Day 19: Sleepy towns are for sleeping

We had a long day of walking (25.5 km/almost 16 miles) and temperatures were supposed to reach 90 by the afternoon, so we set off at 5 AM.

We had a steep climb right off the bat, but the moon and stars were lovely. We crested the hill just as the sky started to turn pink. It felt good to beat the sun to the top of the hill.

After a quick breakfast/snack of nun cookies, we continued another 7 km to our first town of the day where we found exactly one bar open. This bar is run by volunteers and the proceeds benefit local mutual aid organizations. The people working there were all sweet and earnest and their hearts were clearly in the right place, but they served us lukewarm, terrible coffee. Fortunately, the tomato toast was delicious.

The rest of our walk was pretty unremarkable. We stopped for cold drinks about 9 km after our sad coffee stop and then walked the last 5 km by a shady canal.

Tonight we’re in Fromista. We’re staying at a little hotel at the edge of town. On our way there, we grabbed a bite to eat and checked out a church that was built over a thousand years ago.

The best part of our day was when our landlady for the night greeted us warmly and offered us cold beers before showing us to our air conditioned room. Having already seen what sights the town had to offer, we spent the rest of the afternoon napping.

Fortunately, the restaurant across the street from our hotel serves great ribs and good beer. A nice, mellow end to a long day on the Camino. Tomorrow is a shorter day with more places to stop to cool off, grab a drink and a bite to eat.Read more