Another extremely cold day. Could this really be Spain in the middle of May? After one and a half hours, I arrived in Azofra to a warm welcoming cafeteria for a café con leche and a chocolate croissant. The long days walk through fields of wheat and rows of vines was not really hard going, but the 21 kms seemed long, especially with insipient blisters coming. The sun came out in the afternoon which was nice after all the low cloud. I met Wendy from London at a rest area and walked with her for the last 5 kms into Sto Domingo. We passed through the suburb of Ciruena, which now has the nickname Sevende (for sale!), due to rows and rows of new houses which have never sold because of the recession.
Wendy was going to stay at the Albergue of the Cistercian Nuns, so I left her to walk another 600 m. to the far end of town where I had a booking at the second Parador in Sto .Domingo (Parador De Bernado de Fresneda, a new addition to the Parador chain). Years ago, I had stayed at the main Parador in the town centre, but they did not answer the phone when I attempted to book this time round. I later realised that by chance I had arrived for the fiesta weekend, so there were a lot of people in town.
After a hot bath and a long lie down, I went out late-ish into town, i.e. at 6.45 p.m. I was sitting down in the lounge of the main Parador when I met Maria and Ian, 2 Brits who have a property near Alicante. They had been walking the Camino for just a week, and I had dined with them and a group of pilgrims in Navarette two nights ago. A neighbour of theirs had come to pick them up from Sto. Domingo in his car. He was from Nottingham and had a house in their village in Spain. He was enjoying speaking Spanish, drinking the best wines and staying in as many Paradors as he could. He was about to go on a cruise to Rio, he said. What a life! He had gone to learn Spainsh at uni on his retirement. I enjoyed dinner with them (verduras, cordero asado & vino tinto de la casa for €40) in the busy Parador dining room which opened at 8.45 p.m.
Back in my own Parador, the festivities in town were getting louder, even at my end of town. I was unable to get to sleep, even with earplugs, and eventually had to go down to Reception to ask for a room overlooking the internal courtyard. This was a “superior room" with a separate lounge area, so I was able to sleep beautifully at last!
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