Every morning I long to hold you……I need you, I want you, I have to have you……your warmth, your smell, your taste……ohhh coffee, I love you.
Yes, coffee is an obsession on the camino. Well, that is true for some of us.
Coffee is the go-to beverage for many peregrinos. Leftovers and snacks found in the backpack make up the “first” breakfast in the morning. Those things get us out the door.
A whiff of coffee on the trail means a cafe and a “second” breakfast are near.
Just follow that smell through the swinging vinyl strip door and step inside.
Uh-oh. I am not a coffee drinker. Well, not much. I don’t have to have it.
For us non-coffee loving pilgrims the choices include soft drinks or orange juice, preferably freshly squeezed. Water is welcome, too. But I need to eat.
Oh, did I say food?
Imagine this: you walk into a cafe that is open in the early morning. Before you can utter a word, the owner says “no food”. “No food”, you say. “Si, no food”. But, but, I see food. A moment of confusion. That means no food for me. Hmmm, I don’t know how to take that. There are people in the cafe, sitting down. A television is on with the morning news. What is going on here? It’s beer for breakfast! These patrons are drinking beer and spirits before starting the day.
I don’t know about this – so many people drinking alcohol so early in the morning. It is not surprising that people secretly drink in the morning, but publicly, with their friends? That is not something I am used to, especially when I am hungry and need food to help me walk these kilometers to the next town.
Hearing the terse statement that no food is to be had at this moment hurt my feelings. It is difficult not to take it personally.
It has happened a few times during my trek. I remind myself that I am a “stranger in a strange land” and simply walk on. It just makes me stronger.
Other pilgrims have experienced this too, but that does not make me feel any better about it.
I suppose if I am literally starving to death, they might throw me a bone.
When I find a cafe willing to serve me something, I ask for a límon drink. It’s always Fanta! I think to myself, I did not come all the way to Spain for a Fanta. Oh well, I did not have to beg for ice this time. Of course, I get perplexed looks because I am not ordering coffee or a beer. I was unaware that this order for a límon came with a tasty tapas. That was a nice surprise.
It was good and just what I needed. And the cafe owner softened up a bit while I was there. He asked me where I was from. I told him Estados Unidos or the United States. He nodded his head. I asked him for a sello or stamp for my pilgrims passport. He had one.
Here is another Fanta and a bit of tapas from another cafe on the trail.
One day I stopped at a restaurant during a long stage.
The place stood out like an oasis in the desert. It was a restaurant and hotel that catered to pilgrims. I stayed there for the night.
This plate of chicken-filled croquettes was made to order by another wonderful host who was also a chef. The place was a private albergue a bit off the camino. I had a little trouble finding it, but I finally arrived. We got off to a rocky start because of the language barrier. Finally, after a lot of laughter and a genuine willingness to communicate, we warmed up to each other. The translation features on our phones didn’t hurt either. It can be exhausting though.
One evening, I had a spanish tortilla that I heated in a microwave at yet another private albergue. The tortilla should have been cooked in the oven. Oddly, I could not figure the appliance’s nuances so late at night. But I made the best of the situation. The tortilla was not bad. In fact, it was filling and supplied me with the nutrients and leftovers I needed to begin my walk in the morning.
Here is a morning repast by a gracious host who was also an artist. Her art-filled place, another private albergue, was also a few kilometers off the camino trail. Sometimes you will have to hop off and back on the trail in order to get a place to stay when walking the long stages on the camino Mozárabe.
Cafe visits provide some sit down time to take off the backpack and rest my weary feet.
A few times I met other pilgrims who were eating and resting too. It can feel like a revolving door of people or a lonely place with just me and the cafe owner.
After awhile, it’s time to pick up the gear and walk out of the door and back on the camino. It is the same every day.
The kilometers register on my feet and my thoughts turn to dinner. Nothing is on my timetable except to walk and find a place for the night.
Oh, snap!
I don’t say things like that usually. It must be the heat.
The search for food and supplies after a long walk presents interesting dilemmas.
The cafes and restaurants are closed for the afternoon due to siesta. Everything in town closes down – pharmacies, grocery stores, cafes, restaurants, other services including the municipal offices – that might be needed! Most places reopen after 5pm. Some restaurants reopen after 8pm or later for villagers and hungry pilgrims. It can get crowded. But the food, menu of the day or pilgrims menu, could be satisfying and worth the wait.
Do it again pilgrim
Here is another dilemma when you return from a late meal at a village cafe. Albergues lock their doors at 10pm and most pilgrims settle in and are asleep and dreaming (or snoring) at 9pm or 10pm! Hope you get in.
Many things that happen on the camino happen again and again. Each experience is an opportunity to respond in a different, perhaps, better way. Is it part of the lessons that the pilgrimage teaches us?
It is about more than coffee.
Baadaye and buen camino.
Shirley J ♥️
This and several posts this summer will chronicle my pilgrimage in Spain where I will walk the 1400 kilometer-long camino Mozárabe. Read my announcement here.
