Apr 18 –  Got up early to leave our room by 7am.  As the hotel’s restaurant doesn’t open until 9am, the proprietor made us a picnic breakfast, and hung it on our doorknob – oranges, bananas, juice and a muffin.  Nice touch!  We stopped in town for a quick coffee, then we were on our way.

13.5 miles to go today.  The countryside was particularly beautiful in the early morning light.  We walked alongside stone walls that reminded us of our hike in Ireland.

More Iberian jamon on the hoof, makin’ bacon.

These two pretty ladies posed for a closeup.

We started the morning in sweatshirts and long pants, but by 9:30 we stowed our extra layers, and walked in shorts and tee shirts with our umbrellas up for shade. Really love our German sun umbrellas, as there is very little shade in our future along these old Roman roads.

Lots of wheat growing here. The newly sown fields are dark green; the lighter fields are farther along.

As we approached town, a man stopped his car and gave us a flyer for his new hostal Zaguan.  He made it sound wonderful, even promising us a double bed (cama matrimonio!), which we hardly ever get. We decided to check it out, to encourage his entrepreneurial spirit.  The place was lovely, and even had a pool, but it was a cross between a hostal and an alburgue – we had our own room (with the promised bed), but there was only one bathroom to share among four rooms.  Drat!  The upside was that we had access to a kitchen, so we walked down to the supermercado when it opened at 6pm, and bought the fixings for a veggie omelette, which we ate at the very respectable hour of 6:30pm.  Having to wait until 8 or 9pm for restaurants to open is driving us nuts.  We knew about the unique work and meal hours kept in Spain, but knowing doesn’t make waiting any easier after a long day’s walk!  543 miles to go.

Apr 19 – Left Fuente de Cantos by 7am.  The early morning is the most beautiful time.  

14 miles to walk today, over more farmers fields.  Saw newly planted grape vines, and one field that was planted with both grapes and mature olive trees.  Wonder how that will work out?  Grapes need lots of sun, and usually aren’t planted near anything that casts a shadow.

Water hazard!  Yes, I did skip trippingly across the stones to the left, and avoided getting my boots wet.

We were passed today by all four of the Brits we met at the hostal last night, plus two Spaniards.  As we approached town, we walked over a railroad track.  I liked the sign.

So now we are in our nice hotel, with private bath, waiting for the restaurant to open at 8pm.  529 miles to go.