Day 1 (León to San Martin del Camino – 23.5km)

The early to bed strategy worked, we were up by 7am – earlier if you were Don, later if you were me 🙂 We passed by the lovely Parador, our Camino staycation last time around, and stopped for a photo. We couldn’t have stayed if we’d wanted as it was closed for renovations. Getting light by this time but not quite so warm at 9 degrees.

We opted for an easy start and cruised for the day’s 23km of mostly flat trail along the side of a major road. The irrigation ditch with water running in our direction gave visions of a blown up donut with me and my pack speeding toward our final town. But walking it was for us. Never lose sight of the yellow arrows. Or if you do – not that we did, of course – revert back and look harder.

By now we’ve had potatoes three different ways – in a tortilla, mashed and deep fried, cooked in garlic sauce. Wonder if the Irish know about this…? But all the same beer. Same question…

When we passed by an alberge with a large garden and hammock, we were in! We decided to try a shared room with bunk beds, and it was only us at first. Eventually a group of 4 men showed up and I was nervous. But in the end it was just one other couple in our room. While I woke up numerous times, including for the disco music that we discovered was all night rave the next day, I actually slept decently!

Mental note to self: put sunscreen on legs.

Camino 2018 – Part 2

We left for Camino with minimal backpacks to cover the ground we missed out on three years ago. Interestingly, Don was able to locate his Camino shell easier than his passport. I won’t divulge how or where it turned up. But it was not in Don’s “important documents” folder.

We arrived in Leon, our starting point, at about noon on August 30. En route we enjoyed our first of many cafe con leches to come. There was likely some napping but I won’t confirm or deny. That night, we had a beer – or three – at one of the places we remembered from last time.