We had such a fun time staying in Vilacha. The Albergue is owned by Gordon from South Africa. He took a building that was practically ruins and renovated it over 6 years. There are only 10 beds so it was a small group that included our friends Kathy (New Hampshire), Jean Marie (France) and Glynnis and Robert (South Africa). We all have a different plans for the last 4 days so this was our last evening together. We were joined by 4 other peregrinos from California, England, Canada and Germany. Dinner was delicious and we talked and laughed for hours. By the end of the evening we were singing songs from each country. It really was a blast.
Today’s walk was tough. We walked 27 K or 16.7 miles, mostly in the rain. We really can’t complain about the weather, until this week it has been beautiful.
There are very few cafes along the route and because of the rain they were really crowded.
Camino fun facts:
- We saw a pilgrim strip right down to his underwear in front of a cafe for a quick wardrobe change when the weather got hotter a few days back. We assumed he was French.
- The standard pilgrim menu is the same in most of the restaurants in Spain. By the time we got to Leon, we tried to avoid this whenever we could. It was like eating airline food after awhile. The only good thing good with the pilgrim menu is that it comes with a bottle of wine.
- After walking the first 10K we feel pretty good about ourselves; after 20 K we start to become very uncomfortable; after 25 K, we are hobbling around like circus clowns
- We have taken enough ibuprofen to kill a HORSE