Camino Day 14

5:50am alarm call, but rolled over. Out by 7am and into the first café for a coffee and a super chocolate croissant. It’s good to have breakfast , and full water bottles. Next town is 17.5km along an old dusty gravel Roman road. The only deviation is an up at the end of the first stage to a town hidden again in the dip. It was good doing this stretch first thing in the day, whilst it was overcast and cool - though the sun burnt the clouds away within a couple of hours and the temperature was rising as we went. To start with there was no cover, maybe a tree or two on one side but nothing to cast s shadow. Further on there were bushes either side of the path - but these brought their own perils in the many flying bees and bugs. In the fields swallows swooped and chased around after the bugs, many different versions of finches and sparrows littered the path. From time to time you would see a mouse scuttle across the path into the corn fields. We even saw agreed lizard!!
At the end of the 17,5 km was a welcome break and orange juice. Half way there... the stage and also to Santiago. Yup, we have made the half way stage 😀.
We pushed on through another 3 or 4 villages, stopping for water or just to rest our feet. The path wasn’t climbing too much today, so we were able to have a quick pace (offset by the breaks). Saint Nicolás was a welcome sight around 2:30... we checked in, showers the dust off and set on doing the washing.
A communal dinner with Dutch,Belgians and the Germans topped off the day.
It was a weird day, one of those days where you were missing something badly. We were checking in with the boy to make sure they left the hotel and got through security at Madrid airport. Had they got on the plane? What arrangements were waiting for them in Manchester. They were with us in spirit walking today.Read more