BOLOS

Couldn't resist doing another short blog about a strange game I came across tonight outside the church. Am now at a place called Villafranca Montes de Oca and just opposite lies the church where a bunch of middle aged and some old women were getting pretty excited over this odd skittle game. They bowled first from directly behind the main bunch of skittles with a not so round wooden ball. Once through them it continued, hopefully knocking down a lone skittle some 8 metres further on. They then have a second crack at the skittles from the position of the single skittle. Seen nothing like it before.

SANTA DOMINGO AND ONWARDS

I wrote the text yesterday but with no chance of getting connected I have had to wait till I reached here in Belorado. Even here its taken an hour to find a wifi connection. I hope you can appreciate how much time one way or another it takes to prepare and upload. Am now sitting in the library of Belorado and time is really ticking by so not many kilometres today.


25/7 The walk down to Santa Domingo in seemed to last forever. The town was in sight for about 3km before I actually reached the hostel in the street just down from the big cathedral This cathedral has a strange story about it as do many other places along the trail. The chickens in this case are kept there to tell the miracle of a chicken that leapt up alive, after being cooked, from a dinner plate. The actual building is a massive affair built of the sandstone that is found in the north of Spain.
Sleep has been hard to come by for several nights due to other people’s night habits. The worst was a couple of nights ago when I had snorers on both sides. The other thing is when I arrive at a hostel I immediately have to get the shower and wash some clothes. Its quite a fight sometimes.
The countryside has changed somewhat since I arrived in Villamajor del Rio. The agriculture has changed to wheat and some sunflowers whereas before, for many days, it was wine country. I am writing this in the dining room of the hostel in Villamajor where up to now its been pretty peaceful, without the hoards of walkers trundling in. Only 3 of us here at the moment at about 4.30. This hostel is just off the trail which might put some people off.
Today is the big day in Compostela as its a Sunday and the birthday of St James. Saw some TV reports at the hostel and from what I saw I am rather glad not to be there. The masses were going on for the incredible masses of people. This whole thing appears to have become a successful massive masochistic tourist attraction. I have been told that the last 100 km is done by thousands of people making it one of those expensive tourist traps, thats if you dont use the supermarkets.
Up to now I have walked over 200 km and there’s still a lot more to go.

ANOTHER CHANCE IN NAJERA

It's another chance to upload something. Now in a coffee bar in Najera where I arrived about 4 hours ago. Done some washing and the all important intake of food. Going back to the hostel in a moment to get on with some more eating. Found that food is quite expensive here. An unknown tree to me is set against a very blue sky and a rotunda which has been built as a shelter for the walkers. The hostel is at the far end of the row of buildings by a nice looking river. D

SURPRISE - SURPRISE

Well, I’ll go to the foot of our stairs! What a surprise! On my way to a place called Najera and came across a village coffee bar with Wifi. So can’t let this chance pass me by. After what I wrote yesterday it seems things have taken a turn for the better. I have included a couple of pictures. One is the kitchen at the hostel last night at Navarrete and the other I took about half an hour ago on the track through this wine country.

Now last night’s jottings.

22/7 After being dropped in Logrono by Chris I managed to find a coffee bar with wifi. The blog uploaded I headed for the next town where I would stay for the night. Food, at the right price, is quite hard to find, but due to a slight slipup I found myself walking along the highway to Burgos, and came across a service station. I was given directions to get back on the Camino by a Scotsman, with his wife and grandchild, who were parked in the car park. There I had a very large lunch all for the cost of just over 5 Euros. This was a real bargain compared with the inflated price along the trail. While I’m on the subject of inflation, the cost of using the Internet is also somewhat exorbitant. In Logrono the wifi was of course free except for the coffee I needed and enjoyed, but its another story on the Way.
Its only 13 km to Navarrete and to continue it would have meant a further 16 km which was far more than I prefer to do in a day. The rain overnight had wetted the tracks enough to form large pools of glutinous red mud. It wasn’t such a serious problem for me but those who had walked on the tracks before Logrono found far more of the sticky russet stuff if the state of their boots and trousers were anything to go by.
However, in Navarrette my bed was quickly found and then I decided to investigate the wifi situation. I spent about 45 min wandering from bar to bar asking about Internet and wifi and found nothing except for one computer at the usual cost of a Euro for 25 mins. Uploading and writing a few emails soon eats that up, that’s if it’s technically possible to connect a memory stick to the computer.
As the days go by I am still meeting recent and old acquaintances. Of course, in having a day off yesterday some have gone ahead of me now but then again I have jumped 20 km by going by car to Logrono. My luggage has shrunk a little now as I sent some of it ahead to Compostela by post. I’ll have to get there now if I ever want to see the stuff again. D