Day 2

After we all arrived by various means it was decided to go for dinner nearby. I suggested a place overlooking the reservoir call O Mirador. This is a wonderful little restaurant perched on the “cliffs” with large windows. It’s quite notable as the attached bar is devoted to Elvis Presley, complete with a lifesize wooden sculpture likely created with a chainsaw.

On my first Camino Susan, Bene and I had dinner here and Eddie had already headed back to Germany. I had the same meal last night as I did that night. Steak Frites. Delicious.

After heading back to our hotel I decided to head straight to bed. Spain and most of Europe ends Daylight Savings Time overnight and I would get an extra hour of sleep. I was struggling to stay awake….go figure.

So here’s how my night unfolded.

I sent to sleep at 10pm and woke up two and a half hours later. Sounds familiar? I rolled around saying “I’ll never get back to sleep” for about an hour and suddenly woke up at 6 am. I clocked 7 hours of sleep. Yippeee.

So today we got together for breakfast at 7am and enjoyed a simple but nice buffet. Think toast, fruit, jams, cafe con leche, and orange juice. After breakfast I sent Siobhan, Stephen, and Ivar on their way. It was a gorgeous morning with temperatures near 14°C. (57°F) There was a chance of drizzle around noon but You can only expect hat to be accurate once out of a hundred times.

My left foot and right knee are giving me a lot of trouble so Stephen suggested picking up the Camino with about 10 km to go. A brilliant man, especially that I would miss the biggest hills this way. I arranged for a taxi to take me to the half way point of the walk….or so I thought.

This section of the Camino has to be one of the most picturesque. Lots of rolling hills and walking on crushed limestone for much of the day. The path walks along side of quiet country roads and except for the occasional rocket flying past on four wheels, it is quite serene.

This is not to say there are nothing but smooth surfaces and excellent footing. At one section today I slowed down to almost dead zero. After that it was smooth sailing.

Now, my walking speed by most would be half of a 2 year old child so it’s inevitable people would pass me by. They would stop and then I would take the lead. This sort of leap frogging happens a lot. I met some people I had been trading the lead with from yesterday. When they saw me they broke out laughing saying”you’re in the lead now”.

Kitty from Hong Kong is walking with 3 family members and came over at a restaurant stop-over on the way to tell me the restaurant had a full house and not to expect service. She was Alamo interested to ask questions about Canada once I identified myself as “Cam from Canada”. She knew there were many  honest people in Canada but hit me from left field when she asked me if we had many Muslims and the same trouble with Muslims that European countries had.

This line of directed questioning took me back. I said we definitely have many Muslims in Canada but I didn’t think this was a specific source of problem. I said we have a country made of many nationalities and naturally there may be some trouble makers, but the vast majority were just looking for a better life for themselves and the families.

I felt very politician ready with that answer.

Anyway she gave up and I went to the bar o try and get something simple. It just wasn’t going to happen.i may as well have been invisible. All the staff ignored me, even when they looked straight at me.

So I left. Kitty was right.

As I mentioned before walking today was through some of the most beautiful trails I have ever seen. The leaves are just starting to turn colour. At this point it’s mostly yellows and a bit of browns. The reds and oranges are still a ways off.

Finally I got to Palais de Rei, a small “Camino serving” community. As the season is wrapping up many shops and restaurants are closed until next year. When you have as many as 500,000 people coming by from April to October the drop off is significant. Some shops are local’s hangouts.

We ended up at a pizza restaurant and the fare was actually quite acceptable. The original plan was to go to a restaurant called Casa Camino but it opened for dinner at 7:30…you know, Spanish style. We were starving and executive powers were overwritten.

Now I’m back in my room thinking bout tomorrow’s plan. Today worked out well. Maybe I’ll try this strategy out again.

Let’s see….because tomorrow is another day.