I think the theme song for today is the Band's "The Weight":
"I pulled into Nazareth, I was feeling about half past dead;
I just need some place where I can rest my head..."
It ended up being a somewhat longer day than antipicpated when we left around 8:30 this morning. When we left the hotel, it was a crisp, cool, sunny morning, probably low 40's degrees. A great day for hiking. Over time, it warmed up, and we stripped down our clothing layers. Last week, when we were walking in the snow, we were wearing 6 top layers, plus "long johns" and pants on our legs.. Today, we ended up at one layer. As a result, the weight of our backpacks has been increasing!
After about 7 miles, we came to our first stop, which was basically a "truck" cafe that a guy had set up in the middle of nowhere to serve hikers. I have to hand it to this guy- very enterprising, and he has to be making a good profit, as his pricing was pretty high. I ordered a sausage sandwich (basically a hot dog) and a soft drink for $7. When I ordered the sandwich, he asked if I wanted tomato on the sandwich, or ketchup and mustard? I said, "both, I want tomato and ketchup and mustard. ". He said, it's a choice- ketchup and mustard or tomato." I said I wanted both. He asked me, "where are you from?" I said "USA." He responded, "oh, ok, that explains it." Huh? Explains what? Well, I guess there is a rationale there. I'm a guy who goes to Costco and gets a hot dog and a coke for $1.50. And that includes unlimited ketchup, mustard, pickles, onions (but no tomatoes.....) as well as refills on the coke. So, yes it's true that we Americans don't like trade-off decisions!
Linda then spent the next several miles walking with two women from Sydney, Australia. One a native Australian and the other a Dutch woman who married an Austalian. We have met a number of people from Australia on this trip.
A couple of days ago, I mentioned that we have passed several grave markers on the steep hill climbs of this trip. I commented that these guys probably died from heart attacks because the climbs would kill just about anybody. Today, the walk was flat most of the day. We also passed a few grave markers along the way today. I'm quite confident these guys died from boredom, not heart attacks, because today's hike was not all that interesting.
For most of the day, I felt like we were walking in the Midwest where I grew up. The road was a straight, flat gravel road, through fields of wheat and oats. I read that where we walked was the original Roman road through Spain, but one would certainly not know that from the walk. This made me think that the people in the Midwest are missing a big opportunity. Perhaps they could re-market those gravel roads as being Original Roman roads and bring in a lot of tourists! Perhaps they could take a page out of the Mormon's book, who managed to take many of the original bible stories from Israel and re-position them as having happened in the eastern USA! Ok, I have be honest, Linda warned me that I am pretty close to the line here, likely over the line. I hope I haven't offended my midwestern relatives or my Mormon relatives too much. Thank god, I don't have any Midwestern Mormon relatives...
Finally at 3:30, we arrived at the Hostal Mortantinos. It is run by by an interesting couple- a Spanish guy and a German lady. It certainly appears they have been able to get the best out of their relationship in running this hostal- it has a German efficiency and cleanliness, combined with a Spanish charm. (You would not want it to be the other way- german charm and spanish efficiency...). All in all, a great choice. Linda was very happy because they also washed a load of clothes for us. Most days, we wash our essentials in the sink, and then wear the other stuff for several days.
I have described several of the villages we stayed in as "One horse towns" because they were so small. This town is something below that, with only 20 people. Linda calls it a "One donkey town" because its too small to even have a horse.....
We walked around the village this evening and stopped in a local bodega for some wine. We met two guys from Israel and invited them to join us. They are 70 years old and walking the camino together. For one of the guys, this is his 3rd time walking the Camino! He told me that he takes a month each year away from his wife and family to hike various places around the world. It was fun to talk to these guys, and we enjoyed sharing our own experiences in Israel with them.
Tomorrow is about a 16 mile day. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and not get too hot.
I've been gone a few days so just getting back to your posts. Ah, the truck stop. It shows up just when you need it. This will happen a few more times. Tomorrow there is a good lunch in Sahagun at the bar on the west side of the town square. Ham, eggs and potatoes and a beer. We also found the cool or cold conditions better walking than when the sun was out. Good job to both of you, Buen Camino.
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