It is funny how a “Camino’s family” comes together. This morning I packed up and went in search of a coffee bar, of which I had heard there was one nearby. I found it, had a coffee, which was was not that great, and a rather dry tortilla. Then I headed off. I saw what I thought were locals and asked them if there was a better coffee place. They turned out to be fellow peregrinos who were also searching for a coffee. I accompanied them back to the place I had just been and joined them for my second coffee, this time with a torta instead of the tortilla. There was Leonel and his wife from Costa Rica and Amparo and Remy, two Valencianas. Then we all set off at our own pace.
I kept running into Amparo and Remy on our way to Poladura, and we entered the town together. They went to the albergue and I went to the Embrujo, a casa rural with a private room and en suite bathroom. I arrived to the sound of local music and found a musical group singing and playing folkloric music of the region. There was quite a crowd and I arrived just in time to get a bowl of paella cooked up by the Embrujo chef, Angel. It filled me so I had to cancel my dinner reservation. I sat with a woman named Ana, who had walked the San Salvador three years prior and fell in love with Poladura and stayed there.
After the paella was finished, the Valencianas arrived and we sat together. Amparo had left her charger at the previous albergue and wanted to borrow my portable charger. As we sat reminiscing the trail, the Costa Riqueños arrived. We sat and chatted about the day and wherever the conversation took us.
