DAY 8 To Azofra

We slept well in Ventosa and were awakened to chants by monks.  I have to admit that this is the first time to wake up this way.   Vic said she could live without it, but then again she isn't a morning person, so don't wake her up.  I liked it better than other wake calls I experienced.  Sgt. Pendergast hitting an empty trash  can in basic training comes to mind.

We left Ventosa at sunrise without benefit of breakfast or coke zero.  Oh the humanity!  We walked hurriedly to Najera, found a bar and ordered bacon & eggs.  They weren't really open yet but took pity on the two old peregrines.  They even gave us each a Nestle Crunch bar for energy during our walk.

As if to add insult to injury, someone decided to install km markers with the remaining distance to Santiago.  Only 578 Kms to go.  Argh!  Thank god we will take a bus from Burgos to Leon to accelerate our trip.

We walked to the Albergue Municipal in Azofra.  It is only €7 each per night.  There are only two beds per room.  Yeah!

The temperature was near 70 today.  We both set outside while we watched our laundry dry on the line.  Life is indeed much simpler on the Camino.  Our feet hurt!  What could be simpler?

DAY 7 To Ventosa

We  checked out of our hotel knowing we would be staying in Albergues the next few days.  No tubs!  It is a bit odd that we will miss a tub since we almost always shower at home.  Walking out of Lograno was on very nice, but very hard surfaces.  Feet killers.  On the way out they had  benches and fountains.  We walked past the reservoir.  We stopped at Naverrete for lunch.  An omelet with eggs and sausage.  Vicky thought it was great, me not so much.

On the road to Naverrete, pilgrims have made wooden crosses and inserted them into the fence.

We are staying in the Albergue San Saturnio in Vertosa.  It is a nice place.  That are eight beds in the room.   People from Netherlands, Denmark, New Zealand, France, Spain, and us from the US are staying in the Albergue.  So far everyone speaks English.  We should be in for a fun evening.

DAY 6 Resting in Lograno

Oh the joy of sleeping in.  We feel better already.  No hiking today, just fun!  Okay, we do have to find a laundry but other than that, it is all fun today.  We moved to the Hotel Murrieta.  It is about 200 feet down the camino, 8 euros cheaper, and a bigger room with a tub.  Wifi isn't as good, but we don't mind the common area.  Below is a picture of Vicky lounging.

We still haven't adjusted to the whole siesta thing.  Stores and restaurants close by two and don't reopen until sevenish.  Aye carrumba, we are up and ready to conquer the world and Spain is closed.

DAY 5 To Lograno

There were only 3 people in our Albergue room last night; Vic, an older Spanish lady, and me.  I feel for her since both Vic and I were snoring.  She didn't speak a word of English so it was a quiet evening.  The peregrine in the south room were also nonenglish speakers.

Vic taking a break

Hard clay& rock path

Uck, asphalt

A glimpse of Viana

The walk to Viana was only 9 Kms, but it felt like more since we were always on hard surfaces or asphalt.  We really liked Viana; one beautiful little village.  We stopped and ate at a bar next to the church.  We had tapas and wine.  Um!  There a lots of double rooms for €20 plus for anyone not wanting to stay at an Albergue.

It was sprinkling when we left Viana which meant I had to stop at a pastry shop.  It must be hard to answer prayers when the farmers are praying for rain and the peregrine are praying for sunshine.  The path to Lograno was littered with goat, deer, horse, and donkey droppings.  At times we were shuffling more than a Philadelphia mummer on New Years Day (thanks Tracy Borda for that point of reference).

The Camino into Lograno is paved and very hard on tired feet.  We will stay two nights here to allow our bodies to rest and to visit the city.  We are staying at the Hotel Portales in center city.  Agh,  the joys of a 4 star hotel., with tub to soak tired feet in for hours.

DAY 4 To Torres del Rio

Last night we met Ellen from Seattle, Anna Lee from Arizona, and Lee from Belgium.  There were all very friendly.  Lee has been to the USA to attend conferences in Norman, Ok.  We were raised in Oklahoma and we understand her disappointment in not visiting other locations in the states.  We offered her some of our wine to console her.   Anna Lee arrived later so we polished off the bottle.

Ellen missed out on the wine but joined us for dinner at the bar.  We all had sliced pork, fries, fried egg (I know we thought the same thing), and bread.  It was very good.  We decided we are the Will Rogers of Spanish wines, we never met one we didn't like.

The three of them were headed to Viana today.  Too far for our legs.

Vic complained she didn't sleep last night due to her room mates snoring; yikes that would be me.   To placate her, we looked at the only private room in Torres del Rio and decided it was not worth the money so we are staying at the Albergue Casa Mariela.  It is clean.  They are building a new motel here, but it is not open yet.

Our walking started early today.  It was cold when we left, but warmed with the rising sun.  It was 12 Kms to Los Arcos with nothing in between.   We were pleasantly surprised by a food truck vendor 6 Kms into our walk.  Nothing like Coke Zero and a chocolate bar for breakfast.  We stopped in Los Arcos for lunch and split a pizza.  It is amazing how everything tastes good when you hungry.

While at lunch an Italian man ask me if Lee had stayed at Villamayor last night.  I answered yes. He asked if I knew where she would be tonight and I answered Viana.  I added she seemed like A very nice girl.  He said he was an Italian man.  He said ciao and took off after Lee faster than Peppe Le Pu.  We never saw him again on the road to Torres del Rio.

We walked the additional 8 Kms to Torres del Rio.  We didn't realize that Sansol was 1 km. before you get to Torres del Rio and started to think we were lost.  No problem, a shop owner set us straight.

We plan to walk 20 Kms tomorrow to Lograno .  Hopefully a hotel awaits.

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