Chapter 26: Hospital de Orbigo to Casa Flor; Casa Flor to Foncebadone

We trotted out of Hospital de Orbigo at an unusually early hour. Blake and I have become accustomed to the leisurely Spanish wake up times and no longer jump out of bed at 6 am, bright eyed and bushy tailed. However this morning, we wanted to get a jump on the day in an effort to beat the heat. Spain’s spring weather has begun, and with it – daily highs in the mid 20’s. That sun is strong.

We trudged off into the trails with 25 KM on our docket for the day. Quickly met up with a group we have been seeing off and on since Pamplona, and walked in pace with them all morning, chatting and putting the KM’s behind us.

Once the day starts to heat up, it heats up FAST. Along the trail we found a Donotivo (donation based) fruit stand and pilgrims rest area, operated by some local do gooders. The shade was nice – the watermelon and lemonade was nicer. And of course, as it’s on the trail, you get a chance to keep up with all the familiar faces you’ve seen along route.

We tried to maintain a good clip as we strode into Casa Flor. There was an old man playing guitar and serenading pilgrims as they came into town. I essentially forced Blake to take a photo with the old guy.

The walk was interesting. We passed through what felt like dozens of small towns along the way – all with their own photo-worthy Camino-side attractions.

Our Albergue was beautiful and we checked in with lots of time to spare. Our room mate happened to be a woman from London, Ontario… apparently lives just off Fanshaw and Hyde Park rd…. How about that for coincidence?

This place was a treat, as there were no restaurants or supermarkets in town… the pilgrims menu was amazing. They served us a massive steak, butternut squash soup and salad. It slapped.

The next morning we were en route to Foncebadone. I took the advice of a few other pilgrims and used a service that allows you to ship your bag ahead to the next Albergue rather than carrying it. Game changer for me. If you see me in pictures without a backpack – I didn’t lose it, I just sent it forward…. It made such a difference.

About 10 km in we found a super weird Cowboy themed bar. Like – American cowboys. So obviously we stopped for a coffee.

And after that it was uphill the whole day. We were pretty tuckered out, so not many pictures of this part of the walk, but I’ll post some of the views. We’re on our way to the highest point on the Camino….. so vistas abound.

After the long walk, we booked into our weird Convent house for the night and found some walking buddies outside a pizza place. We drank STRONG Tequila Sunrises on a picnic table and…. Not going to lie – we ate an entire pizza. Each. Easily.

And that’s all she wrote for the month of April. It’s been a whole month of walking the Camino… and I can’t believe it’s passed so quickly. In 10 days we’ll be in Santiago, and we’re only just not starting to process that one day soon, this trip will be over. In the immediate – we’re off to bed. Love you all very much and chat soon. Xoxo Becky and Blake.