight than the others. But, this is our Camino.  Each person does it in their own way. And the general consensus is a very small amount of envy, but we will share dinner and the experience of the evening with everyone.

So far we have met people from Germany, Canada, France, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and a few others that I don't recall. It will be interesting to hear the stories about why they are doing this Camino pilgrimage. Some have done the route multiple times. For most, it is the first time.

I'm sharing some of the readings from my heart rate monitor. We did not race up the mountain. It was about 2.5 mi an hour. But, nobody passed us on the way.