A Big Garden and Afternoon Tea
I had top-of-the-mountain goals for today. I got up very early, in my very quiet Albergue, and packed my things to leave. After a long stretch of empty road, I reached a dirt path alongside a much smaller road. I followed this for a couple of hours by moonlight. I could see that it was cloudy, and then suddenly there was lightning on the horizon. I stopped to repack my pack, as I had gotten lazy with my dry bags after having not been rained on for 3 weeks.
I felt happy this morning. The temperature was just right. As the sun began to rise, the landscape was breath-taking. The mountains I have been seeing in the distance for many days are now within reach. There are trees, hills, and greenery. It was so, so, very quiet, with only birds awake.
My shin started to hurt at the end of the day yesterday. My pains thus far have been minimal, and typically quick to disappear. This one is persisting though. It hurt quite a bit by the 15km mark. Arriving in Rabanal del Camino, I was very taken with the town. I tried to get into a restaurant for a coffee, to take a moment to rest and decide what to do. All of the restaurants were closed though. A nice man offered to make me some coffee and bring it outside for me, though the Albergues were all still closed. He is a Hospitalero in one of the Albergues. His name is Christian, from Austria.
The coffee was very welcome.
I decided to stay in this town and let my shin rest.
…
When the Albergues opened, I got into one and discovered its massive garden. I settled in, and prepared a nice afternoon meal to enjoy in the garden. There is a group of nice young Germans, a pair of teenaged Estonians, and a Danish guy all here. Definitely the youngest group I’ve stayed with so far. At 4:30, the Hospitaleros served English tea and invited us all to socialize together. After that, I went for a walk with Emil around the town. I like this town. There is a free camping area, but they provide the tents!? Neat.
I ate my first kiwi with the skin on today. Would recommend. I went to the church Vespers at 7:30. After that, I joined the Germans for their dinner. I had salad. They had made these crepe-like pancakes with ham and cheese in them. Very good!
Since I stopped early today, technically tomorrow I will climb mountains. I hope my shin feels better.