We enjoyed a nice virtual evening last night with our 3 kids, 2 life partners and ‘our pal’ who is scheduled to arrive into this world on or around September 30th. The pizza was excellent, the beer refreshing and everyone agreed that the movie was adequate. Most importantly we were all gathered together and the banter was in full swing most of the night!
A slow start this morning with my first project to fill all the divots and small cracks in the hall way in preparation for sanding which I’ll likely do tomorrow. It’s important to keep these projects inching along with everything else during these more isolated times. A little bit of time spent on each project most days. I’ll have to begin to trim and clean out the back hedge this week before I can put in the new mulch which will freshen things up nicely. Yup, a very different Camino. But a camino nonetheless. A very grey morning with rain threatening, so we will need to get out for our walk shortly. I’ll get back to this post later after we’ve walked and before our next virtual visit with a very nice local couple we’ve become friends with who are also avid walkers and travellers.
Home from our walk, and the day is nearly done, so time to look at my photos from today. Being Sunday there were lots of folks and families out and about. I won’t even discuss social distancing today. The wind damage was evident from the storm yesterday.
We moved quickly past this tree!
Once past the damaged areas, the walking was more fluid. The lower light was particularly useful along the forest trails today. These shots are all taken with my iPhone7, so an older phone, but the first edition of the camera upgrades. I’m quite impressed that I don’t have to carry my better camera on these walks.
A bit busy out there today, but nice to see folks getting some exercise. Better than sitting inside eating and drinking too much. That should be reserved for the evenings with Netflix!
Back on our virtual camino, we decided to walk just to Villamayor del Rio which it an older village right on the camino. Pretty countryside with rolling hills and a generally upward slope. We had to wait in Grañon this morning as they won't let people out of the albergue until after 8, which is a bit of a bummer if you want to see the sunset and walk during those early morning hours when it's quiet and the bird calls are best heard. I've stayed in other albergues where we were literally locked in over night without a staff member on site and I've never liked this. There are often bars on the ground floor windows and the thought of a building fire lingers in the back of my mind on those nights. I guess if you want more freedom then the best thing is to stay elsewhere, but last night we wanted the Grañon experience, so we were prepared for the restrictions. The communal dinner was very good with lots of others to talk with and to share stories from the road.
Our late morning sunrise, sort of.
Descending out of town.
Looking back to Grañon.
One last look in the rear view mirror.
We eventually arrived at the border of the Castilla y Leon Junta (district) when we are very close to the village of Redecilla del Camino.
We have been climbing slowly, but steadily and this will intensify as we progress as shown by this profile. We are on the far right side of this profile as we are heading for the Meseta which will begin to show us it's flat expanses just after Burgos.
That's Redecilla del Camino straight ahead, just down the road.
I didn't get this peregrino's name.
End of season stubble in very late October, 2018.
Viloria de Rioja
Though I was almost completely alone on the trail in 2018, there was some very noisy company on the N120! That's our destination just ahead.
Almost the very same spot in 2013.
Maps are always helpful!
We arrive in good sprites and hungry for lunch.
An interesting stop in a clearly ancient village. However, there is a fairly decent alburgue with good beds for once, a cafe and a bar where we can get a meal and write the blog while enjoying a nice glass of vino tino or two. I sure hope there is still some hot water left.
These signs are usually wrong. Yesterday an official sign stated 571 kms and I can assure you that we have indeed been inching along the last three days, not the 27 kms indicated.
As you can see, once the majority of perigrinos have departed this village gets pretty quiet. Part of its immense charm. The swallows typically nest under these types of eves.
Clearly a very sleepy town. Even the locals are having difficulty getting up for it: )
However, the bar looks good and they have a decent menu del dia tonight that we weren't expecting. The owner explained that we could even change our wine to a very expensive bottle tonight with no increase in price, and there's no flan! This means we won't have to drink the usual cheap swill that often comes with the menu del dia. Also there's a fantastic breakfast served at the albergue in the morning. Spanish omelettes, fresh squeezed orange juice, excellent tea that actually tastes like tea and they apparently send us off on our way with a beautiful three course box lunch. Damn how I love a good virtual camino!!
Something from today's walk...not sure I’ve seen this family before?
We are looking forward to our Zoom conversation with the virtual camino group tomorrow, our third! Always fun.
Stay well and health everyone. Buen Camino!
Descending out of town.
Looking back to Grañon.
One last look in the rear view mirror.
We eventually arrived at the border of the Castilla y Leon Junta (district) when we are very close to the village of Redecilla del Camino.
We have been climbing slowly, but steadily and this will intensify as we progress as shown by this profile. We are on the far right side of this profile as we are heading for the Meseta which will begin to show us it's flat expanses just after Burgos.
That's Redecilla del Camino straight ahead, just down the road.
I didn't get this peregrino's name.
End of season stubble in very late October, 2018.
Viloria de Rioja
Though I was almost completely alone on the trail in 2018, there was some very noisy company on the N120! That's our destination just ahead.
Almost the very same spot in 2013.
Maps are always helpful!
We arrive in good sprites and hungry for lunch.
An interesting stop in a clearly ancient village. However, there is a fairly decent alburgue with good beds for once, a cafe and a bar where we can get a meal and write the blog while enjoying a nice glass of vino tino or two. I sure hope there is still some hot water left.
These signs are usually wrong. Yesterday an official sign stated 571 kms and I can assure you that we have indeed been inching along the last three days, not the 27 kms indicated.
As you can see, once the majority of perigrinos have departed this village gets pretty quiet. Part of its immense charm. The swallows typically nest under these types of eves.
Clearly a very sleepy town. Even the locals are having difficulty getting up for it: )
However, the bar looks good and they have a decent menu del dia tonight that we weren't expecting. The owner explained that we could even change our wine to a very expensive bottle tonight with no increase in price, and there's no flan! This means we won't have to drink the usual cheap swill that often comes with the menu del dia. Also there's a fantastic breakfast served at the albergue in the morning. Spanish omelettes, fresh squeezed orange juice, excellent tea that actually tastes like tea and they apparently send us off on our way with a beautiful three course box lunch. Damn how I love a good virtual camino!!
Something from today's walk...not sure I’ve seen this family before?
We are looking forward to our Zoom conversation with the virtual camino group tomorrow, our third! Always fun.
Stay well and health everyone. Buen Camino!
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