(The order was outlawed in 1312!
Another AMAZING day….but long! Today we ended up walking about 32 km by the time we got to our accomodation. Today the Camino proper takes you straight through the middle of vineyards and groves of Cherry trees and poplars which are cut down for firewood it seems. The views were spectacular and once we reached the higher ground the breeze helped to cool us all down.
We have all noticed that the folk in these parts seeem to be pretty wealthy and the cars in the well restored villages and out on the vineyards would suggest that this region isn’t short of cash. We stopped off at a little bodega to grab a coffee and drink and discovered a wedding and a christening going on – lots of dressed up folk (same as anywhere in the world on a Saturday I expect) but surrounded by a whole lot of Peregrinos – all accepting of the dusty and sweaty folk with backpacks and walking sticks.
After a coffee and waters we set off again, depressingly out along a main road – this seems to be the only time we lose interest in the Camino when we are stuck walking alongside highways. We got to a crest and consulted our guide book which showed we could walk further, but through the vineyards or prune some time and follow the freeway….the vineyard won. We are SO lucky for the choice. The views were (I’ll use the word again – spectacular) and suddenly, even in the heat, the spring in our step returned.
Coming around the corner of building in one of the tiny hamlets in the vineyards, I could hear Yothu Yindi playing – totally anachronistic…and coming closer we found our friend Maggie reclining on a couch (outdoors) in one of the most bohemian bars I’ve ever seen. She was very happy to be relaxing and avoiding the heat of the day. Further on I turned as I could hear bikes coming to see Lori – middle of the trail totally surrounded by Lycra….she don’t move for nobody and especially not a bike!!
On finally making it into Villafranca we were winding our way through the old part of town to find our accomodation and saw that all over the town there were string lines tied along the fronts of buildings with lots of coloured paper pegged to them. Having now starting getting the absolute basics of the language we worked out that the town was hosting a poetry festival and each building had pegged individual copies of a range of poems written by one poet – each building therefore “hosting” a different poet. The town is (again) amazing -three huge churches, a Franciscan Monastery and the ruins of palace that was originally commenced in Roman times…of course.
Good for you, Lori, for holding your ground. As I commented earlier, it is just not seemly to be doing the Camino on a bike and in lycra. Confess, Lori, were you just a little bit tempted to shove your walking pole through the spokes of the nearest rider. If you were and you resisted the temptation well that’s just gotta be worth some PI’s.
You are neally there – just another 220 kms, a walk in the park.
Susan I hardly lifted my head as they rode by, let alone had the energy to use my walking pole for anything other than a crutch. So no PIs for me!!!