Camino Day 6 - Vilamayor de Montjardin to Viana

Woke at 6:00, breakfast ready to leave at 7:15. I left my backpack outside the Albergue with an envelope attached with the delivery address and €7 inside. I hope I will see it again this afternoon! The pendulum trick from yesterday does not seem to have helped so I am glad I decided to do this.
A cold morning again, temperature in the low 40's F and a cold wind in our backs. We continued on the trail following the excellent signs which are at every intersection. We rarely have to walk on the road, and then only for short distances before we set off through fields and woods. The trail goes though many villages which are usually on the top of hills or down in the valley by a river or stream so a lot of up and down hill walking needed. We pass through vine yards where the vines are starting to show some new growth and past large fields of crops that look like wheat and barley. The blackberries in the hedges are in flower along with poppies and some yellow flowers. Heather or something similar and lilac is also out. Overall very pretty but it would be even better if it was not so cold.

Soon the sky starts to clear and the sun rises behind us. Just over the brow of the hill on the right we can see some mountains with snow on top but they are not on our trail today.

After about 2 hours we come to the town of Los Arcos and stop for a cup of coffee and a croissant. It is still early and not many people except pilgrims around.

Then back on the trail

 

We continued on up and down hills and into steep valleys coming to the village of Torres del Rio. We passed a restaurant and went for a beer since was about lunch time and we had been walking for more than 4 hours.

Then the last 13 km over more hills and valleys until we arrived at our destination for today in Viana at about 2:30 pm. We checked into an Albergue and decided to pay an extra €2 for beds in a room with only 8 people instead of a larger room. Less chance of snorers but no certainty of course!
I go and collect my luggage from another Albergue and am pleased to find that it has been delivered safely. Back at our Albergue we sit in the common room where there is wifi and catch up on email and my blog. However it is too cold there and we go to the bedroom where it is much warmer and we can use our sleeping bags if necessary

Josef and I walk into the town to try and find something to eat since we have not eaten since 9:30 this morning and it is now 4:00pm. It is Spain however and everything is closed until 6:00 but we find a small store selling candy etc. and I get some potato chips and he gets some chocolate. I also see there is a sports shop where I will try later to get better rain gear. When I took off my jacket after the rain in Pamplona a few days ago I found everything inside was wet. I can't handle that again. On the way we looked into the XIIIth century church where a children's choir was rehearsing.
It is so cold that we quickly go back to the Albergue and I work on completing blogs. It is not easy to remember what has happened since 3 days ago. It is also cold downstairs so up to the bedroom where we seem to have some heat.
At about 7:00 we go back into town (5mins walk) and I get a new poncho at the sports shop. It is raining now and heavy rain forecast for tomorrow so it will get a good test. We find a restaurant offering a peregrino meal which turns out to be excellent and for 3 courses and wine €9 each. Back to the hotel at about 8:30 and to bed where it is warm to finish email and blogs.
The 5 Frenchmen in our room have arrived back from dinner so I will stop for today. Tomorrow we plan about 23 km
If I have calculated it right we have covered 168Km or 104 miles. The first major milestone!

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