Monasterio de San Vicente del Pino

It seemed almost like a rest day. The walk was very pretty, and I took a little detour to go to a hill fort that dates to the first or second century, before the Roman arrival. At places like this, I stop and think about things — my life, their life, whether we were similar in any ways. There were many body-shaped rock-lined spaces right below the surface, and I wondered if they were graves.

We did have one fairly short and not too steep ascent, and we also came across our very first loose dog. He barked, and he did come close, but that was about it. That was the first loose dog we’ve encountered during almost three weeks of walking.

When we got into town, I went straight to the pharmacy to see if I could get something for my incessant cough. This is very similar to something that has happened to me on two other Caminos— it starts as an allergy and then deteriorates into a bad cough, and I cannot shake it. I showed the pharmacist the name of the medicines that I had been given the last time, and she just pulled them off the shelf and gave them to me. That’s a very different attitude towards prescription medication than what I found in the south of Spain.

We were in town early, and by noon I had checked into the parador— a splurge I booked months ago. It’s in a 17 C convent right next to the 13 C castle tower. The receptionist was very nice and found me a room that was ready, even though I was hours before check-in. I guess that walking into a parador with a grungy backpack and hiking poles gets you some special treatment, or else it gives staff the incentive to get you out of sight quickly.

One of the best things about staying in a Parador is that the towels are so huge and thick that you can squeeze all the water out of your hand washed clothes with them.

Clare and I had a good lunch in a popular local place, while she played around with schedules and accommodations to figure out her next moves. My bet is that I will start out from Monforte alone tomorrow.

It’s a cold grey dreary day, but at least we didn’t get rain while walking.Read more