Walking in the Wind

Waking up in the albergue in Zamora this morning was beautiful. At 7 am I hear the sounds of gregorian chanting. Each room has speakers. The music started very softly, quiet gaining sound, as the minutes passed by.

It was very hard to actually get up and disrupt the sound of monastic sounds and get organize for the day. Breakfast is at 7 am and we must leave the albergue by 8

The breakfast table was all set when I arrived. Fresh toast, croisants, muffins, butter, jams, fruit.... for us to eat or take. Wow !! A real treat. The hospitaleros are a couple from USA and after spending two weeks in this albergue, today are going to Burgos to volunteer in another albergue.

Last night it rained. The air is fresh as two of us piligrims, find our way out of the city of Zamora. When you enter a city, it usually is done through a scenic way. Leaving the cities seems to be the opposite and also difficult to find the markings. Often I try to leave the cities, close to another piligrim, as I find easier when getting lost, when there are two of us, to share the stress.

The wind was blowing all day long. A cold wind and I keep all my layers of clothing on.

My plans this morning were to walk 20 km and stay in Montamarta, but arriving there it feels too early to stop walking and staying in this very small village with one little bar and a grocery store by the church, doesn't feel right, and I continue walking to the next town 12 km away.

At the end, it felt that the walking was never ending, and finally I see an even smaller village that I realize must be my destination.

There are ~100 habitants in Fontanillas de Castro. It has a shelter for peregrinos that sleeps 4. Three of us piligrims, arrive within 30 min from each other. A Dutch man that I have met before, a 78 year old Spaniard and myself.

We each take a bed, rest, shower, wash socks.

It was so windy that we placed the wet clothes against a wire fence, the wind holds them with out pins and they are dried in less than 1 hour.

 

They tell us that 500 meters along the secondary road, there is a café and they will make us something to eat. I had two bowls of homemade soup.

This village has has no grocery store or bar, only a beautiful simple romanic church with the storks high above nesting, a few houses and farmers that cultivate this precious red earth land.