May 17 – Meanwhile, back at the alburgue, some good news.  In our roomful of Frenchpersons, Jim was the only one that snored.  They were up at the crack of 6, shining flashlights at one another and making as much noise as possible.  Sigh.  I’m just not an alburgue person.  Luckily, I had gotten up at 5 to take a pre-emptive pee, so I just closed my eyes and waited for them to clear out.  

Rainy morning, but just drizzle. Eight miles to get to Villanueva de Campeán.  Leaving El Cubo:

Interesting sunrise:

About two miles into the walk, I realized that I was not wearing my little neckerchief. Alburgues! Best place to lose your stuff! I know right where I left it, hanging on the bunk bed, but the quilt must have covered it, and I didn’t see it this morning. It’s my job to check the room to make sure we leave nothing behind, so I have no one to blame but moi. Oh well. 😔 

All farm trail today, featuring different crops:

This one looks very Zen:

A whole lot of dirt.  Wonder what will be planted here?

Pretty view from the top of the hill:

Before long, we reached our tiny town.  

Thankfully, there is a Casa Rural here, so we don’t have to spend two nights in a row in an alburgue.  The Casa is lovely, with a comfy bed and lots of pillows, and I figured out how to work the espresso machine, so at least we’ll have coffee for breakfast.  At 2pm we found the only bar in town and got the menu del dia – very generic noodle soup, pork filet and French fries, which we ate while watching a Spanish-dubbed episode of The Simpsons.  We asked directions to the grocery and were told this town has no grocery and no shops at all!  Just alburgues and this bar, said the barmaid.  I wondered where folks buy food here?  She just smiled and shook her head.  Must be a secret.

276 miles to go.

May 18 – 12 miles planned for today, which will get us into the city of Zamora.  We each had three cups of espresso at our DIY breakfast, so we’ll probably make it in record time!  It is supposed to rain this morning, and it is really cold – in the low 40s – so we are wearing all our layers of clothes.  All farm track again today. Pretty clouds.

It didn’t rain on us, but the clouds were ominous at times:

We found the very marker that is pictured on the front of our guidebook:

And some thoughtful person left a chair so hikers could stop and rest!

We could see Zamora in the distance, even when we were still eight miles away.  We sang “How are things in Glock-Zamora”, and remembered what God had against Sodom, but why didn’t He like Zamora?  We saw a sign for Za❤️ (amore).

By noon we reached the Rio Duero (same river as in Salamanca) and crossed the footbridge.

Doesn’t this look like a blanket?  It’s graffiti painted on the bridge.

Zamora has 24 churches and a castle. Tomorrow we’ll see what there is to see.

264 miles to go.