Ventosa to Azofra

Ventosa to Azofra

We have begun to lose track of the days.   We awoke early again, and leave the Albergue before the other pilgrims.  Even as I type this, I am amazed, as I remember the camino as all late starts, long after the other pilgrims had departed.   We stopped for breakfast at the only place with an open sign, and indeed while the sign was open, it was a good twenty minutes before the owner was ready to feed us.  And then off we went.

At this point, I think Leo and I were both done.  Tired.  Over it.  We decided to walk only a few miles to the town of Azofra, for two reasons.  One, it was nearby.  Two, the rooms were for two people only.   Albergues are 100% part of the camino, and they cannot be avoided, but they are tiring.  I personally felt as if I never slept in an Albergue, only rested.  The people snore, cough, roll over on their squeaky beds, go to the bathroom, slam doors, turn on lights, have conversations at inappropriate noise levels and inappropriate times.  I was always amazed when someone said I snored, because I had stayed up all night listening to them!

Anyway, Leo and I hobbled toward the next stop.

I passed a woman along the road, long white hair and too many bags.  I thought she was a crazy local, so I waved and continued walking.   Leo of course, slowed and talked with her.  I don’t’ think there was much conversation, but Leo eventually took some of her bags and helped her into town.    Wow, she was wonderful of course, and Leo had shown me again how jaded I can be.

Her name was Irma.  She was 83 years old.  She began the camino from Germany in 2014, but when the cold weather set in, she went home.  As soon as Spring arrived, she went back to her departure place and began to walk again.  She only did a few miles each day, but she was hoping to make Santiago by the end of Summer.   Leo and I got all of this once we had arrived in Azofra and met other pilgrims who could translate.  Irma understood English, but did not speak it.  In fact, while we were enjoying a beer with Irma (she had two!), we met up again with Garry (two rr’s) from Australia.  He was ranting about a woman he heard was walking at the age of 83, while he was proud of walking at 79.  When he realized this might be the woman, he interrogated her until she gave him the German equivalent of a “fuck off”.

They did eventually get along.  Garry did the whole, “I am not worthy” routine, and Irma ate it up.  Also present were Violetta from Poland, Christina from Germany and Yolanna from the Czech republic.

Leo and I eventually got into the two person room in Azofra.  We had dinner with an English woman who taught school in Hungary.  She was avoiding a particularly amorous man from Hungary who was chasing her.  In a hilarious instant, I met him in the hallway as he kept opening his door to see if women were walking past.

The room in Azofra was freezing, near 36 degrees.  It was very cold when we left in the morning.