Time Arrived; 11.45 am
Distance: 14 kms
Cumulative Distance: 430 kms
Percentage Complete: 53%
Weather: Very cool and sunny
Accommodation: Casa el Cura
Feelings: Henk - Relaxed, Neil - Positive, Di - Content
It was another short, relaxing day. After a very basic breakfast of toast and jam at seven thirty we set off in warm clothes to try and find my hat. I had obviously left it in the bar yesterday lunchtime. I was doubtful that I would be able to retrieve it as it was so early in the morning. Thankfully, the roller door at the bar was slightly open so I crawled underneath and called out. The cook came out of the kitchen and understood my problem. She retrieved my hat from the office. I was so pleased to get it back as it is a good shady hat.
We see quite a number of statues pertaining to St James. As we walked out of town we came across an unusual one as we placed our feet onto boot footprints and assumed the role of St James.
We had two choices of path today depending upon where the accommodation was booked. The path was an old Roman road and was flat. We seemed to be in a very remote part of Spain.
At nine o'clock we reached the tiny town of Calzada de Coto hoping for a coffee but we were not in luck. A very small grocery store was open but that was the only sign of life. As it was a short distance to our destination we wandered around the lifeless town and found a bench outside the local church and ate some of our provisions from our backpacks. A huge stork's nest looked over us.
When we arrived at our accommodation the Canadian woman with the large knee brace who takes 'Hiking Candy" and her husband were waiting in the sunny alcove. There was a misunderstanding with their booking and there was no room for them. The very welcoming young owner was very apologetic but also explained that all the accommodation in town was fully booked. The difficulty was that the woman couldn't walk another seven kms to the next town with her heavy pack that she had forwarded onto the hotel. She was not perturbed at all. She said she learned off some American retiree on the path that if something doesn't work out just throw money at it and it will! After a couple of phone calls made by the hotel owner they had accommodation in the alternate town on the other path and a taxi was booked. The woman was very funny as she said to her husband, "See Sparky, everything is going to be alright!" We all laughed being fans of the Griswolds in "National Lampoon Vacation".
The manager offered to do our washing for five euros. It was an offer too good to refuse as it will save us looking for a laundromat in Leon which is now only a couple of days away.
We had a wonderful, relaxed lunch on the hotel's small terrace.
The hotel was originally a priests' house.
Following lunch we walked around the town for about an hour. The town is very old with many references to its Roman past.
The only people we saw were other walkers. Tomorrow is a long day with no towns on the way so we were keen to get some further provisions. We found a very tiny grocery store tucked away in a back street selling basic necessities. It was the only shop in town.
Just before dinner a farmer and his dogs herded his sheep behind the hotel to closed-in barns.
Dinner was at the hotel as there was very little else in town. It was local and delicious. We shared our table with a Californian man, a retired school teacher, who turned out to be the man who gave the advice of "throwing money" to solve a problem. Jim was a great guy and lots of fun. We had a very amusing conversation on how we name people along the way when we don't know their names. On one of the stages on the Camino Jim named one woman "Dark Cloud" after an unfriendly response. We told him some of our names including "Mute Man" which had us all laughing. Our hosts gave us local fortified wines to try and they finished off a very good night.
Enjoying your daily adventures. Keep off the Camino Candy and stick to red wine.
ReplyDeleteLyn and Paul