Hermanillos de la Calzada to Mansilla de las Mulas (Camino de Santiago)

 

May 25 I had hoped to fall asleep early last night but the sleeping area was just behind the kitchen/dining area and a group spent most of the evening cooking, drinking a lot of wine and talking loudly. It was frustrating as I tossed and turned and kept repositioning my earplugs. Tim grumbled and decided to go for a walk as he couldn’t sleep with the nearby partying. Walking started before 6:30am on a nice flat section of road. We were once again treated to the suns painting of the sky. I stopped at a stand of small stunted pine trees and listened to the bird songs rise to a crescendo as sunrise woke the earth. After the pine grove the path merged onto another ancient Roman stone road (Calzada Romana which linked Romans between France and Astorga) that stretched into the distance. Mundane scenery and walking for hours lulled me into a stupor until I was rudely awaken by a speeding train that came out of nowhere. At least it prompted us to stop for a lunch. Sitting on the ground I enjoyed my salami, bread and salted nuts but the heat was rising fast today. The remainder of the walking dropped into a wide valley with our day’s destination quite a long ways away. The sun was hot and my ankle began to ache as we walked along a flat white gravel road that led into town and the end of our 15.2 miles. We had some time before the alberque opened so nearby was a café which served cold beer and tapas. It gave us some time to regroup and once the doors opened to our nights lodging I was able to take a welcomed shower and catch up on washing my clothes. It felt wonderful to be clean. We had a nice communal dinner which has helped some of the group dynamics as they been abit stressed.  Journal: “A young woman who was walking the Camino solo and who we had met along the trail had suffered a large number of bug bites (bed bugs?) and was quite upset. Several pilgrims at the alberque calmed her, helped with washing her clothes and providing salve to relieve the itching. One of the attendants, a young woman, was especially nice and kept reminding the woman that no one is ever alone on the Camino. All pilgrims walking to Santiago are family under Gods watch. “