A start at 6:30 from Puente de Reina earned us a cool morning with a breakfast of eggs and baguettes smuggled by B the evening before – at least one good thing from the buffet. As you see, folks who think we are taking it easy, we had to dry our stuff on our backs as we walked.
Another “hill” that could double as a black diamond ski slope brought us closer to Cirauqui, a most charming Medieval town. We self-stamped our passports, greeting a group of three older women in their 50s/60s. All day, we would pass them, they would pass us. They were th ree friends from the Catalan region near Barcelona. We hope to be like them in another 20 or so years.
11km later, we landed in Lorca and stopped with the pilgrims to douse our heads with water from the fountain. We ate our bocadillos and Cokes for 4,15€at a pit stop with others. A man from Portugal rested with his companion from Slovakia. He told us that there was a family of six from Ireland, so we knew we had to keep an eye out. A man massaged his foot, telling B about his injury and continuing with his wife by pulling a pack on wheels behind him. How he got down up on some of those “hills,” who knows.
Estella, the village we would stop, is a tease. The last 2,4 km to her was the longest ever. Every time we climbed, we expected to see her over the crest. There were many crests. Finally, Estella came into view.
We stayed at the Hostal Municipal, a bed in a 32-room and breakfast f our 8€. Check out time by 7:30. We met an Italian woman who had also started in St. Jean, and a family with three young boys. Impressive kids for walking with their packs! The albergue was okay…though we wi sh the bathroom scene was better. Shared for both sexes, hard to relax…if you know what we mean.
After a shower and a nap (that heat wore us out), it began to rain. We ventured to a bakery where Kat had TWO espressos, Z her cafe con leche, and B her hot chocolate – this was serious hot chocolate, not the thin, sugary stuff.
We also snacked on pastries, one filled with a creme local specialty and the other, torta de almendras (puff pastry with sugar and almond).
We then went to the small store to cook dinner and found two pizzas and figured we could stick them in the oven for easy cooking. Super excited, we went back to the kitchen. No oven.
B tried to microwave it, and Kat tried to get a good crust by finishing it on the stove…in a pot.
Needless to say, we ate chips instead (though B did try some…). The saving grace was our dinner companions. We ate with the two folks we met earlier (with the foot problem) were Sebastian and Caroline from near Barcelona. The couple is absolutely delightful and gave us good advice: eat a bigger lunch at a restaurant or shop and keep dinner simple.
So noted.