What day is it now???

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Saturday 11th September
After dinner last night I played cards with the German crew. It was their version of UNO. Quite fun! A good way to learn a few German swear words.

What a night! It was a little hard to sleep with Marco snoring so loudly all night. One of the joys of room sharing! After breakfast we headed out by the light of a beautiful sunrise.  I started walking with Armando and Marco. As usual there was a lot of talking and laughing. It constantly amazes me that we are so perky first thing in the morning.

It's great how I'm able to notice so much more around me these days. We saw alot of snails on the plants beside the path and we also noticed a couple of snails racing on the path. Things I don't know I would ordinarily see. Crazy but true.

We hit a hill fairly early on - it's pretty tough when it's so soon after you've started and you're not quite warmed up yet. At this point Armando headed off ahead of us on his own. Me and Marco made it to the top of the hill and then carried on together for most of the walk, 

The countryside along the way was gorgeous! We passed a vineyard and Marco picked a bunch of grapes off the vine - fresh grapes, yummy. And they felt like such a treat and a little bit like a gift.

Marco and I had a good conversation about spirituality and some spiritual teachers and places in Brazil. I think I know where my next holiday is going to be!! 😊. We also talked alot about relationships - it was a very helpful conversation. I am starting to feel like my relationship problems are not so strange. 

All this walking and talking revolved around some very amazing countryside. We walked along Roman pathways over 2000 years old. And crossed some  very ancient bridges. It is such a pleasure to be surrounded by so much history.

We caught up with Armando, Tobias and Simone at a river just before Lorca. At Lorca we also hooked up with  the rest of the group. By this time it was pretty hot, so the cool water from the fountain was very welcome relief.  I think I saw in town today that the temperature was 34 degrees.  And that was at about 6pm, so who knows what the temperature was at midday. 

I walked the rest of the way with Robert and Simone. It was lovely and peaceful. We finally hit Estella about 2pm, quite hot and tired again. We all hung in the park and decided on the best option for accommodation. We booked into ANFAS Albergue, very nice.  Only €5 and they gifted us with a little medical kit. It had arnica cream in it, just what i needed. We then headed into town for food. We stopped at a restaurant and had the pilgrams meal. 

After our late lunch Marco and I went to find a cash machine. Then we went to the plaza and treated ourselves to drinks and chocolate. We then wandered around town for a bit. It was still really hot so we went back to our accommodation.

Then back to the aubergue where Armando cooked dinner. I'm so tired now I can hardly write. We had a bit of debate about tomorrow's plans. To walk 21kms or nearer to 30kms. 30kms seems a long way when thinking about it now, but maybe it won't be so bad.

Sunday 12th September
Up at 5.15am this morning to hit the road while it was still cool. After packing up, we left about 6am. It was great walking in the dark and cold. It was pretty funny walking out of town on our pilgramage and passing all the drunks on their way home from their night of partying.

We thought we wouldn't get to see the wine fountain as it wasn't due to open until 9am. But we did manage to check it out on the way out of town. Of course it wasn't working ( providing wine) but who needs wine at that time of day. But it was really great to see it. 

It got light reasonably quickly and it wasn't long at all before we could see the gorgeous countryside we were walking through. I walked with Simone today and we decided just to keep on walking rather than stop along the way, to ensure we make it all the way. It was a nice walk, not too many hills and the wind kept us cool. We made it to Los Arcos around 11am, so after 5 hours of walking. We were feeling pretty good.

We met a Canadian chiropractor at Los  Arcos who showed Tobias how to give us a good massage. So after he'd done Simone he massaged my legs. Oh my god, sooooo good. Just what I needed!  I also figured out during the stop why my feet keep hurting -a circulation issue, I need to put my feet up after walking to get the blood flowing back into my legs. Phew, what a relief to get that sorted. 

After about a half hour break we headed off again. Simone decided to walk slowly, so I walked ahead. It was nice to have a bit of time on my own. Man, it was damn hot! I had to put my sarong over my head  to survive - it helped alot. I spent a bit of the time listening to my Spanish lessons, and because I was on my own I could repeat the phrases out loud. I really enjoyed this part of the walk even considering the heat.

I arrived at Sansol and was disappointed as I thought it was Torres del Rio, our destination. Then as I walked into town I saw the others and they said we were there - Torres del Rio was only a km away. Phew!

A little walk and we were at TdelR, the townspeople were in the middle of a town celebration. Everyone was partying and letting off firecrackers. We found our Refugio, unpacked, showered and had a little nap. We were woken by Mexican music, part of the festivities. The band was great, we went out to the plaza and listened and danced a little. Then we wandered round and found somewhere for dinner. We hung in the restaurant and chatted until dinner was served at 7. 

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