Darkness, Mist and Water

Today we were out the door by 6:45, partially because the Swiss man in our room left at 6. It was just a short walk to the edge of town where we found ourselves in pitch blackness. We had left that early before, but always in bigger cities where there was more light. I had left my headlamp in my big pack, so we were without a light. As far as we could tell, the Camino just continued on the paved street leaving the town. We were unable to see any Camino arrows or markers. There was someone up ahead in the distance and before long someone else from behind. The pilgrim behind us had a phone light and thought we should continue on the road after we checked out if there was a path in the field near the road. 

More headlamps from pilgrims dotted the road behind us. By the time we reached the next town the sky had lightened enough to see the Camino market and we were all relieved. We had one rocky hill to climb up and over before descending into some fog on the other side. The Camino path continued on the Main Street for a long time which wasn't to my liking since the roads were narrow.

There were 3 routes into town, but all required a long walk around the airport and through some industrial areas. We chose the slightly longer but much more scenic river route which included a park flanking the river and lots of bike and pedestrian paths. It was mostly pleasant except for the more secluded part where a happy naked guy emerged from the river startling us. 

We had a challenge finding our Hostal because it had changed its name since the publication of our guide book. Unfortunately, it had doubled its prices as well. But we were tired after 23km and we just wanted to check in and shower. The clerk led us up 3 flights of stairs before getting our credentials and passports. I left Julia in the room and went downstairs to give them to him and to pay. When I found out the new price and that it needed to be in cash, I had to run upstairs to check with Julia. So, it ended up taken me 3 flights of stairs 3 times before I got to shower. 

Of course, once again, we had bad timing and nothing was open for food and we hadn't had anything since a light breakfast around 8. After wandering around for awhile and inquiring into a few bars, we ended up eating at a Fosters Hollywood American style restaurant.  Not what we really wanted, but it was almost 5 and we needed something. It's not that we don't know that everything in Spain closes between 3-6 or some version of that, but the pilgrims schedule doesn't fit in with that well.