Day 7: Ázqueta to Torres del Rio (Wendy)

 Today we moved up into a bit higher elevation. The walk was mostly along smooth gravel roads through newly-harvested hay fields with medieval monasteries perched on hills in the distance.

 Villages are sparse in this area, so one enterprising man from Vancouver B. C. had set up a “Pilgrim’s Oasis” food truck about 7 km between towns. There, I enjoyed a double espresso and freshly squeezed orange juice, while Bob had a café con leche and carrot cake.

Even better than the delicious snacks, though, was running into “old friends” from the Larrasoaña albergue. It was especially nice to see Richard, a 60-year old man from Berlin who walks faster than us and proceeds each day without a real plan. He just goes until he’s tired and then finds a public albergue.

He and I commiserated over work demands at the communal kitchen table in Larrasoaña. He’s a managing director of operational maintenance for solar farms in Germany. Before that, he was a master carpenter, then an architect, and mentioned that he’s also an engineer. He said he changes professions about every 10 years. Bob says he’s the rare German who has a sense of humor.

It was a real treat to see him unexpectedly again. We also were delighted to see a fellow from Mexico again whom Bob had met on our first day. And we met a 67-year old gentleman from Patagonia and Julia from Saõ Paolo, who is also walking slowly because of bad knees. And of course the Irish brothers arrived at the Oasis just as we were leaving. The Oasis gave us delicious food and community.