Los Reyes Magos de Oriente

January 6th is celebrated as the highlight of the Christmas season in the Spanish world. The Christmas decorations were still present in all cities in the new year. On Three Kings Day, there was also the traditional Pastel de Rey, a sweet cake bread, at our hostel. A plastic Baby Jesus is baked into it, which is supposed to bring luck to the finder.

Our hostel breakfast was under a good star. The holiday atmosphere tempted us to let the day pass unused. We postponed a planned day trip to Friday and spent the afternoon in the hammocks on the rooftop terrace. I stole a plastic Jesus baby that was left on the cake plate, only to bite into another plastic savior in a piece of the second dessert shortly afterwards. 'Lucky guy'

Finally, on January 7th, Andy, Kenny from Berlin Kreuzberg, and I set off in good time to explore petrified waterfalls and limestone terraces in the surrounding area. We shared the first 70 km with other travelers in a taxi, three people in the back, two passengers in the front seat, and a Spanish version of the Doris Day classic 'Perhaps' playing on the radio.

We then covered the last stretch with a so-called Collectivo, a pickup truck that could accommodate twelve people on its loading area.

On the way back, the rustic
shared taxi was slightly less crowded. Unfortunately, there was an accident with a cow. Our pickup truck hit the poor animal on the hind leg. But the animal got away with a fright and a presumed broken leg. A second cow and several goats remained unimpressed and grazed apathetically nearby. Only the sheepdog seemed somewhat unsettled.

I spent the evening drinking beer on our rooftop terrace. Anecdotes and the latest Corona gossip were exchanged, and another employee of the hostel tested positive.