Montamarta - Granja de Moreruela 24 km

Luis' alarm went off early but I was already awake, and was up and out the door just 10 minutes in front of them, Mirjam was of course, still sound asleep. I found the walk quite difficult today, my right hip was very sore but the only way is forward so I kept going. Having said that, I was really enjoying the walk, and when I was having a break I saw Julia on the road and shouted to her and we met up and walked together for a while. It was the first time I had walked with her and I enjoyed her chat, I found her to be really engaging and interesting, clearly very smart and independent. I was so glad we were able to share that time together, and I hoped we would have many more moments like that. We arrived at one of the towns on the route but there was no café so we stopped at a bench for a rest but rather than resting, Julia wanted us to do some stretching exercises, and I couldn't say no. Reader, it was the only stretch exercises I had done since PE at school more than 40 years earlier, but I managed, and to be honest, it made me love her just a little bit more.

When I got to Granja I found Luis and Delphine sitting eating ice cream outside the albergue, they had somehow passed me, I think they followed the main road rather than the camino trail. They told me to go to the bar down the street and leave my mochilla until we could get into the albergue. so, off I went and had coffee and tortilla then more coffee whilst I was there. When the time came we got our credentials stamped and made our way over to the albergue which despite the 6€ price, the albergue was quite decent with excellent toilets and showers.

Mirjam and Anne (Anne- with an uh) a very lovely German girl who was friends with Anita and Mirjam, arrived and we went for lunch together, and we met Julia in the restaurant and had the most wonderful time, even though the food was not brilliant. We had a terrific discussion about Van Gogh and art, Julia was wearing a Van Gogh t-shirt that she had designed herself. It was a great design and she is obviously a very talented graphic designer. I really enjoyed my time sitting chatting and getting to know the three of them better, I have never been as impressed by anyone as I am by these three young women, and meeting them has been one of the great highlights of my camino.

I was encouraged to get a message from Anita to say that she had walked a little bit in Zamora today and she was hopeful of joining us on the camino soon. I was continuing to pray for a full recovery for her. I hope she is able to return to the camino and meet up with us, I look forward to seeing her again.Read more