That's not to say some exquisite meals weren't had, as the two pilgrims still linger on many a delectable, French gastronomical memory, but food hoarders they had officially become. Olives, bread, cheese, nuts, fruit, chocolate bars and instant coffee packets filled their backpacks to bursting, but they didn't care. The shame, the embarrasment, the smell: none of it mattered. They would never be hungry again!
Then, these two pilgrims with their food anxieties and propensity for strict
dietary planning, crossed the border into Spain...
Spain is a land of many villages, all of which at the very least have a bar where one can order a tostada with garlic and tomato and a tortilla de patata. That is exactly what the youngest pilgrim ordered today at a hotel along the route that wasn't even a part of any particular town. There the Hotel Aragon simply stood with its hot coffee and cold orange juice just waiting for someone to belly up to the lunch table. So the young pilgrim got strange looks for ordering her tostada without ham - one man even exclaimed, "Never in my entire life have I seen someone order it without ham!" - but her sheer happiness from having a hot bite to eat midday on the trail soothed over any awkwardness.
Another shining star in the Spanish culinary world is the extreme abundance of picturesque picnic tables and benches. In France these were a rare find. Most 'olive breaks' were spent on shaded retaining walls or grassy plots of land. Once, the two pilgrims even dared to eat in the shade of a church, only later to discover other pilgrims had been shocked to see them, "eating in a cemetery!" Yes, if it's shady enough, the two pilgrims will dine with the dead. Who's to complain?
But now in Spain, things are different. The path is chock full of idyllic places to rest one's bum and eat or air out feet (or both simultaneously.) At the restaurant today, in fact, pilgrims were encouraged with an endless stream of wooden signposts to come to the Hotel Aragon with its many splendid treats. And there, on round, stone, tiled picnic benches, a mass of pilgrims drank and ate, feet bare and dangling in the breeze.
Having a plethora of opportunities to buy food products in Spain is also much appreciated. Grocery stores. Supermarkets. Bakeries. Even gas stations sell food. All of which are open nearly all day and every day of the week. And if one food dispensary happens to be closed for siesta or a day off, then there's another a stones throw away or a bar along the route that's happy to fill in the corners of your stomach for the time being.
Yet, perhaps the most joyful moment of all in discovering the cuisine options of Spain was a vegetarian restaurant in the town of Jaca. Not even a cosmopolitan city, but there it was - a beautiful meat free haven of avocado salads and pumpkin burgers and spinach lasagna and homemade wholegrain bread. The youngest pilgrim was moved to tears, while the elder pilgrim made up for the absence of meat with a chorizo sausage at the Anaya Bar the following day.
In this land of plenty, the two pilgrims have checked into food hoarders rehab, and for the time being, it looks like they will make a full and joyous recovery.
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A few culinary iPhone pics from Canfranc-Estacion to Jaca to Puenta la Reina de Jaca:
From the goat cheese of France to the sheep cheese of Spain.
I can't fully convey how the sight of this vending machine made our hearts
swell with joy. Throughout France we had dreamt of such a refreshing vision along our path. The thought of crisp, cold, thirst-quenching Coca Cola and Oranginas was almost too much to bear when in each village we found no shops open and sidewalks free of vending machines. Today, at this very tower of soft drinks, we blasted the coldest Diet Coke known to man and took off like rockets down the trail. Utter satisfaction.
A special pilgrim dinner menu. Just 1.5 Euros for a tapa and cocktail.
The bar in Puenta la Reina de Jaca awaited with two glasses of dry white wine.
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