Day #10 El Camino
Friday 22nd September
Grañon > Villafranca
Distance walked: 26 ish kms
Leaving the church in the morning was a bit sad, this was one of the weirdest accommodations I’d stayed in but best sleeps I’d had. The people were so friendly and we were even offered breakfast to get us on the way. Albeit some bread and instant coffee, still a nice start. The forecast was rain from 6-9am and we all put our wet weather gear on in anticipation but as soon as I stepped out the door I was hit with an unusual warmth and it was perfect for shorts and t-shirt at 7am. It never rained a drop all day. I set off in the dark and the breeze was perfect. With a bit of hill climbing and descending my knee was soon back to causing me grief and the walk today became a real drag. I was walking alongside a German fella for a while and we chatted until I had to change into my shorts and said he should go on without me and I’d catch up. He’d left his good sunglasses at the last Albergue the night before and after unsuccessfully trying to track them down, I offered him mine to use for the day assuming we’d reunite but we never met again, my leg was holding me up and I could never make up the 5-10min head start I’d given him, unless I passed him while he was in a café. Perhaps I’ll get my glasses back at some stage in the next few weeks. No big deal, they were given to me from a mate also, pay it forward, swings and roundabouts and all that. The good thing walking east to west is the sun is always shining on my back and the need for glasses isn’t as important. I enjoyed the walk today but the upper knee muscle (my knowledge of body parts is excellent) was still in pain. It caused me to walk with a limp and that put extra strain on my feet and Achilles. Reaching Villafranca, a village just before a giant hill was good enough to end the day on around 26km and as the afternoon sun stayed high in the sky, I enjoyed a beer and a nice nap on my bed that was perfectly positioned by the window to catch the rays. The place I was in had a creepy feel about it, it was clean and accommodating, but seemed like a ski resort from a horror movie. The staff were ancient and were likely murderers or ghosts themselves. They didn’t speak, they just pointed and smiled eerily. The bar played Queen music and had far too many hunted deer heads and other animals mounted on the walls. The supermarket was simple, nothing much to find so I ate a simple dinner of what looked like cat food, I was assured it was fit for humans, some sort of chick-pea beans in a can and I cooked noodles also. The kitchen consisted of a microwave and a kettle. A clever ploy from the hotel to make us eat at the restaurant. I fell to bed quite early after massaging my aches and pains. People were snoring from the first minute lights went out. How do they do it!? I put my ear plugs in and eye mask on, tomorrow is going to be a long day…
¡Buen Camino¡