Well I finally caught the cold that Vic has been passing around all week. I am feeling so sorry for myself. At least my feet don’t hurt. Vic was able to get a new set of gel inserts for her shoes that give her toes more room. They are still blistered and painful but she was able to do the 22-23 km today . More points on the golden chart for her.
The countryside has changed from vineyards to open vistas of rolling hills of wheat stubble. Shades of the next two weeks. It is like walking across Saskatchewan aiming for Manitoba. It gets flatter, I am told. It was cooler and more pleasant to walk today, but the last 10 km was on a hot sunny gravel road alongside a major truck route superhighway. Not a tree in sight.
We had walked the first 6 km of this stretch a decade ago with Bob and Liz. There was a memorable approach to Grañon – across a little stream on a stone bridge, and then up a long farm track to the back door of the church. The Camino has now been rerouted alongside the main highway up past the bars on the main street to the front door of the church. Not nearly as idyllic.
The hotel here in Belarado is a quaint 6 room medieval stone building, right on the Camino. The town has two churches which are virtually identical on the inside. To an unskilled observer, of course. One has three large stork nests on the belfry. The town square has a beautiful circle of shading plane trees. And 5 or 6 bars.
Today’s cast of characters included the dreadlocked Australian walking in bare feet. We had seen him in a town a couple days earlier, but today he was putting his feet down very carefully on the crushed gravel road. Also noted was the slightly inebriated American with the ukulele and two friends who mistakenly thought they were the answer to plaza entertainment. Yesterday there was the couple with the girl riding a bicycle with a two wheeled trailer full of backpacks, and the fellow with his dog running alongside her. Over the hill and out of sight. Must be training for something.
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