Torres del Rio (19.6km / 141.1km)

We packed up in the dark while our roommates (a Pom Elderly Mum and her son) still slept. Had a takeaway breakfast and were on our way. The heat set in quite soon and not much shade but thankfully a fairly flat day. We were distracted by talking to other pilgrims along the way, getting to know quite a few now and we keep cross crossing paths. It was a long stretch of 12 km before our first town, Los Arcos, where we had a much needed “2nd breakfast”. It took some time to learn our coffee order but we are now enjoying the espresso coffee. We had a beautiful backdrop of Iglesia de Santa Maria. We set off again in the heat and had a much needed freshly squeezed orange juice at Sansol before our final short leg to our destination for the day at Torres del Rio. We treated ourselves to a private room (and bathroom), so really enjoyed the beautiful shower before adventuring out. We had a look at the exquisite Iglesia de Santo Sepulcro linked to the Knights Templar and based on the octagonal church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. We forced ourselves to have a much needed beer at one of the terraces linked to an Albergue with plenty of chattering pilgrims, and then another before a lovely communal dinner - this time with no other pilgrims that we had met before, from a variety of countries. I am sure we will meet plenty of them somewhere along the way …..Read more