Day 19 22/4/12 Hontana - Itero del la Vega 20km (sloping room)

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Woke in the morning and saw Patrick. He said that the restaurant across the road was opened for breakfast so said we would catch up for a coffee. Didn't see him not sure where he went to. We may not see him again as he was having a short day.....who knows.....

Jacqui still not feeling the best ...She just cant seem to shake the last of the cold …...you would thing as a friend I would carry her back pack.....nah.....A pilgrim does not complain....

We met up with Brooke.....We have travelled with her off and on a few times ...she is a little 70yr old American who lost her husband a few years ago....they use to do a lot of travelling and she still does......Every one that we talk to has met Brooke or heard of her...she is a inspiration to all.....Jacqui and I have decided to come back when we are 70 and do it all over again.....she was walking with Mathias (Matthew)....he is a social worker in Sweden......we first met him in the purple room and Max from Germany. They have all been walking together for a few days now. Its good that Brooke has some one to look out for her.......

We came to a village and stopped and ate some fruit and yoghurt. Have decided to make sure we have fruit and yoghurt with us most days and stay of the pastries and bread …..as nice as they are we tend to get a bit sick of them and crave fruit and veggies....don’t know how long it will last....

We had been travelling with quite a few people and all of a sudden we were alone.....I left Jacqui on a seat and walked back ….found a man who spoke no english but as soon as I said Camino he pointed us in the right direction.....We had missed a arrow and had gone through the town instead of around it

Couple of km down the road we came to a 1.5km road with a 12% incline...it was a road for vehicles and made of road base, so was good for walking......It was a great walk up and the views were magnificent.....I felt I was in a plane …..I rang Aidan up for his birthday...He was fishing on the beach....It was 8pm for him.... 12 MD for me.

Dwayne rang me up as we were walking ….was great to hear from him. The weather was great..... sun was shining and not much wind...a very rare day for us.

There was often a little bird singing....and we can never find him in the bushes......after getting through all the mountains at the start of the walk he became a regular little song bird but very elusive. On Jacqui's birthday we heard him quite a lot. I just happened to look up and there he was sitting on the wind singing......not in the bushes....even on the windiest days he will be sitting on the wind singing...not flying.

We walked 20km into Itero de la Vegas that day....was enough for Jacqui. Went straight past the first albergue thinking there would be another.....Oh yes there was another..... The owner offered us a room with three single beds for 8 eu. We took the deal. The floor was cement painted red, and sloped down from the head of the bed to the end. When in my bed I felt like I was sliding down to the end of my bed. The owner rushed off before we could pay. We had a shower in the only shower for us and about 30 other people. The shower and toilet were all in the same room and very small...am glad we were the first one's there.

Al tho we did find other shower's and toilets down stairs later..... they had a sign saying washing 3eu but because they guy had disappeared we couldn't pay him. We went searching and found a washing machine and powder in a shed so we used it and hung the clothes out in the sun to dry.....Eventually he took our money and stamped our passport

We found out that there was a private bar through the back fence and that is where he had disappeared to. Every time the phone rang his wife/partner came running through the fence cigarette in one hand beer in the other to answer it....He wanted to know if we wanted tea....we passed I am sure he was happy...it didn't interrupt his drinking.

We sat outside in the sun airing our feet ...what a luxury....Susan came down she is from Belgium and we all sat chatting....This girl breezed through the fence with a red wine in one hand and olivas (olives) in the other and sat down.....I think breeze is not the word maybe tornado....Fernando from Brazil....(now lives in Barcelona) very talkative loud and very expressive with her hands.

We went to the nice albergue (the one we walked pass when we came into town) and went on the internet for a while then had tea …..Fernando came down and sat at a table with a man she had seen on the walk earlier. She had been telling us about him and how he had white hair was old and was walking faster than her......He was her hero and she looooved him......You had to be there to hear her . I think she either goes at 100 mile's an hour or stop. She said she has to drink quite a few reds every night to sleep.....I don’t know about other nights, but she did that night, and was gone before we even got up the next morning......I am pretty sure we wont see her again.

We were back at our room with the door locked ...first time we felt the need …..It was quite noisy behind the door...everything settled....we just wanted to go to sleep so we can get out of the place.

Susan said the next morning she had a few bites on her.....We saw her a few days later and she confirmed that they were bed bugs....one of the things I have been dreading ...but so far we have been lucky....they are worse in the summer time

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