Sarria, Spain

It was a walk through Middle Earth or Paradise today. The sun came out, the rain abated so we could meander in comfort through the green Elven forests and ancient stone villages. We saw bees, butterflies and wildflowers. Storks flew overhead and birds sang all day. Once in a while, we heard a mother cow or calf bellow for each other. There were sheep out grazing too. We stopped for breakfast at an Alberque that advertised fresh apple cake which was a welcome break from toast. The volunteer Hospitlera who served us had lived once in Santa Cruz. The views from the breakfast table were stunning. When we stopped closer to lunch, we shared an empanada and ran into Texas Dave so caught up on his travels. Also saw Jamie, from Vancouver who walks 40 km a day. We didn’t expect to run into him again as he is young and goes at a fast clip. Our hotel this time is pretty basic, with no heat, no wifi and a shared bathroom. It is cheap, just 25 euro. When we call, we just pick names and numbers out of our hiking guide, and in Sarria, it is a bit harder to find anything. Tomorrow will be better. We’ve wandered a little in Sarria, but it began to rain, and there’s not much to see. We did enjoy a great pizza though at a nearby restaurant with wifi.