Friday, November 30, 2012

Food on the Camino

I have to admit, I was really looking forward to meeting the leaner, fitter me that I thought would emerge after walking for 800 kilometers. Turned out I emerged fitter but probably not weighing that much less. In all honesty, I never bothered to climb on a scale either before or after the walk but just looking at the changes in my body, I certainly noticed a firming of sorts. As I needed the energy to keep walking, I decided that that meant I could eat whatever I wanted! 'Whatever-I-wanted' turned out to be a chocolate croissant almost every morning with my coffee, crepes Suzette and creme caramel as part of three course dinners, hot chocolate, sweets for the road...
 
I'm sure you get the picture! If you don't, allow me to treat you a visual tour of some of the delicacies that came my way during my 35 day trip!
 
Let's start off with the salads. I have to say, the recipes didn't change that much but I always enjoyed the typical asparagus, tuna, corn, tomato and lettuce combination that arrived on my table. I found it to be filling and once you're a week or two into the trip you notice the slightest variation - an added slice of apple or olive becomes a real treat! The old me would have moaned and groaned about this boring repetition, week after week, but somehow on the Camino I saw food as a blessing that sustained me and I only recall sending empty plates back to the kitchen!
 



 
This salad was a real treat, prepared for three of us by my Spanish friend Ivana at the albergue in Azofra. Chickpeas, boiled eggs and carrots with olive oil, loads of laughs and a glass of red wine - enjoyed under the trees next to a little pool in the courtyard - priceless!
 
Then come the mains! From vegetable soup to tripe, I was game to taste it all!
 


 
Yes, you guessed it - this is a plate of tripe and trotters. When I saw this on the menu in a little restaurant in Al Acebo, the quaintest mountain village on the route, I knew that that was going to be supper! My mother and grandmother have always prepared the best tripe dishes, so I am quite familiar, and yes, quite in love with this dish. This was prepared with different spices and takes a second place to my mom's recipe but nonetheless, it made me think of home and once again, my plate went back empty!

 
Paella - Camino style!

 
I really looked forward to having this dish as I'd heard so much about it before starting the walk. This is Pulpo, or octopus, and the place to have it, according to the guide books, is Pulperia Ezekiel in a town called Melide. The restaurant itself looks like a school dining room with long tables and benches - they seem to do mass production of this one dish, so not very personable. The food however, was good and the advantage is that by the time you get to this spot you know just about every other patron in the restaurant, so company is also bound to be good. I found them to be expensive and almost felt as if I was falling straight into a tourist trap but I'm glad I stopped to experiense the Pulpo, if nothing else! 

 
Good old trusted calamari rings and a nice bottle of wine was lunch with my husband in Finisterre!
 
Dessert...
 
 
This was dessert at the famous albergue in Villar de Mazarife, San Antonio de Padua. Pepe Giner, who runs this place, is not only a wonderful physiotherapist but a great cook as well!

 
No words needed with this image... I justified eating this by telling myself the distance I was going to walk the next day would balance out the calories!
 
 
I found the Tarta de Santiago irresistible! I'm still to experiment with it back home but this traditional tart has been associated with the Camino for a very long time. For the recipe and a little more information, click here.
 
The coffee...
 
I am not able to start my day without a cup of coffee. True to form then, this is how every day on the Camino began. Coffee in glasses, coffee in plastic containers, coffee in mugs, coffee in cups. One of the first things I learnt to ask for - café con leche. Sometimes it came out in Portuguese but they always understood me! Have I mentioned that I love the coffee in Spain? I can honestly say that I did not have one bad cup of coffee on this trip. Somehow a good cup of coffee and a croissant before you start walking in the morning helps you deal with whatever your challenges are, be it blistered feet, a bad night's rest because you were in the middle of a snoring contest - even a heavy backpack seemed to feel lighter after a good cuppa!
 



 
Then there were the snacks...
 






 
...never ending!
 
Just to make sure you know that I also added healthy things to my daily menu - here are some of the choices I had offered to me along the way. Sometimes it was just lying on the ground, sometimes it was displayed along the roadside and you could help yourself in exchange for a 'donativo' and sometimes it was offered to you by fellow pilgrims. Either way - I never lacked a choice of fresh fruit and vegetables along the route.
 



 
Finally - the beer shandy!
 
My absolute favourite drink to have when it's really hot and especially when I'm really tired, is an ice cold beer shandy. For those of you who are not familiar with this drink, it's beer mixed with either a fizzy lemonade or lemon juice. I soon learnt that in Spain I have to ask either for a Clara, or for a Cerveza con limonada. A true lifesaver when the sun sits high and your pack weighs heavy on your back!
 


