Day 10 - Viloria de la Rioja to Villafranca Montes de Oca (21 km)

Hola mis amigos

Today was a quiet day on the path, and I chose to walk a relatively short distance. You may not be surprised to learn that I spent a restful night at Refugio Acacio y Orietta, after a wonderful dinner with my delightful hosts. There is plenty more to tell of my stay there and for those who are interested I will tell you more on my return. One thing I will mention is that Orietta told me I'd walked 33 km from Azofra, not 30 as I'd thought. Jill, I'd you're keeping track of my progress, I think we're still good as that first day I'm certain was more like 10 than 12. I've decided the distances are a bit 'rubbery' depending on which book you're following. If I make it to Santiago, I imagine I will have walked 800 km, + or - 25 km either way!

So back to this morning, after 10 hours sleep I woke at 7.30, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and conversation with my hosts and set off around 9. Nothing particularly eventful today - it felt like a rest day - just walking at a relaxed pace and, though the sun was shining, the weather seemed a little kinder. I decided to stay overnight at Villafranca as the next stop was an uphill climb of 12+ km with nothing in between, though I understand much of that will be in a forest so quite a contrast of scenery that I'm looking forward to discovering in the morning.

By now you may have guessed that there's little rhyme or reason to my progress. In fact I notice I now think in terms of an idea, more a post-it note than a plan, e.g. my idea is that I'll walk to X today and stay at Y, but the reality is often quite different. And so it was again today.

While I did follow my idea and stop for the night at Villafranca, where there is a perfectly fine Albergue, I've chosen instead to stay at the delightful Hotel San Anton Abad, where I have my own lovely bedroom and bathroom. I've been reminded many times on The Camino to follow my heart and intuition. And so here I am sitting up in bed, crisp white sheets and plumped up pillows, in my 3 star hotel, having enjoyed a yummy dinner and a few glasses of vino blanco with a couple, Judith and Roger, from west coast of Canada. Like me, Judith is a business writer and editor.

My post-it note for tomorrow is to walk that to the near outskirts of Burgos, another large town, or maybe I'll keep going and tackle my big town phobia head on. I'll let you know.

Til then a few matters of business. Firstly Robert, I'm loving your comments and kind wishes. Thank you. It's a relief to report that the coffee here is pretty good. You won't be surprised to know that I sorted that out as a priority fairly early on and settled on a caffe con leche as closest to my usual order - more or less a latte and usually good and strong. But I'm not converting. I'm looking forward to my first large skim cap at Montagu, within hours of touch down on my return. You can expect Pat and I up there on the morning of Thursday 3 November, Max and Zoe in tow. Please say hi from me to Will and all at Montagu.

Pam and Peter, as you read this I know you'll be thinking of our efforts in Peru and Bolivia, where we ordered caffe con leche every morning as I recall and were never served the same thing twice!

Lilly and Bill, I've been meaning to let you know that the secret document 'under garment' you gave me is great. As you promised, it's really comfortable and light as a feather, so much so that when asked for my passport, I often have to think twice as to where it is. Thank you.

So a relatively uneventful and peaceful day today, which feels like perfect timing, as I head towards Burgos and on to the Meseta, which I'll tell you about tomorrow.

Hasta luego. J x