Villafranca

Today, after a beautiful, 24k trek through the Cantabrian Mountains, we arrived in Villafranca. This amazing medieval city greeted us with ancient buildings, a cool breeze and an welcoming albergue, where we will spend the night, (see photo below).
A few words about albergues...
An albergue is a hostel for pilgrims, or people walking the Camino. It costs from donation- 14 euros for a bed for the night. Albergue Piedra, where we are staying tonight, is one of the nicest so far....(with single beds, without bunks!), but they vary greatly. Here are some examples:
1. Bathrooms do have showers, but toilet seats, hand soap, paper towels are optional.
2. Most have bunk beds with a vinyl mattress cover, a sheet optional. This means that you are guaranteed to sweat through your bedding and clothes at night, as air-conditioning or even fans are non existent.
3. Some have windows, that may or may not open....again, the sweat thing....🥵
4. We have had between 4 and 50 sleeping in mixed gender dorms each night. Ear plugs help drown out the snoring.
5. Most have wifi. If not, a bar down the street usually does.
6. Some have kitchens where we can prepare instant coffee and musceli before we start out at about 5:30am.
7. All offer scrub sinks and a clothes line or rack, so you can wash your clothes, after showering.
8. Some offer a communal dinner, where we eat with people from around the world. Last night, French, German, Italian, Spanish and English languages were all represented at our table, with lots of smiling, laughing and varying degrees of understanding. For 10 euros we got a three course meal with wine and bread- delicious!
All Albergues, although different and unique in their own ways, are always a welcomed site after a long day of trekking!
Photos: sand pictures with flowers in preparation for St James celebration; lots of medieval churches/buildings; coffee along the way; Paraguay represented at our albergue; Zamora Street sign; ancient insulation; Albergue Piedra- so comfy!
Love to you all!❤️Read more