Steve : Way back in Zubiri we saw a poster called ‘The Vegetarian Way’. On it was Alburgue San Bruno, in Moratinos. This would be an extra 3km beyond the Brierley recommended stop at Terradillos de los Templarios, but we were craving something other than cheese rolls for our sustenance. Thus, a 30km walk awaits.

Jen wakes up extremely grumpy. Years of experience tells me that this is not a Good Thing but there’s nothing anyone, particularly me, can do about it. We are up at 5am and make a decent breakfast of scrambled eggs and fruit bought from the lovely air conditioned supermarket the night before.

Off we go…

Off we go, approaching the 17km stretch of nothing before the tiny village of Calzadilla de la Cueza. We’d been warned to make sure we had enough water and energy bars.

I rather liked the nothing. I put on my headphones and worked my way through Paul Simon and the Afro-Celts. I was flying along. We made good progress before the sun came up.

A dark an ominous sky was to our right, to the north. We hoped it would stay there…

It’s hard to convey the scale of this place. It’s big and flat and nothing.

About half way through the 17km was a rest stop.  Some wit had added this graffiti to the sign.

Her Grumpiness was bringing up the rear. We made it to a cafe in Calzadilla. There’s a dip in the plain. You’re walking, walking, walking and then out of nowhere appears the town.

A spinach and potato tortilla at 9am was most welcome.

Then the heat starts and the trudge begins. Through Ledigos…

…where J hops in a taxi to accompany a Canadian girl who has ground to a halt with very bad blisters. The idea was to take the taxi to the albergue at Terradillos, and J would wait for us there. Our Canadian friend decided to go to Sahagun, another 10k or so, so Jen exited at Terradillos and waited for H and me.

More Coke and apple pie and we were on our way on the final 3k to a veggie albergue in Moratinos.

We stagger in to San Bruno around 1pm, hot and bothered. The Italian couple who run the place are lovely and within an hour we’d done the washing of us and our clothes and we spent the rest of the day lounging around with our feet in a cold-water pool.

I had some big blisters so Jen did surgery and got to inflict pain on her father which improved her mood considerably.

The only other residents were a French Canadian couple who had walked from Montpellier and were setting a storming pace of 30-40k per day. Dinner was served at 7pm. Tagliatelle pesto, done properly, and a big salad. Good conversation, swapping traveller’s tales and comparing notes.

Early to bed, us three were the only inhabitants of our 18 bed room. A good day. Even Jen cheered up…

Day 14 : Stats