Grace before dinner

A beautiful municipal albergue last night, at Santa Marta de Tera, clean, modern and well designed. We saw and admired it last year. It only takes 12 pilgrims but I set out yesterday at first light and without too much effort was at my destination in time to be among the lucky ones. It is also next to a lovely Romanesque church that boast the oldest known statue of Santiago. A good place to light a few candles.

After breakfast at the local bar, obligingly opened early by the owner, I set out alone but was shortly joined by two other pilgrims who walked at my pace. James, a 70 year old athlete who has walked from Gibraltar! James has also travelled extensively in Australia - probably seen more of it than me. And Annette, a young judge from Germany. With plenty to talk about among the three of us the 24 kilometres slipped by easily.

Tonight we are staying in a tiny four person albergue. It is run by an evangelical family, a South African couple who were missionaries in India and Namibia before they came here. They have spent 8 years renovating and restoring this wonderful adobe farmhouse complex - doing all the work themselves. An interesting evening with plenty of religious discussion.Read more