On Jàen, Toast and Hiking - CDJ - To Martos

You ever been to Jàen? “HY-en”

I have. From a quick look at the map on the train ride down here, it didn’t look that big, nor that interesting. But, never judge a city by a map. Jàen, is a very likeable place. It’s big. It’s got great street scenes. It’s the green olive oil capital of the world!

We had our morning coffee at this cafe which specializes in toast. In fact, you can get toast all day long here in many different varieties. We opted for our favorite of butter and marmalade

The coffee and toast was excellent!

I was thinking of how great this place is:

It was warm, busy, and small. Just one “J” bar running about twenty feet long.

Three men behind the bar ran the show - taking orders, serving up the coffee and toast. In the confined area, bumping and sassing each other is the norm.

They didn’t seem stressed out. Their bar was packed, and all they sell is coffee, beer, and toast. They make a living at it. How sweet it is.

The room is full of locals having their morning coffee. There’s three seats at the bar. That’s it. Most people stand at the counter, spend a few minutes socializing before getting on with their day.

There’s not many options to drink. You can have espresso with milk, without milk, or a beer.

There’s quite a few toast options to be had, but all of them involve real ingredients. There is nothing “free” here. The bread and beer has gluten. The butter and milk has dairy. Take it or leave it.

We took it, and breakfast cost about 5 euro.

I think what I love most about Spanish cafés is there is no bullshit to them.

This café could never fly back home. People would want gluten free, dairy free, and vegan options. They’d want a place to sit, and something to drink besides coffee, with or without milk or beer. This breakfast would cost $15 dollars, plus tip. There’s nothing wrong with any of that mind you, I’m happy you get what you want, but it would kill this place.

This is a stand up toast joint. And it’s perfect.

After toast, we got down to business. This business was starting the Camino de Jàen which arcs around the olive trees from Jàen to Cordoba. It’s a small piece of the Camino de Mozarabe. And fit our time frame perfectly. We slapped the cathedral to commemorate the start of our walk and got to it.

Do you like olive trees?

There are more olive trees in the Jàen region than there are visible stars in the sky. Every available inch of ground has an olive tree growing out of it.

It’s only day one, and I can’t contemplate the amount of olives that come through here.

On a side note, the olive oil here is exquisite. In my opinion, Spain produces the world’s best olive oil. There are reasons the Romans nurtured, and imported most of their olive oil from their Spanish holdings.

Do you like good dogs, horses and donkeys?

Me too.

We are on our way. It’s warm! It’s sunny! We stepped back in time to mid autumn. How sweet it is!