#9 Seven days in and we finally see some Roman shit! (copy)

Camino de Santiago

Drew here: Last nights dinner was the best one we’ve had so far. We asked our very hippy Albergue hosts (called hospitalero/as) for recommendations and she pointed us to Vinocteca Ganbara, right around the corner. It was all locally sourced food and prepared in the region’s style of cuisine. The best dish was fresh red peppers (this region is known for their peppers and this is their peak season!) grilled and drenched in local olive oil, with tuna and fresh black pepper. It was so good we ordered a second dish without the tuna.

We also had some very good red wine with cooked asparagus and artichoke hearts. Each course came with a little bit of bread to soak up that delicious oil.

I (drew) had to leave after dinner to make my appointment for my massage at the Albergue. Best 25E Ive ever spent. I had initially booked an hour (learning from Terrys mistake, who regretted doing only 30 mins) but I gave my second 30 minutes to a woman named Marla from San Fran who arrived late. I would have hated to be the reason someone didn’t get to have a massage, so I was happy to be her ‘Camino angel’ (her words!)

Oh also the most important part of the EStrella Guia (guiding star) Albergue is the fact that in addition to an in-house masseuse, they also had a dog. His name was Grino (from “peregrino”) and he was super sweet. I think he was some kind of corgi mix because he was so stumpy. Drew out.

We noticed small broken bits of pottery in the trail yesterday.  Sometimes they were pieces of roof tile down to dime size pieces of grandmas fiesta ware. They were like a gravel replacement to prevent erosion.  After about 3 miles of hiking today, i checked my pack for my map, only to find that Steve had placed a 3 pound piece of crockery in my bag as a joke.

This 13th century church had a beautiful tympanum, or doorway.  Does it look Arabesque to you? 

It’s the Mudejar style of architecture.  A good portion of Spain was ruled by Muslims from about 800-1492…and their designs, style, and even craftsmen influenced architecture while here.  What jumped out to me was the Alpha and Omega (beginning and end) that was carved into many churches at that time.  The legend is that the Alpha is on the Right, and the Omega is on the left, because the perhaps the Jewish  stone carvers working on it, read from right to left.  Hmm.

In addition, we found a mermaid sculpted 700 years ago on one of the capitals that has withstood the test of time.

I love Roman shit.  I think my Roman name would be Triviacus Maximus.  We walked up to the town of Ciraqui, where we had breakfast, and followed a Roman Road out of town, leading to a Roman bridge.  Both had seen better days, but after 2000 years they looked pretty good!

(Mindy’s phrase is: I have seen every stone a Roman has ever Ruined)