A Typical Day on the Trail

5:00 am	Wake up because someone is rustling plastic bags as they prepare for an early start.
5:15 am	Go back to sleep
6:15 am	Wake up again, more hikers are preparing to leave
6:30 am	Finally decide to get up as getting back to sleep is hopeless. Gather up your items (sleeping bag, pack, shoes) and quietly move them to the common room so that you don't disturb other sleepers. You can do this because you prepared for it the night before. Roll up sleeping bag or blanket. Stow clothes that were drying from the night before, possibly hang some from your pack to dry during the day. Wash face, brush teeth, add deodorant, use toilet. Attend to feet - tape up problem areas, use muscle and/or foot cream, bandage blisters. Finish putting pack together. Fill up water bottle from the tap. Double/triple/quadruple check the entire albergue for items you might have left behind.
7:30 am	Leave and start hiking.
7:40 am	Realize that you forgot your stretching exercises, so stop to stretch some.
7:45 am	Continue hiking.
8:10 am	Encounter a tempting bar. Decide to stop for coffee and a tortilla, pastry, or toast.
8:45 am	Leave and hike some more.
9:30 am	Stop to put on suntan lotion and to stow your fleece jacket.
9:40 am	Serious hiking begins.
9:50 am	Stop to remove stone from shoe.
9:55 am	Serious hiking begins again.
9:57 am	Stop to tighten and/or loosen shoe laces.
10:00 am	Serious hiking begins for real. Stop occasionally to take pictures, drink water, rest, explore churches, etc.
11:30 am	Mid-morning snack: Fruit, water, trail mix, etc. Possibly find a bar, have a drink and use the toilet.
12:15 pm	More serious hiking with occasional stops, as above.
2:00 pm	Encounter restaurant OR stop to have lunch on the trail. Whichever, take some time to take off shoes and socks (not in the restaurant - please!) and air everything out.
3:00 pm	More hiking, remember to stretch first this time.
4:00 pm	Encounter bar: Stop for a cool drink and a bathroom break.
4:15 pm	More hiking, occasional stops.
5:30 pm	Reach destination.
5:45 pm	Finally locate the albergue. Find the hospitalero and check in: You ask: Do you have beds? (Hay camas?) The hospitalero asks: Por dormir? (for sleeping? - answer "si") Hand over your pilgrims credentials to the hospitalero who will copy information from it into the register, and will also ask you two questions: Where are you from? What is your age? The hospitalero will then stamp and date your credentials. You are then pointed to the dormitories where you can choose your bed On your way, check out the facilities (bathrooms, showers, kitchen, etc.) Check to make sure that the bunk-bed is solidly constructed - one evening Linda slept in fear of the bed collapsing but afraid to fix it because I was sound asleep above her. After you drop your pack on a bed, go back and Pay a donation to the albergue! Suggested: 3-5 euros per person.
6:00 pm	Unpack and wash up Air out blanket or sleeping bag. Examine feet. Complain about blisters to anyone who is nearby. Compare blisters. Argue about whose blisters are bigger and whose tendonitis is more painful. Shower, toilet, etc. Change clothes. Wash today's clothes and hang them and your wet towels outside to dry (or inside, if it's raining outside). Tend to feet. Possibly: Shop for next day's food or other supplies, if there's a tienda or supermercado nearby. Arrange pack so that you can get into bed quickly and quietly when it is time to go to sleep, and also that you can leave the room quickly and quietly the next morning.
7:00 pm	Relax, read, play cards, chat with other pilgrims, nap, use internet, etc. (depends on what's locally available).
8:00 pm	Dinner at local restaurant, usually having the "Menu del Dia" or the "Menu del Peregrino". OR use the facilities at the albergue to make your own food.
9:30 pm	Back to the albergue, fetch clothes from clothesline on the way. Complain about expensive "quick dry" clothes that do not dry quickly. Possibly play more cards, chat some more with other pilgrims, etc.
10:30 pm	Go to bed