Somport Pass/Aragon Route early May 2001

[Donald Schell]

[this is the third part of today's note.  I had broken it and what went
before down to what I read as 90 lines of type and it still got bounced back
as over 250 lines.  I'm sorry if this appears to be excessive posting to the
list.]

I thought the man who greeted us was the hospitalero and he played along for
a bit, but finally admitted that he was also a pilgrim, a Spaniard slightly
older than me with an impish sense of humor.  There was no hospitalero.  He
and his wife had found the albergue and tiny town hall community-center open
with a welcoming sign and a well-stocked kitchen.  Dani, Mari-Cruz, his
wife, Ellen and I cooked dinner together from the groceries which were laid
out for us - good fresh tomatoes, onions, potatoes, nice bread, eggs, red
wine.  A sign by a basket asked for donations to complete the refugio and
help pay for the food.

The whole albergue was a project under construction, another sign of renewal
(like new stonework and tile roofs and window boxes of a few of the houses)
in what had recently been a mostly abandoned medieval town.  Because Arres
has neither grocery nor restaurant, the young man Dani jokingly called
'alcalde' and his wife and the few other people who have summer places there
keep the pilgrims' kitchen stocked with food.  Various of them stopped in to
greet us and make sure we had enough.

Dani and Mari-Cruz slept in a building that appeared to double as a kind of
community center that had the kitchen/dining room for pilgrims, the food,
various posters and political announcements, and a small heater.  Ellen and
I slept in the albergue building itself, just across the narrow street.  Our
comfortable new mattresses were on the new plywood floor of the construction
project.  Construction dust had been swept up, but there were still neat
stacks of tools and signs of uncompleted plastering.  The three story
medieval buildings new windows and floors and stairway were far enough along
to see that it would be snug and comfortable by the end of the season -
probably four dormitory rooms, and on a the lowest floor a kitchen-eating
area and a bathroom.  In May it had no plumbing.

Knowing in advance that we'd be without shower, sink to wash our clothes, or
toilets, we would probably have walked the other route on the north side of
the reservoir and stayed in Berdun.  But Arres' rustic hospitality and our
good night's sleep felt truly welcoming.   We were glad for our happy
adventure, for dinner and conversation with Dani and Mari-cruz.  We're glad
we went by way of Arres and would recommend it to anyone who wanted to walk
to the south of the reservoir.  It looked as though Arres' plumbing could be
working in a month or so - only a couple of days work would have completed
the toilet and sink, so it depends on how fast the construction moves
forward.

I'll finish this in another note tomorrow.

love,
donald




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