Days 10 and 11 were pretty good walkin’ – around 25km each day and not too hilly. Walking in the heat and over a lot of rocky terrain is pretty tiring and we’re all starting to walk like cowboys by the time we slow down at our albergue, with a range of foot, leg and ankle troubles.
Without wanting to sound like a spoilt brat, the landscape has become a little boring – the sunflowers are a highlight as we pass through all of the golden fields.
We ended Day 9 at Redecilla del Camino – a tiny town, where Steph and I were the only ladies in the bar. Also at the bar was a peculiar little kid eating an ice cream and sporting a long rat’s tail hair-do. Other than that, highlights included finding out the nationality of the blonde supermodels we had seen at the previous albergue (Lithuanian) and another delicious Dave & Tom meal – chorizo and apple stew (with cider).
Day 10 saw us head to Villafranca Montes de Oca, where we were welcomed to the fantastic looking hotel & albergue by a nutty sort of chap who kept interrupting Dave’s translations. We met an Australian guy, Charlie, who sounded as though he was being held hostage by his German walking pals – only allowing a 15 minute stop on a 30km walking day. Made us glad that we’re walking fast, but taking time for photo stops, breakfast and lunchtime picnics along the way.
As it was lovely Tom’s last evening with us (before heading home to London) we had a great pilgrim’s meal at the hotel restaurant to celebrate our time together. Good wine, good food, good company – a great Camino experience.
Day 11 started in very thick fog, making the moonlit walk up and down the steep hills very interesting. We walked with Luis, a Spanish guy who could only converse with Dave (and with me via Dave’s translation) – he was looking forward to a bocadillo for breakfast at the first town we visited (“9 o’clock is a good time for a sandwich”). Steph was very excited to find some German Ritter Sport chocolate in one of the little shops on the way today. We finally found out more about the German family with whom we’ve been keeping pace for a few days – a javelin thrower & her archeology-studying, discus-throwing sister, their Mum and coach Dad.
We’re an imaginative bunch, so we do spend quite a bit of time making up back stories about the people we see along the way. It’s always interesting to find out the truth about people – sometimes as fascinating as we’d imagined, sometimes not.
Ended the day in Cardenuela, at a fantastic albergue with a large sunny terrace. We met Chris from Texas, an electric cigarette-smoking graphic designer travelling the world for a year. The guy who runs the albergue has just brought us a jug of sangria to enjoy while we sit around chatting. Life is good!
everydaysparks 