After a good night of sleep at the simple but nice ´´pension de arenas¨, we got up early to try and see how far we could go. We had trekked 14 miles the day before, we were going to see if we could do more today.
After a quick cappuccino, we got on the road around 9am. We both felt surprisingly good and started trekking at a pace of over 3 miles per hour. We were passing people quite a bit and wondering when we would get tired...but we weren´t! We ran into a number of people we had met the day before and stopped and snacked with some of them around noon.
We were making a lot of progress but getting hungry, so stopped and had a a bowl of hot garbanzo soup, which was really good. Lots of spinach, garbanzos, potatoes and other vegetables. The prices are really good as these are local people making home cooked meals for the peregrinos.
Once we hit the road again, my right shin starting to hurt....oh no...shin splits. I think I was pushing myself too much in the morning. As the trail became a little hilly, I felt it getting worse. David´s toe was also starting to hurt. Evidently, his right foot is slightly longer than his left foot, and the toes on his right foot hit the very end of the shoe. The weather was chilly but so far, it has only rained once, and we happened to be having a snack in an albergue when it hit...so, David put on his chocos (thanks Hope!) and he was much happier. I took some advil and we slowed down. A couple of Argentinians were just ahead going at a slower pace, so after a brief getting to know them, David broke out the guitar and strapped it on and we continued down the Camino playing old Beatles songs.
As the afternoon was carrying on, we thought we would learn our lesson from yesterday (waiting to get to a pueblo before looking for a place to stay) and setting a target of where we would want to be. I looked at my little PDF guide and noticed a tiny village 6 km away with only 1 albuergue called Casa Domingo...so we thought we could make it by 6pm and I called them and made a reservation. What happened next was nothing less than one of the most special times we have had with other people on this trip.
According to my GPS, we should have arrived to Casa Domingo, but we were still in the middle of winding paths in the countryside, surrounded by cows and wheat fields. We got a little hope when we crested a small hill, then went down around a corner and noticed a very old, stone built house with a banner on it. As we got closer, sure enough, it said ´´Casa Domingo´´. Yes!! We were ready to stop after almost a 19 mile day!
As we entered, we started noticing the owners had taken great care in preserving the original blocks, but decorated the outside walls with old tools from the fields (hoes, pitchforks, etc.). We entered the front door to find what might have been an old barn area with 25 foot ceilings, all uneven stones, several open fireplaces lit and a large U shaped table that could sit maybe 30 people. We felt we had entered someones home.
A very warm smile emerged on the face of Gonzalo, the owner, as he came in the room and welcomed us. We were the only ones there and he asked if I had called. After confirming, he said our room was in another building he would drive us there...which I thought was odd, but oh well.
After a quick cappuccino, we got on the road around 9am. We both felt surprisingly good and started trekking at a pace of over 3 miles per hour. We were passing people quite a bit and wondering when we would get tired...but we weren´t! We ran into a number of people we had met the day before and stopped and snacked with some of them around noon.
We were making a lot of progress but getting hungry, so stopped and had a a bowl of hot garbanzo soup, which was really good. Lots of spinach, garbanzos, potatoes and other vegetables. The prices are really good as these are local people making home cooked meals for the peregrinos.
Once we hit the road again, my right shin starting to hurt....oh no...shin splits. I think I was pushing myself too much in the morning. As the trail became a little hilly, I felt it getting worse. David´s toe was also starting to hurt. Evidently, his right foot is slightly longer than his left foot, and the toes on his right foot hit the very end of the shoe. The weather was chilly but so far, it has only rained once, and we happened to be having a snack in an albergue when it hit...so, David put on his chocos (thanks Hope!) and he was much happier. I took some advil and we slowed down. A couple of Argentinians were just ahead going at a slower pace, so after a brief getting to know them, David broke out the guitar and strapped it on and we continued down the Camino playing old Beatles songs.
As the afternoon was carrying on, we thought we would learn our lesson from yesterday (waiting to get to a pueblo before looking for a place to stay) and setting a target of where we would want to be. I looked at my little PDF guide and noticed a tiny village 6 km away with only 1 albuergue called Casa Domingo...so we thought we could make it by 6pm and I called them and made a reservation. What happened next was nothing less than one of the most special times we have had with other people on this trip.
According to my GPS, we should have arrived to Casa Domingo, but we were still in the middle of winding paths in the countryside, surrounded by cows and wheat fields. We got a little hope when we crested a small hill, then went down around a corner and noticed a very old, stone built house with a banner on it. As we got closer, sure enough, it said ´´Casa Domingo´´. Yes!! We were ready to stop after almost a 19 mile day!
As we entered, we started noticing the owners had taken great care in preserving the original blocks, but decorated the outside walls with old tools from the fields (hoes, pitchforks, etc.). We entered the front door to find what might have been an old barn area with 25 foot ceilings, all uneven stones, several open fireplaces lit and a large U shaped table that could sit maybe 30 people. We felt we had entered someones home.
A very warm smile emerged on the face of Gonzalo, the owner, as he came in the room and welcomed us. We were the only ones there and he asked if I had called. After confirming, he said our room was in another building he would drive us there...which I thought was odd, but oh well.
He explained that they had built the private rooms into an old Mill House where he used to work as a child. We found out later it was built in 1904 by his grandfather. It would take me several paragraphs to describe how cool this place was, but in a nutshell, they had preserved all of the Mill workings including having a glass floor so we could see the River running below the house. Later that evening Gonzalo's father came and showed us and some of our new friends exactly how the mill works. Yes, I said works. They actually have it still functioning. It was amazing to see and hear the stories of how people used to bring him there wheat, corn and oats and he would grind them for them and give them back in the bag. Check out the picture below to see him explaining to us how it all works.
For people who appreciate antiques, the old mill was full of original furniture that had been restored. The original beams held the roof together. They have fixed this place up in an amazing way. Our rooms were immaculate and very comfortable yet still retained a lot of character and charm from the old Mill days. We made a movie to show you later.
Not only was the Millhouse cool but that evening some other guests from the main Casa Domingo came down to the living room area where there were couches and a fireplace, and David and I were there already, David playing guitar. They immediately invited us to have a drink with them and encouraged David to share some songs. After getting to know one another a bit, David did sing some of his songs and it turned into a very special evening. One of the older gentleman in particular we bonded with, Jose. He is a semi retired entrepreneur from Madrid who was simply fascinating, yet so intrigued by our father /son relationship...and he and David really hit it off well (David's Spanish is coming along nicely). I can't even begin to go into all the details, but we talked for hours and tears were shed and warm long hugs were given at the end of the evening. I made a video
of him giving David some advice and a blessing of sort. Fortunately we will be seeing him again soon. He invited us to a special birthday party he is celebrating in Santiago de Compostela this coming Wednesday. We definitely plan to attend.
The day ended magically. We fell asleep in our very comfortable beds in a 100+ year-old millhouse in the countryside of Spain, with new friends and great memories from The Camino.
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