Villatuerta to Villamayor de Monjardin 13.2 km

Monday, April 18th, 2022

13.2 km
Total 122.4 km 

Today would have been my mom’s 83rd birthday. I sure miss her.

Last night, I organized my clothes for the following day since I was sleeping in a room with 4 other pilgrims. This morning I attempted to dress in the dark to not disturb anyone else. Well, I lost a sock during this process. After spending a full 30 minutes looking everywhere I possibly could, the errant sock was found! My clothes and backpack were on a shelf. The sock was on the shelf above. I’m assuming while putting my sock on standing up, I placed the other one on the wrong shelf. So much for me getting an early start. LOL 

I had breakfast at the hostel before I left. The dinner the night before and breakfast in the morning were served much later than the posted time. I, again, was frustrated by this. I need to readjust my way of thinking while I’m in Spain on this pilgrimage. Not everything needs to follow the clock and be on time.  My entire life I have worried about being late. I never really thought about it before but, this probably dates back to my childhood. If we were late by even 1 minute, there were repercussions from my dad.

Today I got to taste the free wine from the Irache wine fountain. The Irache bodega, near the small village of Ayegui, was previously a Pilgrim Hospital. They now are a winery and give a free, self serve glass of wine or water to any pilgrim that wishes to partake.  There is a sign in Spanish that translates in English to the following.

Pilgrim, if you wish to arrive at Santiago full of strength and vitality, have a drink of this great wine and make a toast to happiness.

Of course, I needed to try some. Sadly it didn’t stave off illness for me.

My friend Ilaria, a travel writer from Italy/Waterford Ireland, texted me to say she was taking a rest day. She wanted to know it if I wanted to stay with her in Villamayor de Monjardin. It will be nice to have someone I know to hang out with. She also introduced me to a married couple named Windsor and Hillary, from upstate New York, I think. Hillary owns a bakery. I’ve encountered them many times on the Camino, but never spoke to them. I ended up having lunch with them. 

While I relaxed at the albergue this afternoon, I heard some loud and continuous honking from a large truck sitting in the main square. The main square in Villamayor de Monjardin is quite small so this large and noisy truck stood out. All of a sudden many Spanish women descended on the square and lined up next to the truck. Turns out this truck is mini grocery store! It reminds me of the Waterloo public library bookmobile that used to park by Blessed Sacrament School when I was a child. We would visit once a week to choose books.

Nanette, a retired music teacher from the Netherlands, and Ilaria are my roommates tonight. Ilaria and I had a long discussion about what the camino means to us. Another conversation was about the pilgrim blessing. 

My BabyBearButler, Sarah, has Covid. Apparently, she got it from her co-worker. This co-worker’s husband had Covid and she came to work with signs of a cold. They both were wearing masks, but it wasn’t enough to stop the virus. This co-worker should have known better, she is a doctor, for goodness sake. Sarah has been so careful staying masked and has avoided it up to this point.

Camino arrow to point the way

A St. James pilgrim statue

Searching for the Camino shells and arrows gets easier as the days go by.

Another Camino sunrise

Wine tasting!

I needed some water to go with my wine

Turtling my way through Northern Spain!

There is a castle at the top of this hill.

An ancient water cistern

My free wine from Irache. It was too early to drink at the winery.

This is a souvenir I want to buy at the end of my Camino. I didn’t buy it there because I didn’t want to carry excess weight.