It seems every time I mention “Lisbon” I’m corrected. It’s “Lisboa” here. A common question others ask is where I’ll fly out of when I’m done. My goal is to answer them correctly with Lisboa from here on.
A couple of Spanish differences from this part of Spain. Instead of “Buenos Dias,” people often say just “Buen.” And, of course, when they realize one is a peregrino the greeting is “Buen Camino.” And, they say “hola” differently. What I’m used to is “oh-“ with the second syllable being like the u in “under.” I believe it’s the schwa sound. The second syllable here seems to be pronounced like one is relaxed, or, at the dentist, or trying to make it sound sexy, “oh-laaah.”
A comfortable 16 mile day. The weather was perfect, in the high 60’s, and no wind. There is rain in the forecast, so I enjoyed this comfortable hiking day. It started out perfectly when the hotel had the best breakfast spread I have seen on the trip. I filled up early and had no problems with navigation or seeing the symbols along the way. For quite a while there were no other peregrinos. After a couple of hours I met Daniel, a 47 year old therapist from this province, Cantabria. He was very interesting, and we walked at a good pace for a few hours until he was ready to stop.
We spoke mostly in Spanish, because my Spanish was better than his English. Once in the while his English was helpful. I learned a lot about Cantabria, his take on the Basque Country, Spanish issues etc. He had an interesting perspective because he was raised in Venezuela, his father had immigrated there, and when things got bad Daniel returned to his father’s old country. He speaks “Cantabrian” as well as Spanish. I can’t tell the difference. He is a therapist, and has done other Caminos. Therapists doing the Camino seems to be a common thread. When they need a break they go walking. When I told him my theory of the Camino being a walking, international, multilingual, therapy session he laughed, and he agreed:).
After he stopped, I found a restaurant for lunch that was perfect. I had shrimp in a garlic sauce that really hit the spot. Then I saw helada de queso, and I had to try it. I had never heard of cheese ice cream before. It was interesting, but, if they had any other choice of flavor…I would go with the other choice.
Soon thereafter I could see Santander in the distance.
After about 15 miles I got to the ferry taking peregrinos across the bay to the city of Santander. That’s the way to travel!
Santander is a big city. A large cruise ship was docked. It’s the largest city, and the capital, of the province of Cantabria. The albergue houses 40, and is right in the middle of the city, meaning it was easy to find a restaurant for dinner. I also found “real” ice cream. If anyone ever asks, chocolate ice cream is better than cheese ice cream.
“Hiker Hunger” is starting to kick in. Food is often on my mind;)
Buen Camino
