Day 31 - Burres, near A Calzada to Lavacolla

We woke up to another cold but clear looking day and set off at about 6:45. Soon the sun came up the birds were singing and even the cuckoo called to welcome us to a new day and say goodbye because tomorrow we will be in Santiago.

We walked along lanes cut below the level of the surrounding fields, often with stone walls on either side. It reminded me very much of England with the narrow lanes and stone walls.

At times we were in eucalyptus forests. Rather strange considering that these trees are only native to Australia but apparently they were introduced years ago for paper making. We also saw some harvesting with heavy equipment pulling the trees out of the forest. Some of the trees are huge.

In between there were sections of old growth hardwood but it looked as if the eucalyptus were taking over since they grow so fast in the wet and humid climate.

We passed small farms. Here is one with about a dozen sheep. It must be very difficult for them to survive on this scale.

We caught up with a family walking the Camino. They were Germans from Cologne and had two small children in the cart with them. They have been walking for six and a half weeks after starting in Pamplona! They had taken a taxi over the high mountains but I still think they are crazy!

We are getting close

We stopped once for coffee and again about two hours later for a beer and we shared a boccadillo between the three of us. Our goal was a small town called Lavacolla.. Now it is very near the airport and has lost much of its character but we found a hostal that will be fine for one night and only 11 km from Santiago which will be about a two hour walk in the morning.
However, as the name of the village suggests "Lava" relates to washing and it is where the pilgrims would traditionally wash and cleanse themselves before entering the city. Today there is still a small chapel dedicated to the pilgrim saint St Roque. It has a covered portico and sits in a shaded grove of trees on the edge of the village.

Everything around was very overgrown and it looked as if it needs a lot of renovation. The door was locked but I was able to take a picture through a window.

Next to it is a field with a few sheep. It was very peaceful and I sat there for a while thinking of all the pilgrims who had stopped there to prepare for their entrance into the city the next day, like we will.

The hostal is nice enough for us and we will be fine. They also offer a Peregrino menu for dinner but not until 8:00 pm which is a bit late but we can manage.
Well, the dinner was interesting. We had the unusual selection of about 3-4 items for each of three courses. For the first course we were offered, mixed salad, Russian salad, empanada (a kind of meat pie), or minestrone. I chose the empanada. It was warm and good and I had eaten about half of it when I saw two ants crawling out of the middle of it! I showed them to the waiter who immediately took it away. I said I would have the minestrone expecting soup. What arrived was not soup but a plate of vegetables but it was excellent.
The next course was offered as escalope of beef or something with fish. We all chose the beef but what came was a delicious beef stew with boiled potatoes. There was more than we could manage between the three of us.
For the postre we were offered three things including yoghurt, torte de Santiago which we have had several times and is very good and something we did not recognize. Since we had all had enough to eat anyway we all selected the surprise. It was a very good orange cream cake. So we all felt we had hit the jackpot with dinner tonight, our last night together. The wine was also excellent, but we only had one bottle.
Now to bed. I do not know when I will have internet again so I will try and post this tonight.
Today we walked 23 km. 14 miles and we are now within 11 km, 7 miles of Santiago.

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