We lucked out; no rain today. I don't think we are going to be quite so lucky tomorrow! We walked 14.2 miles today from Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Belardo. We left the Rioja Region of Spain and entered the Castilla y Leon Region. It is the latest of all the Regions in Spain and has a vast history. We will be traveling through 3 of its 9 provinces over the next couple of weeks: Burgos, Palencia and Leon. Suffice to say that the ancient Kingdom of Castile is well named for its many castles, which were built to protect and promote the kingdom. I can't wait to see some castles in the coming days!
After spending two nights in the same hotel we became friendly with the innkeeper's. We talked them into serving breakfast at 7:30 this morning instead of 8:00 so that we could get on our way at daybreak. Below is a picture I took of Lee and the innkeeper. He was a very sweet guy and is now the proud owner of a "San Diego" cap.
Last night we caught up with a couple of women (Vera & Deny) from Holland that we have befriended along the way. The Dutch Company that booked their accommodations has selected the same hotels we are staying in. We have ended up seeing each other several times throughout the days. They both have been very friendly and welcoming to us, they are very sweet ladies and both speak English fairly well. Unfortunately they will only be walking for a couple more days with us and they have to head back home to Holland where they plan to follow us on this a Blog.
We walked through several small villages today: Granon, Viloria and Villamayor. We made a picnic lunch to eat along the way today and found the perfect spot to eat in a small park in Villamayor. Lee spied a swing set and couldn't resist going for a swing. See video below:
Our hotel here in Belardo is nice but there is NO elevator and our room is on the second floor! It was no fun walking up the steps with our backpacks, hiking sticks and luggage at the end of the day. Good news is the room has a tub so we can let our feet soak tonight. Here are a few pictures from today. We are heading to Atapuerca in the morning.
I'll bet you are so grateful for your days of rest! How often will you do that? Also, I'm wondering what kinds of things you find to talk about all day, every day? It's a very intense bonding to be with someone 24/7! When I took my year of traveling, people told me that it counted as like 4 years in our relationship because you usually don't spend more than a couple hours together on any given day. It'll test any type of relationship. :)
ReplyDeleteSo, do you play games, sing, have deep philosophical conversations, make up stories, etc - or are you finding the quiet reflection to be the focus? Just curious. :)
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