Terradillos de los Templarios

Happy to be checked in at our albergue for the night! What a long day of about 27km (17 miles). We started out with breakfast at the place we ate dinner at last night and it was perfect. Dinner was so good last night we knew it’d be good. Speaking of dinner, Holly and I shared a bottle of red wine-Rioja Crianza (the good stuff) and it only cost €20 ($22), had a nice, big, fat, juicy, steak (hard to find a decent steak here “pilgrim” steaks are usually thin, cooked in a pan, with lots of fat on them), and we had one of the best warm salads I have ever had. In total was about $55 each. The bottle of wine would’ve cost that in the USA. I got a photo of the wine and salad but not the steak..I wasn’t thinking of photos when that bad boy arrived! Glad we had a good dinner, our bodies were really craving some vegetables and protein. Weather was nice today until the last couple hours where it got pretty warm. Although only reaching about 75*, it was enough to drench my hair with sweat. There was a long desolate stretch of 17km with no services except a sweet trail angel who set up a cart with tables and chairs. We stopped for a tall glass of fresh squeezed OJ and coffee. We bought snacks (banana, trail mix bar, chocolate) at the store yesterday so we had enough “food”for the day. The landscape was monotonous, and the road looked never ending. You could see miles ahead and it was nothing but pasture land and dead sunflower fields. I like what Holly said, she said it reminded her of Texas where you can see your escaped dog running down the road for 3 days! 😂 I was glad to get off that soul sucking road, but on the positive side, it did give me lots of time to pray and contemplate. I’ve needed that. The next 10km stretch was better as it was lined with trees, which much to my relief, provided some shade. We arrived in Terradillos de Los Templarios at about 2:15. What a welcomed sight!! I stayed here on my first Camino in 2013 and liked it a lot for its decent food, spacious dining area, yard, and clean rooms. Holly and I have our own private room/bathroom for €22 each. Not bad at all. We have (and will again on this trip) pay more for a bunk bed in a dormitory and share a bathroom with several. Laundry is in the works now and tonight is another communal dinner. Nothing fancy, but it will provide all we need to make it 24km to Bercianos tomorrow. We will pass through Sahagun and that is the official halfway point, although I read that the real halfway mark is at the 400km marker, which we passed today! Who knows, all I know is we are making good progress, both are doing well, and we are totally grateful for this experience!! More tomorrow 😘❤️もっと詳しく