A typical Wiebmer day on the Camino

We’ve been on the Camino for 17 days.  Here’s how our typical day goes:

• 6 am         Ning wakes up to get a little dolled up (the Camino can’t change some things about a princess)

• 6:45 am    John awakens. We check the weather report to gear up.

  

  John checks the weather 

  
  

  and map each morning...

  We pay special attention to putting on our socks and tying our shoes to avoid blister-inducing chafing.  Looking at the Brierly map, we pack water, snacks, and maybe a cheese-sausage-cracker picnic based on the length of that day’s walk and the spacing of the villages.  We pack our suitcases so they can be transferred forward to that evening’s hotel.

Pilgrims line up in 

the morning -- but we

usually walk alone

•  7:30 am      Breakfast at the hotel which is usually coffee with milk and some cheese, ham, and bread

• 7:45 am      We make a final check of the day’s gear and supplies, look at the map, and step out to join the parade of pilgrims pouring onto the Camino. The first hour always reminds us of being in a line of ants. As the morning goes on, the pilgrims spread out along miles of path and we’re walking alone. 

When we take a break at a 

small cafe, there will often 

be people we know...

• 10 am     Five miles in (usually about one-third of our distance for the day), we’ll stop at a café in a small village that we’re passing through.  Often there are other pilgrims there who we know!  (Yesterday we bumped into Dan, the 80-year-old former priest, who we hadn’t seen in a week.) We may have a torta (egg and potato dish), but we always have café con leche and split a Coke Zero. 

This little guy wanted to share our
picnic lunch. Some books talk 
about fierce farm dogs on
the Camino... this dog is as close 

as we've gotten!  

• Noon    We find a rock or log in a shady spot and rest while eating a simple lunch. We’re usually close to two-thirds of the way through our walk at this point. 

Many pilgrims take an 

afternoon siesta

• 2 pm      If we’re passing through a village, we’ll take a café break for a cold drink. We’re pretty tired at this point, the last 2-3 miles are always long and hard.

We stayed in a former convent

in Santa Domingo

• 3 pm      Arrive at our destination and shuffle into our hotel which is almost always by the village church. 

All of our hotels have been clean and comfortable. Some cater to pilgrims with just a few sleeping rooms and a common area for morning coffee. Others have been Paradors, grand historic palaces and monasteries which the Spanish government has converted into hotels as a means of preserving history.

• Siesta The Spanish have it figured out. An afternoon nap is wonderful.

• 6 pm      Head out for an early dinner.  Restaurants in small villages offer “pilgrim menus” of a starter, main, dessert, and wine for ~12 euros ($14) most importantly serving as early as 5:30 pm to cater to tired pilgrims. In the larger towns, restaurants don’t open their doors until after 8:00 pm so we go into a bar and make a light dinner out of tapas.

• 8 pm      Before we go to bed, John looks at the route and the next day’s weather.  We organize our hiking gear and luggage.  We’re in bed before 9 most nights… Ready to do it again!