 
A typical day on the Camino! Tending to aching feet whilst enjoying a shandy at a roadside cafe - no one would blink an eye in this part of the world! I often smile to myself when we're at a nice restaurant back home, enjoying a shandy outdoors and I wonder what people would say if I took my shoes off and brought out my Betadine and plasters! You've got to love life on the Camino!

 
A Magnum ice cream and a coke for the road, a shandy with lunch and a stamp in my Pilgrim's passport. Three of the daily chores taken care of at one stop!
 
So, as you can see, there is no reason to think that you won't be fed on the Camino! They've got that sorted. I guess if you're considering undertaking this adventure to lose weight, you'd better start working on that willpower right now!


Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Camino angels

From the very first moment that I decided to walk the Camino, I knew that this journey was going to be unlike anything that I had ever experienced before. Instinctively I knew that I was going to be taught many lessons, that I was going to have to walk with an open heart and that having a teachable spirit was going to be essential.
 
I had asked for God's blessings and I knew that John Brierley's wonderful guidebook was going to be a mere tool, the directions that I truly needed to guide me on the correct way would be provided in a very different form!
 
Right from the start, certain verses in the Bible jumped out at me. One of the very first verses that I was unmistakably drawn to was Hebrews 13:1-2:
 
 "Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it."
 
These words made such an impression on me that I put it on the blog as a permanent element.
 
Today, four months after I arrived in Santiago after having walked for 35 days, I found myself giving thanks for the numerous angels who walked with me, laughed with me, guided and protected me, cried with me, sheltered and fed me.
 
I give thanks to a faithful God who truly keeps His word!
 
So today I'd like to give specific thanks to the angels who...
 
...spoke to me in a language that I could understand
 
 
 
...offered a service that enabled me to continue walking - Jacotrans transports your pack to your next destination if you need to walk with a lighter day pack. They came to my rescue four of the thirty five days when I couldn't get my blistered feet in my shoes and had to walk wearing my crocs. Having a lighter day pack on my shoulders enabled me to carry on walking. I promise I didn't write the above but I certainly agree!!
 
...doctored my feet, unselfishly sharing their own medication and bandages...
 

...offered me safe places to sleep, sometimes without even expecting to be paid...
 
...offered me the use of their computers to contact my family, free of charge...
 
...blessed my life with their warmth and love, translating for me when my Spanish was not good enough and made me laugh until the tears ran down my face...
 
...took the time to make these little gifts to hand to weary pilgrims as they checked in to the quaintest little albergue...
 
...brought this precious medicine all the way from South Africa so that I could treat my blisters...
 
...offered to feed the hungry and expected nothing in return...
 
..saw me taking pictures of this cross in the sky and then offered to take a picture with me in it...
 
...decided to turn a tired old geyser into something that made me stop and smile...
 
..made me this wonderful salad on a day that I was hot, hungry and tired to the bone...
 
...planted these trees next to the road, therefore providing a shady spot in the middle of nowhere...
 
...stopped next to me and handed me this ice cold bottle of water through a car window on a day when a heatwave made it almost impossible to walk...
 
...decided to put this table up under a tree, again in the middle of nowhere, thus providing a place where pilgrims can have their meals...
 
...gave me ice to ease weary, aching muscles...
 
...who picked me this St John's Wort and made an infusion for me to drink to ease my hay fever induced migraine...
 
...provided cooked eggs so that breakfast could be packed for the road...
 
 
...sang and played their instruments on the way so that others could bask in what I can only describe as angelic sounds...
 
...left gifts, not expecting anything in return...
 
...made me smile when the hills became steep...
 
...provided little stones to put at the foot of the Cruz de Ferro for those who didn't bring their own...
 
...made sure my eye caught this little gift hidden on a sidewalk in the middle of a busy city...
 
...took the time to paint this special sign - I know that each pilgrim reading this feels as if it was written for him or her exclusively!
 
And finally - the biggest thank you to...
 
...the countless angels who undertook the enormous task of painting thousands of yellow arrows across Spain. These arrows became so much more than just the route markers that ultimately led me to Santiago. They served to reassure me in so many ways. As long as I saw them, I knew I was following the correct route. I had the assurance that I was where I was supposed to be and that all was well. They assured that I reached my destination and I knew that once I had passed the very last one, I had to look out for them in a different form.
 
I continue to be guided every day of my life and I know now that my yellow arrows are to be found in the pages of my Bible, in the words of wise people who cross my path, in the stones that are scattered on my beach and in the innocence of  little children. I am richer in so many ways after this experience but most of all, I am thankful beyond words.