Day 26 – Murias de Rechivaldo to Foncebadon (June 21)

The day was not as difficult as I thought it would be. It was uphill but it was gradual so it wasn’t so bad.

One of the things I’ve noticed about Spain is that they have the shades that go on the outside of the windows that you can close from the inside and it completely blacks everything out. (As a Texan, I think I want these for my windows at home but I’m not sure my HOA would allow it.) Our room last night had the blackout shades and while they’re wonderful for sleeping, they make it incredibly difficult to get out of bed. We shared our room with two French men, Christian and Rone. Apparently they normally get up later than we do so as a compromise, we decided on a 6:00 am wake-up time. It seems like it takes Heather and I forever to get ready in the morning. As usual, we were last out the door.

The first place we stopped for breakfast in Murias only had coffee and toast. We decided to walk on to the next town, Santacatalina de Somoza, and get breakfast there. It was a relatively uneventful day but the change in scenery was much appreciated! We came across a cowboy bar in El Ganso which was very amusing.

Yesterday, I was craving a big plate of pasta with pesto. We never found any but today, when we stopped for lunch in Rabanal del Camino, they had it. I was a very happy Kristy!

The final 6 kilometers to Foncebadon was the toughest part of the day but totally doable. It’s a very small town and there is no WiFi anywhere. It’s nice to completely disconnect. We spent the afternoon drinking wine and chatting with our fellow pilgrims.

We ate dinner at La Taberna de Gaia, a medieval restaurant and had pumpkin cheese soup followed by a giant T-bone steak. I’m not much of steak eater and this wasn’t one of Heather’s favorite cuts. It was just okay. It filled our bellies and will give us energy for tomorrow.

It’s only 7:30 as I write this and I think we’re both ready for bed. We’re sleeping in an attic with skylights and there are no covers for the windows. It’s the longest day of the year and sunset isn’t until after 10:00. This is when those black out shades would be nice!

Tomorrow, we have a little bit left of the ascent and the rest of the day will be spent on the descent. It’s going to be very rocky and very steep so I’m not looking forward to it because it’ll be hard on the knees. What goes up, must come down and down we are going.

Buen Camino!