Camino Day 10 - Belorado to Agés

We were late getting up after one of the best nights we have had. In a room with about 30 people but most were young people and no snorers. The forecast was for temperature of 0°C (32°F) but when we got started after breakfast at the Albergue it did not seem so cold. On the way at 7:15.
The route took us again through small villages and through towns and rolling hills. One of the villages had a café open and we stopped for a cup of coffee. In our book it showed that we would have 3 steep climbs with a totals of 500 meters (1600 ft). We did a lot of climbing and reached a height of 1,150 m or 3,773 ft before path flattened out and we walked along a high plateau for several km.

Werner, Josef and I along the way
the weather was cloudy with the sun coming out occasionally but still a rather cold wind when we were not in the forest. At about 12:30 we reached our goal for the day. The small village of San Juan de Ortega (Ortega in Spanish means nettle) was our goal for the day and we found a place beside the church where we could buy a sandwich and beer. We sat outside in the sun and rested for a while. There was an Albergue there but our book said it was not well maintained and drafty so we were not keen to stay there.

San Juan of Ortega was a disciple on Santo Domingo (Benedict) and lived in this small remote town. He worked to help pilgrims with bridges, hospitals, churches and hostels throughout the region. He also founded an Augustinian monastery. He is buried in a simple stone sarcophagus

This is the Albergue we planned to stay in but decided to pass on after reading our guide. We didn't need another night of cold, drafty rooms

Statue of St Dominic

The tomb of San Juan de Ortega
After eating our lunch and looking at the church it was still early and only 3.8 km to the next village with an Albergue so we set off

View from the road, snow capped mountains on the horizon

The village of Agés as we approach
We were soon there and found the Albergue but were told they had no more beds available since all had been reserved. (No room at the inn) but that we could sleep on the floor in the attic if we wanted to. I went to look at it and found a big room with skylights and a pile of pillows and mattresses in a corner. It will be at least as comfortable as some of the bunk rooms, so we moved in and claimed our spaces. Showers available and a bar/restaurant downstairs - we will have everything we need.

After a shower and getting settled we went to look around the village.

An old church and a medieval bridge

We had another view of the mountains but they will be behind us. Tomorrow we will reach Burgos

Back to our attic. There is a cozy corner with sofas and a table. We had bought a bottle of wine in the village and some plastic cups. Werner had his Swiss Army knife to open the bottle and then we had an hour to discuss the day and plan for tomorrow.

We decided to have dinner at the Albergue. It turned out to be better than a Seinfeld episode. People came down to the dining room at various times and at about 7:00 pm the woman running the place (the owner) sent her husband round with a menu. it had pictures of all the items they offered.  It took about an hour before the menu got to us because the French people had to discuss and negotiate every item. We were to select one item for each of 3 courses. It turned out that after careful selection nothing that came was in any way related to the pictures we had been shown. The French got upset, the owner started crying, everyone was surprised. By the time we got our food we just accepted it.

We could not change anything and the husband kept making jokes but he only spoke Spanish which none of us understood. One of the Frenchmen walked into a glass door damaged his head and broke the door. That set the woman to crying again while she was trying to do all the cooking. Ice brought and everything else stopped for a while.
Eventually we all got something to eat but it had no relation to anything on the menu. More crying and complaining by the French while the rest laughed and accepted that the Camino brings a surprise every day.
Finally we all got a glass of some kind of schnapps and everyone except the French were happy.
Today we walked 28 km (17 miles) leaving 523 km (325 miles to go to Santiago. We have walked 175 miles so far from St Jean Pied de Port
Enough excitement for today. Now to bed on our attic mattresses!

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