October 10th, 2013

Miguel:  That´s right, you are getting married at St. Anthony of Padua Church!  I´m so glad because somehow I feel it´s a good omen,  because  San Antonio De Padua in Villar de Mazarife is our absolute favorite albergue so far!  It´s not just that it was a nice albergue, it was the welcoming, happy  feel of the place.  (Just like the happy feel one gets being around you and Claire together!).  Anyway, how did we love San Antonio De Padua?  Well, let me count the ways:  When we were a good kilometer outside the town Carlos, the owner of San Antonio,  came walking towards us.  He then introduced himself and told us a bit about his albergue.  When we reached his albergue we were charmed by the front yard:  full of flowers and trellises with lavender growing along the path to the building.  In the front yard were tables where already-settled-in pilgrims sat and chatted, looking relaxed and happy as piligrims do after they´ve dropped their backpacks, taken off their boots and showered. The front yard faced a corn field and the backdrop behind the albergue was a beautiful range of mountains.  As the sun was setting the lights from the highway below the mountain gave the whole scene a kind of magical feel.  Tom and I opted for the bed, dinner , and breakfast package for 21 euros each.  The dorm room was big and spacious yet had a homey, cozy feel  because of the light wood panelling hung with photos of the Camino.  There were segregated bathrooms with containers of hand soap on the sinks (almost unheard of in albergues - it´s always bring your own soap and everything else!).  And there were my constant favorites, laundry service and a working computer, where I was sitting when Carlos came up to me and offered me the chocolates, which I declined, not being a die-hard chocolate fan, which is too bad, as chocolate seems to be a motif at this place.  But the best think about San Antonio was, hands down, the food! The family must have been chefs, or just really good cooks with a flair for presentation.  At 7 pm on the dot Carlos´s wife called us all to the dining room, which had the decor of an upscale country-garden restaurant. (As best as I can describe it!).  There was a long wooden table, beautifully decorated,  with a beautiful salad already set at each place.  Each salad was like a hand-crafted work of art, with a fig  vinaigrette dressing (hey, don´t knock it ´til you´ve tried it!) attractively encircling the plate so you could push as much or as little dressing as you wanted onto your salad, or if you couldn´t bring yourself to believe in fig dressing, there was oil and vinegar instead.  The second course was gaspache, soooo tasty I felt like I could have scarfed down the whole pot!  Then came a vegetarian paella, made by the familiy in a huge, 3-foot pan, the way paella is suppposed to be made, or so I´ve been told , so that all the ingredients can properly mixed.  Delicious!  Carlos brought out the big pan with the left-overs so we could help ourselves if we wanted more.  (Tom and I did!) Dessert was crepes with a fruit filling garnished with whipped cream and slices of kiwi and, sadly for me but happily for Tom because I gave him mine, drizzled with a dark chocolate sauce.  The chocolate-lovers raved!  You know, when an albergue is not particularly comfy (like at the Bendictines) the pilgrims tend to be up and at ém by 6 am, but when a it´s a really nice, relaxing  place like San Antonio the snorring can go on well past 7am!  As you can imagine, it did this morning, still the pilgrims eventually managed to come shuffling into breakfast.  And what a breakfast!  Once again the table was beautifully set for us, and we were served thick slices of hot toast that the hospitaliero kept bringing out, butter, jam, several kinds of cereal and milk, crackers, sausage and cheese served  in the shape of a flower, churros and hot chocolate (again with the chocolate!) which I´m told is considered a specialty of Spain, though, Miguel, am I correct to say that I think that combo is also considered a Mexican specialty?  We also were welcome to all the coffee, tea, and OJ we wanted.  (Most places it´s one cup per!) The only down side was that we pilgrims were all enjoying the breakfast so much that we stayed around the table talking for too long and so were all late getting out on the Camino today!  But I think we all thought it was worth it.  So anyway, after our very pleasant stay at San Antonio we headed back out onto the Meseta and walked a short 15 km to the town of Hospital de Orbigo where we justs check in to the albergeu "Encino".  I´m sorry to admit, that this afternoon along the way I had a few non-spirit- of- the- Camino thoughts.    Tom and stopped for a picnic lunch at the tiny village of Villavante, where a  group of pilgrims were sitting at the cafe for lunch.  I ran into the cafe for a soda and left my walking sticks outside the cafe then forgot about them until after we´d eaten.  Short version:   a middle-aged American pilgrim saw my sticks, figured they were left behind, took them and offered them to a young lady pilgrim who didn´t have any sticks. The lady, luckily, was staying over at Hospital de Orbigo, same as us, so...well, let´s just say that by luck and coincidence and the concerned eagle eyes of other pilgrims we got my sticks back, for which I´m very grateful.  But here´s a little post script to the story:  after I recovered my sticks I heard the guy who took my sticks teliing the lady he gave the sticks too that she could use his girlfriend´s sticks, since she never used them.  Interpret this story as you will.  And then have a wonderful day!  Love, Patti 8)