Day 22 - Frog Village and Restaurant Hopping - 18k

Goodbye Sahagun, oy what’s this? It’s 8 o’clock on a Sunday morning and the streets are packed with clubbers still drunk and filing out of venues left right and centre or taking the long walk home. The puke, fast food wrappers and smashed bottles suggest a good night was had by all, I’m tempted to and actually take a few steps towards one of the clubs, I’ve seen some of the Spanish guys have a shot of something to get their day started, but carry on walking the Camino instead.

Ending up in El Burgo Ranero at lunchtime the days walk has been quiet but exposed again, but peaceful with lots of greenery on either side of The Way. It starts to drizzle or a light shower to be precise, my knowledge of this kind of weather is helping as I can tell when it’s going to require ‘The Poncho’ or if I’ll just ride it out and let it dry in the sun afterwards. My raincover is good in that everythings safe and dry inside my rucksack so it’s only me I have to worry about and my coat is April / may brief downpour proof and best of all windproof.

There’s a huge pond on the other side of the village and the sound of frog chat up lines is clear to hear, back I go to find the Albergue, this place looks rough as a badgers whatsit but it’s also true that the places you stay can surprise you. The fact that I run into Cathy decides it, too stormy looking outside, many days without a short one this’ll be my rest day ha ha, 18k a rest day. That’s 12 miles, it’s the equivalent of walking to the nearest town and back, from my home and I wouldn’t consider that an easy day normally but hey you get into it after a while, it becomes second nature.

There’s a nice guy running the Albergue so it’s easy to settle in, Herman and Otmar, Cathy and I and a few others. My snoring is getting mentioned quite a bit after Fromista when it was especially bad but I blame the chicken curry or the pints or should I say litres of beer. We pop off for something to eat but find a long wait was on the cards after we’d already been sat in there for twenty minutes and some more waiting in the restaurant area. So we split, hoping that although we’d miss out on the salmon at the other joint, that we didn’t have to go back to the first place again.

The atmosphere was brilliant, and the welcome was even better, smiles all round and sat at a table immediately, the only people in the dining area. I think that may be one of the problems as some places are packed and pissed off with the rush for the Pilgrim menu, others aren’t geared up for it yet or are having to do so few meals it makes it hard to know what to stock. This place is different, we’re asked for our order straight away so Cathy pops back to get Yves her friend from Boadilla who had decided to leave the idea of a meal after waiting for so long beforehand. Yves was brilliant fun we discussed a keen shared interest in Movies and he suggested several that I should look at after I mentioned Les Valseuses (the bollocks) that we both knew and loved. Bit drunken I think, on the gratis red wine with the meal. It’s a tough choice when you’re offered water or half a bottle of vino with yr dinner.