Last night we had a very nice communal dinner at our albergue. Loads of folks there and no one we really knew. I met a fellow Henro from Japan Aki-San and we shared memories over dinner. I must say that he’s looking fresher than me, but he’d had a shorter walk that day and he hadn’t had the first week that we had experienced given that like many others he started in Bilbao. Yup, excuses for looking tired. Actually he’s only 22 years old and small for his age;)
Unusual to meet two peregrinos from Japan, including my experience last year, both of whom had walked the 88 Temple route. There are not that many Japanese on the Camino. He had met a number of people who’d walked in Spain and decided that he’d better try it too. A very nice person.
After yesterday’s stunning coastal walk, today while pretty wasn’t quite up to yesterday’s standard. It was all road walking, but did start with a 2 minute train ride to get over the river. In prior days the pilgrims would try to walk across the train bridge to shorten the stage, but it’s too dangerous and now there are rules. However the train ride was free! Boo has been a very long standing location on the original way.
We were amongst the last to depart the albergue, by design, and while we caught up to a number of others, our strategy left us with a very quiet way.
Looking back to Las Dunas National Park close by where we’d walked yesterday. It’s a long way around 5he inland water way. A long way!
Northern Ain really is this beautiful, but while we could see that beauty today, we also had to follow a double pipeline through a very nasty industrial zone for many kilometres. Not nice walking and with all the roads today, we were happy to be done this relatively short stage.
Another opportunity to climb over the train tracks, not as good as the crossing in Astorga, but pretty good.
Finally we arrive at this medieval town that we’ll call home tonight. Very pretty, but heavily touristed. We will go back out to walk it and sample it’s pleasures later tonight after the tourists have departed.
Being last up for breakfast this morning left us with very little to eat. So we felt justified in enjoying a mid day meal on our arrival. First the ice cold beer...check that out boys!
Followed by a good lunch!
We aren’t suffering too much on this walk. We arrived at our small pasado and found that we’d been upgraded! This only means that there is a small fridge in the room. Now for a walk around town to find something to put in it!
Buen Camino!
Something to put in the fridge? Maybe you should go back to that cheese shop! Assuming they have any cheese, that Michael Palin isn't behind the counter telling you that today, the van broke down.
ReplyDeleteI thought I was over my virus, and spent yesterday at the university, but this morning I had a relapse, so I'll probably end up staying here. It's not like there aren't lots of books to read! You should see them, piled here and there.
I was just thinking about your road walking today, and the difference you must have experienced after all the path walking yesterday. One of the books I could choose to read today is called Palestinian Walks. The author lives in Ramallah, on the West Bank, and he likes to walk in the countryside. One problem: under Israeli law, it's illegal for Palestinians to walk on rural footpaths, and if he were to get stopped by a patrol, bad things could happen. It puts my complaints about grid roads into perspective.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that beer! It looked pretty good, let me tell you. After a long day of road walking, it would taste even better.
¡Buen Camino!
Ken
Hey Ken, sorry to hear that your still under the weather. Hope you are past this soon. As you say, many books to review. The life of a PhD candidate! No, road walking is never fun, but far better than the Palestinian rule book. As least we are walking and there’s always something to find even in the nasty sections. The scenery was beautiful, so concentrated on that, plus the music I used to drown out the trucks going by. I also wondered what was in those pipelines? I hoped it was water for the water towers in the huge factories and for production, but who knows? Oil? That beer was excellent! I still remember the afternoon when we enjoyed a few of those in Mollinseca after a hot stage. I’ve spelled that wrong. Any way, thanks for staying connected and get well!
DeleteA fridge! What about the bidet?? Yes, that queseria did look tempting. Annemarie looks like she is drinking a 'Radler' - whatever it is cheers to you both. Looks like a nice little village to explore too. Buen camino, Neil and Sarah
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