I woke up super early. Which was great because it gave me time to work on this. Being the only one in the hostel, I was able to fully utilize the wifi without any slowdowns. Uploading and downloading photos and videos. Bruce has be particularly frustrated with crappy wifi in the varios places we’ve stayed. It’s annoying for sure, but maybe my living in Costa Rica has prepared me for crappy wifi. However, it is nice to be able to do all of this rather quickly.
We left at nine and immediately had a hill to climb. Granted it was a little one, but a hill nonetheless. Gotta get that heart pumping straight off, I guess. At least we were only going 5 miles today. I was testing out the old insoles to my boots to see if that would help my blister situation. While it didn’t seem to make it worse, the whole bottom off my foot was not liking these insoles. So, when we got to our accommodation in Estella, the original insoles I started with went back in the boots. And I stopped at the farmacia and got different blister stuff just in case.
Thankfully, we made several stops for coffee and lunch along the way trying to kill time before the hostel opened at 1. So, my feet got more rest than usual. Not sure I would have been able to go 13 miles in these insoles.
Kind of a same ol’, same ol’ walk today. We saw some sunflower crops, old next to the new. And an old church which was surrounded by olive trees ready to be harvested. We crossed over some streams and saw some industrial areas. Nothing exciting.
Just as we entered Estella there was an obvious old entry gate-ish area for peregrinos with a water fountain. The inscription in the stone says, “ Good bread, excellent water and wine, meat and fish grilled to your taste.” Awesome! Open restaurants!
The Camino was rerouted temporarily while they laid some new bricks on the road that only took us by some historical buildings and … an open restaurant. We had fried calamari, onion rings, salads, and a hamburger. After lunch we checked into the albergue, showered and wandered around for a bit picking up bits and bobs. And then we had ice cream. Meh. Not great. It was more like ice milk, if you know what I mean.
Tomorrow is a long day. So, I’m staying in tonight to give my feet a rest. I bought some sore muscle stuff, and till rub that on tonight and in the morning. We will travel almost 12 miles to Los Arcos.
15 Sep 2020 ~ 17,072 steps ~ 6.9 miles ~ 86º F
Sure looks like some beautiful weather and country side. Hope your feet feel better tomorrow !