Spain and Belgium 2024

Pouring rain and thunder dominated the night in Mombuey and I dreaded the morning hike in the cold rain. I had no cover for my pack and the worst shoes for this situation. Norman, Jane and I began the day as normal though, except I made the horrible instant coffee for Jane and I. Norman was too good for this stuff, I don't blame him. When the door of the albergue was opened to cold dark rain was immediately felt., and we walked right into it without hesitation. We sludged through the dark wet morning to Astorianos just 18 + kilometers away. Within 40 minutes my shoes and socks were completely soaked. We first made our way through the outskirts of town and along the road. But soon this gave way to the forest. The Camino itself was sometimes washing away, many segments muddy, other of slippery stone. In a few I stances Norman and I had to escape into the forest to find a way around a completely inundated section.

We moved along to the first village which had a church with a large covered porch under which we sought refuge, in a hope the slow rain would cease. It was this time that Jane caught up with us, wearing shorts and a colored umbrella. This was the village of Cernadilla and there was nothing there but buildings, some old, some maybe ancient. Either way there was no sign of life, just a few parked cars, not a store or shop around. Norman told me earlier none of the villages had anything and it'd be a while until we got a coffee, what really rejuvenated us.

San Salvador de Palazuela was the next village, down a hill and up another substantial one. On the way I found a large Salamander making it's way across the street. Wildlife. Entrepeñas was the next village maybe 3 kilometer from the previous. It came and went as the others. The final trudge through the rain would lead us to Astorianos. When we finally reached the town, with Jane, we were elated because there were at least two restaurants and a tienda, but it was still early not much past 11, and the village looked still. We walked to each establishment and noticed they were not open despite operating hours being visible and showing they should be. Jane cursed them. We instead made for the tienda, I was hungry as was everyone else. Jane got some snacks and chips, Norman I recall didn't get much, packages of stuff were too large to justify carrying. Who had room for 12 Magdalenas? Despite this I bought a good size loaf of bread perhaps a foot in diameter, cheese slices, and Spanish salami and jamóm ibérica, I was going to make an epic bocadillo.

Defeated in our effort to get a hot coffee and a bite to eat Jane, Norman and I made for the alburgue a kilometer outside the center of the village. When we arrived I immediately took off my soaked shoes and socks and laid them out on the sunniest part of the patio (as sunny as could be since the rain stopped an hour ago) . The facilities were better than average, there were bathrooms that didn't smell, plenty of beds, a kitchen with a broken sink and a microwave. I unpacked a few things while Norman laid his sleeping bag on his bunk and laid down and Jane ate snacks in the kitchen.
After talking to Jane as we ate, she decided as the rain had cleared that she would press on to Sanabria. I agreed that would be a good idea and that I'd talk to Norman about it since it was only a 2-3 hour hike, not far for the Camino. Jane then hugged me and said her goodbyes and walked on. I went to Norman and pitched to idea of moving on and without hesitation he began packing his bags. I didn't want to press him, I didn't know his physical limits but he is resilient and happy to move on. We began our hike sticking to the road since the Camino was winding across the countryside. The road was straight, we moved faster on it too but it hurt our feet. We made our way to the next village in good time by Norman's reckoning and he knows what he's talking about. We found a cafe and had café con leches and trusged on through the next villages now bearing the name 'Sanabria' as we made our way now on the Camino to save our feet. At some point we walked on a other over the roadway and through a field where we came to another main roadway. Checking our maps we realized we had wandered off the Camino but if we followed the road we'd get to Otero de Sanabria which was the final village before Puebla de Sanabria. We moved on, feet sore, to town and past the main church and then as we moved on it began to rain again and just then we came to a glass covered bus stop and sought refuge there. Norman at this point said he'd come far enough and didn't want to hike through the rain and it'd be a good time to get a taxi to Puebla de Sanabria since it was only 5 kilometers away at the most. I made a phonecall using the number stuck to the wall of the bus stop. Unable to explain our location I took a picture of Norman sitting at the bus stop and sent it to the guy. Within 10 minutes we were in the taxi and on our way.

This was the end destination of my camino, I met and said goodbye to everyone I had met except Norman. This would be the last time I would see the last of my Camino friends. We stayed in hostal san francisco and Split the cost. We found a bar to get some dinner, the grocery store for his food for the next day and the bank from which he was going to get cash. Norman was also going to send 5€ to a bar he had walked out on in a previous town. "It weighs on my mind" he would say. It was the right thing to do.もっと詳しく