" Con Pan y Vino se Hace el Camino"

The Camino de Santiago is famous for it's food and we ate very well along the way. A lot of what we had was typical of the region of Galicia.
Some of my favorite foods:
Caldo Gallego, local wine, fine bread, grilled meats and vegetables, snails, flan, natillas, tarta de santiago, a sort of rum cheesecake I can't remember the name of, chorizo, and  empanada.
While dinner is the biggest meal in a typical American diet, lunch is the biggest meal here, and our Spanish guides barely even eat dinner when not on the Camino. With the Spanish breakfast, most of us felt a little unprepared for six hours of walking, but the two Spaniards absolutely fine with a light breakfast, always consisting of a croissant or pastry with chocolate inside, fresh squeezed orange juice, coffee, and cola cao (hot chocolate).

Two dinners in particular were very special for the group: We had two birthdays in one week, one for Michelle turning 20, and another for Salva turning 40 the next day.

Ribadiso: the sweetest little albergue between fields and forest. Visually charming and entirely relaxing, our third day hostel was definitely a favorite of the group. When we arrived I washed some of my clothes and then waded into the stream while others dipped their feet in and lay down in the sunshine. Then later after we all had showered and out on our clean cloths we walked next door to a restaurant/bar whose sole patrons really are pilgrims staying in the nearby hostels. It was a small clean place with a typical rustic feel to it. We all settled into tables early and began to celebrate our friend's 20th birthday by each offering to buy her a drink (sounds more like a 21st birthday in the states, I know, but when you're on the Camino there's not much else people could really do for her).
This all starts with Mike, who asks for two shots of Melocotón (Peach) liquor. The birthday girl liked this flavor fairly well, so he decided to go back to the bar and ask for two more of the same. at which point this big surly Gallego bartender smirks, turns around, walks away from the bar area to a small freezer labeled for ice cream and pulls out an unlabeled unmarked bottle of bright yellow liquid. He walks back to the bar and proceeds to pour two more shots, pushing them over to Mike. Shocked and a little suspicious, Mike asks in Spanish, "What are these?!" The only response he can get from the guy is "It's traditional here" or "It's very characteristic of here."

The start of a very fun evening.
People were really agreeable towards despite the fact that as a table of 11 we were probably a little too loud. However the best part of the evening was still to come, as unbeknownst to everyone save myself and another student, our teachers had gone out of their way sneak out earlier and buy a tarta de santiago (cake), candles, and bottle of orujo (the herb liquor) that they carried in their backpacks all day so that after dinner they give her a real surprise and treat. Everyone was so nice, and this girl is such a sweetheart it really felt like a perfect evening for me.

After all of this celebrating Salva quietly revealed to our end of the table that his birthday is in fact the following day, so we all immediately chided him for not having mentioned it sooner...and then secretly plotted to give him is own unique birthday celebration. After all he was turning 40, which is a significant year, and he was spending his birthday with us, far from his parents wife, and children.

And it's a good thing we planned something, because for whatever reason, everyone struggled with the fourth day. Morale was down, I supposed you could say. People talked less, walked slower, felt their sore muscles more. Just as we were getting to the hostel it started raining steadily.

After we eat and shower there's usually downtime where people do there own thing. Salva promptly fell asleep while the rest of us wandered through the one street town in search of appropriate gifts. We ended up with some cheesy souvenirs of sorts but they were meaningful enough given that the entire reason for knowing each other is this class and this trip. We also bought an ice cream cake (what he ordered for dessert if available), saved the candles from before, and four balloons. Finally we made a card using some sketchbook paper and different pens I had brought along. All of this to be presented at Dinner.

Salva with his Birthday gifts (Not my photo originally)

The first phase of the operation happened when Salva excused himself to use the restroom, and students immediately brought balloons out from their pockets, blew them up, and set them around his seat, just in time for him to come back to our pleasant surprise! He thanked us profusely and sat down thinking that was the end of it all. I think by the time the cake and candles and card and gifts came around he was truly touched. Alfonso said he wanted to spend his 40th with us too.