A deep and restful sleep and a little later on the road ... literally, since the Roman road has been appropriated by the N630 and off road alternatives are patchy ... hard shoulder rather thin and perilous enough for a major walking route ... fortunately most of the traffic is up on the motorway ... light at 7.30, but Sun lingers longer, hiding behind mountains for a while ... meaning winter hat and gloves employed for the first time since snowy Newcastle ... it seems that Spring is not keeping up with this racing pilgrim ... though slowing down today, despite brief flirtation with a possible 43k ...
Banos de Montemayor and coffee comes soon enough ... a good looking spa town, last in Extremedura (unless you are going south) ... after which some significant investment has meant a reconstructed Roman road to lift us over the pass and into Castile y Leon, where the signage changes its form ... no more marble cubes with plastic plates pointing nowhere ... in design, function comes before form, as regular users of teapots may have observed .... the 8 km to the proposed bed in Calzada de Bajar takes a while in the sunshine as the pace slows, with frequent stops ... a pretty village, with plenty of bed choices (heating being a key factor at this altitude) and only one Bar, which is open and serving lunch ...
Manuel offers to take the photo by the marker showing progress in the first fortnight ... making the Way while the Sun shines, and already stage 16 on Gronze.com ... rest days maybe reserved for rain, though body is not demanding respite so far ...
At the bar, Charo serves a lovely lunch, then Jimmy arrives on his bike, with updates from yesterday's Fantastic Five progress ... Super Seven apparently, with Gustavo and Jimmy joining the walkers, while Hannah takes Jimmy's bike onto their off route destination ... teamwork!
Jimmy heads off, another 20 plus in mind, while research locally reveals intended Casa Rural beds fully booked ... Albergue shunned and Valdeverde, 8km further, the destination ... en route Tomas stops in his truck for a chat and reveals Reiki skills, demonstrated by diagnosing the right big toe injury and applying healing ... feedback on results in future blogs ...
Into Valdeverde at 5.15 and the first person encountered reveals she has the key to the Albergue ... no other pilgrims about, no heating or WiFi, but comfortable enough, with hot shower ... bar has wifi, though weak ... let's see whether the plentiful pics arrive, or wait for another day ..,
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