Via Tolosana day 5: timing is nearly everything

Arres to Jaca, 25 km

While it should probably have been included in yesterday’s post, my evening with the two hospitaleros (plus one other Spanish peligrina) was quite entertaining. One had the thickest Spanish accent – as if he’s been a two pack per day smoker for his entire life – and he was a talker. 99% of his words were lost on me, but that didn’t deter him from long explanations of everything and anything that occurred to him. There was a speech on tangerines – I think either he or his family had an orchard – and the samples were delicious! Lots of history on various caminos, an excursion to the little church, with its unique baptismal pass through window. All of this in the context of a Guardian article where the writer details his years of Duolingo experience learning Italian, only to realize his most important Italian phrase is ” I speak a little Italian but understand nothing”. That’s exactly how I feel with Spanish!

As the albergue’s first visitor for the season I tried not to be rude. Breakfast was a long drawn out affair, and I was keen to get started. The albergue is a restored school building, built from stone without any heating. It’s probably pleasantly cool in the summer. I was glad to have packed the full wool long john set and the artic grade sleeping bag, despite the extra weight! Snow and wind chill was not featured in the tourist brochure. However, once I got started it wasn’t too bad except for the first 10 minutes. After that I was around the corner of the hillside and in the scrubby forest, and therefore sheltered from the wind. But not the snow, although very little was settling. Later on the sun did its best to come out, so it was odd to enjoy the sun’s warmth while it was continuing to snow.

There are a few other pilgrims: one Spanish man stopped to ask where I’d come from, and he was happy that I could confirm that the Arres albergue was open. He’d started in Canfranc, which is my tomorrow’s destination, meaning he was doing a double day (about 45 km) into the wind. Yikes! Another couple who arrived at the Jaca albergue described their day as walking in a blizzard. Tomorrow is forecast to be 14⁰, hence the reference to timing!