¡A Café Con Leche A Day Keeps The Doctor Away!

Spanish coffee is the best! What’s even more impressive is that even the smallest of cafés offers high quality food and drink. To a Spaniard, coffee is a serious matter morning, noon, or night.

I prefer an early morning departure from the albergues. In the spring months, getting on The Way by 6:30 am was more than reasonable. At dawn, the peacefulness of the Spanish countryside just makes for a great start to the day. Nearly every morning the distant  sounds of the cuckoo welcomed me to the trail and the miles that lay in front of me.

As much as I like to have something to eat and drink at the albergues, this wasn’t always possible with early morning departures. On most days, I could find a café/bar open within my first few kilometers. Along with many fellow pilgrims, with café con leche were being made one after another, we’d enjoy a hot coffee drink along with a tortilla española or a fresh pastry. The other advantage of walking early in the morning was being able to arrive at my destination no later than early afternoon allowing for plenty of time to clean up, relax, and enjoy the city or village where I would spend the night. One definitely develops some rituals which helps one cope with thirty days of continuous walking.