Day 10
Another wonderful day for a walk through rolling wheat, barley, and hay fields. I spent much of the day with Kim and Gary from Belfast after we met up by accident in Granon next to this fabulous coffee stand. The owner is depicted on the logo as well as his customized pilgrim stamp. We were also joined for a while by Peter from New Zealand. The Spanish radio station at the cafe played American tunes from the 70s. It was fab.
Kim and I spied what had to have been a hay stack from last season as there was an ample supply of grass growing on the top layers. We didn’t see the recipients of the hay but the guidebooks have said we shall soon be entering sheep & goats country again.
On a particularly long stretch of shadeless dirt path a van rolled by passing out cold water bottles to pilgrims. On the label was printed the name of an albergue in the next major town. They know their market. We looked up their website at the lunch break and they are the only hostel we’ve seen with a pool. When we reached Belarado theirs was the first sign in the outskirts of town advertising beds for a mere 8€ (about $10). And when we checked in they offered wash and dry laundry service for a very small fee. I’ve been hand washing my laundry every day but the lack of working dryers thus far has made thoroughly drying wool socks a challenge – I’ve restored to pinning them to the outside of my pack to get some air while I hike. So I splurged the $4 and am having them wash the lot.
Aforementioned lunch break in Villamayor was fabulous. I got an open faced sandwich with pepperoni, Gorgonzola, and honey – toasted. It might not sound good but it was amazing. Best sandwich thus far.
The place next door to our albergue fenced garden has a couple dozen chickens, bunnies, and peacocks. The hens make me feel right at home. The peacock put on an afternoon show.
I did a walk around town a bit at siesta and noticed they have multiple storks in the church tower as well. I’m going to miss the stork nests. They’re quite the construction projects and the families don’t seem to mind living in community with other families. It’s lovely.
More later…