Day 11 – Castildelgado – Villafranca Montes De Oca

Last night dinner was really enjoyable with a Dutch couple, she was 68 and he was 72, although they looked much younger. Their English was very good and we were able to have very wide-ranging discussions. This included my encounter with the Nightjars that morning. Apparently, in Dutch, they are known as Night Swallows!

It was a lovely, traditional Spanish dinner which started with cold soup. It didn’t sound very inspiring but tasted fantastic. This was followed by hot vegetable soup – also very nice. The main soup was with chunks of beef and potatoes; I’m sure it had a Spanish name but I can’t remember. This was finished off with a bowl of custard with a biscuit on top.

cold soup

Hot vegetable soup. Both very nice.

Yesterday I passed the 200km mark and today I ended today at 245km.

Today's walk was the worst so far. It ran alongside the main N 120 trunk road, sometimes too close! It was relatively flat, wide path. I just tried to put the traffic out of my mind; head down and walking. There was a sun flower that had sprung up right at the side of the road. I felt that it was bravely trying to bring some colour and life into a very barren environment.

All the albergues I have stayed in are very different, which is what gives the Camino part of it’s charm. Yesterday, it was a beautifully restored house with areas with wicker sofas to relax on. Today’s is part of a posh hotel but with none of the friendliness and care of the previous albergue. The thing to remember is, whether good or bad, I am only hear for a few hours and as long as I can sleep through the night, tomorrow I will wake to a new day.

Comments

  1. Lyn21 September 2021 at 22:48

    The places where you're staying sound much better than I imagined. I thought you were in dorms all in a row!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown22 September 2021 at 18:37

    I've only ever been to Spain once but your pictures certainly bring back the essence of the architecture and the colours of the countryside. Boy you make me feel exhausted, but you're making good progress.

    It's such an informative blog, thanks for sharing the adventure, Martin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MartinV23 September 2021 at 17:23

      Thanks for the encouragement - whoever you are 😁

      Delete
    2. Martin23 September 2021 at 20:23

      That Unknown is also me (Martin) - I seem to have multiple accounts

      Delete

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