Day 28 - Rabanal del Camino, 13 miles
I am rocking these new sandals! Last night I met a new friend for wine, then bought some Keen hiking sandals to see if they will help my feet… We went for dinner afterwards, we both just wanted a bowl of soup, and so far the soup we’ve had here has been great…the nice restaurant we went to took our order, 20 minutes later, they came back with…I’m not kidding…chicken noodle cup O soup! We were too tired to do anything but laugh, eat it and go to bed…there have definitely been some adventures in ordering food…
What a blessing to walk with virtually no pain! I left the albergue with one friend, we had coffee then she walked off faster than me…almost immediately Frank fell into pace with me, we walked together for at least an hour… He has done 13 Caminos. After our first stop at the next village, he took the hint that I wanted to walk alone. The golden hour was too beautiful to miss with talking.
The quiet morning, punctuated with the call of the cuckoo bird, the sun illuminating the path, the wildflowers in chaotic perfection…
The second village came up quickly also, beckoning another break, this time I was joined by Christine from yesterday, we are fast becoming good buddies, friendships go deep fast here…
Another long flat stretch of walking , and the next village appeared, at this point in the Camino, there will be more frequent villages, each unique and each with similar features… i.e. A medieval church as its focal point.
now for the long 4 1/2 mile stretch to my goal for the night…you never know what you might run onto out here…this dude was dressed as a Templar knight, complete with falcon
I had only 1 1/2 miles to go, but had a little off-roading to do first
After whacking my foot a couple of times on rocks, I was ready for my bed…Rabanal beckons as I turn a corner, in the brilliant sunlight as you enter the village, the crowd of pilgrims sitting with their wine and beer feels like coming home. The albergue is adorable. Christine is here, and soon Kevin shows up. Nice to see him again, we haven’t seen each other forms few days. We have dinner and retire early.
