Tasting menu

When I do long walks, one of the most important parts of the daily preparation for me is working out where and what we are going to eat. So I was pleased when Tiny shared my keenness to make sure our camino allowed us a full chance to try out the great local food.

Our sampling actually started last night in the lovely town of Puenta la Reina (Queen’s bridge). Puenta la Reina grew around the 11th Century bridge, which was built for pilgrims, so that they didn’t get ripped off by the local ferrymen. We chose to have dinner in a fairly local place, with the downside that the kitchen didn’t open until 8. Undeterred, we fortified ourselves with wine and padron peppers until our dishes arrived, in my case, the very local and tasty bacalao al ajoarriero (salted cod with garlic).

So this morning, our walk was completely planned around coffee/ snack stops in each handily placed village. That went awry at the very first one, where the whole village was closed to recover from the fiesta the previous night.

Luckily, we were back on track at the next one with a very filling tortilla, then freshly squeezed orange juice at the top of a very steep hill, and then our final village stop was in a lovely pasteleria bakery with chocolate and custard croissants.

Were there things to see? Yes, of course, a Roman bridge, some beautiful Spanish vistas, even some snails for Tiny. But it is so lovely to be able to stop in each village and just sit in a square with a coffee.