Today was almost uneventful. I had a nice little breakfast at the hotel, and then headed out around 8:45 am. There was a torrential downpour in the night, and I was expecting a lot more rain today, but in the end there was only a little bit and then some more over the last 4-5 km, but the sun was shining by the time I arrived in Estella 24 km later.
There was a good climb at around 5 km, but it was early in the day and not too difficult, so even though I had the full backpack, I didn't mind much.
I had been looking forward to walking a stretch of 2,000 year old Roman road that begins just outside Cirauqui, but was disappointed to realize it was actually quite hard to walk on because it's so bumpy and uneven. My kids will get a chuckle out of that.
I told myself I'd follow Ramble protocol and take a break shortly after the halfway point, which came at 13 km in a village called Lorca. I was hoping for a repeat of yesterday's fantastic purchased sandwich, but when I got to what I thought was the end of Lorca, no sandwich opportunities had yet presented themselves (there's generally NOTHING open since it is no longer The Pilgrim Season). So I sat on a bench across the street from a hilarious herding-type dog who stared at me silently while I ate the remains of the cheese I purchased on Tuesday.
Of course, as soon as I retried my boots and turned the corner, there was a little grocery store and a small bunch of familiar pilgrim types. I asked the lady if she had sandwiches, and she said no, but if I bought some bread and meat, she'd assemble it for me. So I told her what I wanted, and she made it, and it cost me 1.30€. I went back outside to eat it in time for two cyclists to arrive. They were riding the Camino. One, a Brazilian, was doing the exact route we were walking, and while he was covering closer to 90 km/day, he said the hills (especially the descents) were hard. His colleague, a cheerful German from Cologne, was skipping the hills and sticking to the main roads. He was hoping to get some wine with his lunch.
When I left them, I took with me a retired Canadian guy who confessed he had only stayed once so far in an albergue and that, for all the reasons I had, found it was not to his liking. Like me, he's been staying in other accommodation, but, unlike me, he's been pulling into town without anything reserved. I'm too tired at the end of the day to wander around shopping for a bed, thank you.
Tonight I was forced to go out and forage for something to eat, but off season there's little for a tired pilgrim at 7:00 pm no matter what they tell you. I found the plaza lined with restaurants, but they were packed with Happy Hour folks, drinking beers and wine and coffees. So I wandered around for over an hour, clocking an additional 4.64 km in the process, until suddenly everything cleared out and I gathered the courage to actually go in a place and ask if it was too early for food.
It wasn't. And I even got a glass of wine. (Yes, you read that correctly. A glass. One. That makes a grand total of THREE glasses this week. My liver has no idea what to do with all its spare time now.)
Tomorrow I walk to Los Arcos. There's a pretty but nasty looking climb (Monjardin, 894 meters at about 9 km in), but before it gets steep there's a village called Azqueta, and I have written the words "cat town" next to it. I have no idea why.
Stay tuned for an explanation tomorrow, I guess.
Much love to everyone, but especially to my Home Team.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Estella, Spain
"My liver has no idea what to do with all its spare time now." Bwaaahahaha!! Hmm...me thinkst that a .75 bottle wouldn't add too much weight to that backpack.
ReplyDelete