Our evening in Villamayor de Monjardin was a quiet one. Despite a nice hot shower and the wonderful compnay of my husband my feet hurt.
My face felt as if I had a sunburn and my feet felt as if I had walked on hot coals.
As we went to dinner at the local Bar (the only choice in town) we saw many familiar faces from the previous two days.
We got a table in the center of the room and thankfully the space was too tight that we did not have room to add chairs to add additional dinner companions.
Part of me felt a bit of guilty for not being social but I did not feel myself.
Sleep for me was restful and I felt more myself as Friday began.
We made the decision that in order to give our body some rest, (mostly my feet) we would send our bags ahead.
This was a wonderful choice that allowed us to be more in the moment while we walked through wheat fields that glistened in the distance. Our goal for the day was easy, we were headed for Los Arcos. Many people were going to push ahead to Torres del Rio but we knew that our slow speed would make us late arrivals and possibly not have a suitable place for the night.
As we walked between the two towns, we knew that there was no rest stop however all of the sudden we saw a sign that advertised a BAR… was this a mirage I though? Was someone trying to play a joke? Thankfully it was no joke and a good truck and tables and chairs appeared in the not too distant future.
The promise of a hot coffee have me the incentive to hasten my step and to get a seat. As we approached we saw more familiar faces. We sat with our friend from the previous Albergue, Johan from Holland.
As we socialized in the bar of the “wheat fields” we learned there is a military parade in Logrono and lodging was going to be a challenge for he next couple of days since thousands of non pilgrims are descending into the city. We were also told that Vianna the town before was already filling out for Saturday.
In my previous Camino adventure I had not had a problem so I did not worry too much.
Funny how in this little place of earth in Northern Spain in between wheat fields and live trees the United Nations was in sessions.
In the short time we were there we we had Spanish, Hungarian, English, Korean, French and German being spoken. At least these are the languages I recognized.
In a short time the conversation turned to world news and of course the current political climate of the US came up. Needless to say, many people around the world share my views that we live in scary times.
Soon someone ordered another beer and we realized that it would be too easy to allow ourselves to just hang out and enjoy the outdoors and conversation.
Sadly we knew it was time to continue to move forward. We said good bye to our friends and moved on. We had several Kilometers to cover and getting bed for the night was a priority.
As we walked some more, I became more aware that I needed a bathroom. At some point we stopped to eat. Dan had bought us supplies that consisted of bread, cheese and salami.
We sat to eat on the wall of a small bridge that had a stream under it. We met a couple from Cape Cod there and we enjoyed their brief company.
After lunch as we began to walk some more I realized that I would need to go to the bathroom au natural. Not my first rodeo here but certainly not my favorite way to go.
Our friend new Dutch Johan caught up to us and he walked with Dan for a bit. I walked on my own and once again I was lost in the beauty of it all.
Upon entering town we found our Albergue Casa de La abuelita. We were lucky enough to get a room on the 3rd floor and we quickly got settled.
Once we showered and changed, we headed out for our afternoon tour of the town.
We walked in the old church. Santa Maria de Asunción which dates back to the 12th century. This was a very unique site. Like the Cathedral in Pamplona this church had a adjacent courtyard with beautiful roses in full bloom in the middle of it.
Many of the intricate wood carvings in the church also showed the influence of the Jewish and Muslim faiths.
As we sat outside later on for dinner with our friend Johan i really like being able to see the towns people come from mass as their ancestors had done for many years back.
At 9:30 we headed black to our Albergue since the doors are closed by 10:00 pm sharp. We spoke to the Albergue owner and he gave us some good tips for the next day.
It wasn’t long when we made it up the stairs that lights were out.
Sleep was not easy for me and I once again tossed and turned to no avail.
Saturday would be an early day.
NY RedRose 