The morning session was great – more dehesa lands, more animal bingo, more country roads. Eventually we arrived at the autostrada, but with the initial benefit of it being a great coffee stop – not to mention my first Napolitano of the camino.
After the service area, the path was adjacent to the autostrada, and while the vehicle noise was barely noticeable, visual appeal was likewise barely noticeable. Our band of pelegrinos was strung out over a long distance, but numbers are swelling due to some doing double days. The host of the albergue was so surprised by the numbers that we had to gather for a group photo for the albergue’s archive. The downside is that we are too many for the next town’s albergue, so I spent my afternoon trying to coordinate everyone’s planned night stop tomorrow. The alternative is a free for all with fellow pilgrims getting up at 0400 in order to get to the albergue first. Stay tuned!
In the meantime a small group of us patronized the recommended restaurant enjoying Iberian ham (there is actually a Ham Museum in Monesterio, so it’s a big engine of the local economy), along with patatas bravas and pimientos de padron (not on the official menu, but if you don’t ask, you don’t get!
An intriguing star gazing site just outside Monesterio, complete with multilingual instructions. Too bad we passed by at high noon.
2saunter 