Burgo Ranero to Puente de Villarente
I left at 8am after walking into the village for a coffee. Soon I am on this straight road again. 
There is little to look at and I am grateful of the cloud cover today as I have been now for the last two days. The new trees here are not big enough as yet to shade you as you walk and I was to take few photos today. I passed the first rest stop mentioned in my guidebook, it had a few trees and a bench to rest on and I remembered meeting a friend here before. The grass was more than knee high today and lush after last night's rain. A few frogs croaked a chorus from water in the ditch as I walked on, evidence of a wet spring. I was glad I had not weathered last night's storm here. There were a number of peregrinos all heading in the same direction but I stayed alone and eventually came to a second place and here too the grass was high around the big concrete tables and benches supplied for tired Peregrinos. I decided to make soup and eat some bread and was surprised how many peregrinos walked past, some I knew some not, but all called out
"Buen camino"
Next stop was Reliegos and here I had coffee and Spanish omelette. Somewhere after that I text home and a little while later Maisie phoned me back. Amazingly, wherever it was I had just arrived outside a factory. Here was a shade stop with tables and benches too so I was able to sit down on a table and relax and talk comfortably.
My two kids, their partners and all the grandkids were there and all said hello to me. I told them how I missed them and that it was a good day for walking because it was still cloudy after last night’s storm and that I was fit and going well.
I was thrilled to hear everybody and was very happy but now I found as I rang off that I was crying my eyes out!
Six more kms and Mansilla de las Mulos came into view. I had stopped in this village before with a big crowd of Spanish peregrinos. My shirts and trousers had just about worn out and here we discovered a little shop where I could buy some new ones and today I was still wearing one of the shirts and the other was in my bag! I have never been able to find shirts that wore so well, looked as good or dried as quickly as these two do. They were just beginning to fray at the cuff but were still serviceable. I was determined to see if that little shop was still here and if he still stocked those shirts! I racked my brain and found the street and the shop! The same man was serving a customer and I waited my turn.
"Can I help you" he said as he finished serving the lady.
"Si I want two of these," I said touching my shirt collar, "I bought two from you four years ago in this very shop and I have warn them almost every day since. I have searched the world looking for any as good but it's impossible! So now I am hoping you have two new ones or me."
"What size" he said smiling
"I have no idea, small I suppose!"
He pulled out a pair of steps and climbed up, dived his hand in a pidgin hole and came out with two shirts exactly the same white with a stripped pattern.
"Only one small but this is not much bigger. It will be ok for walking" he said noticing I had my shirt unbuttoned.
The collar size said only one number different so I took his word for it.
"Ok I'll take them how much"
The ticket pinned to the shirts said 140 pesetas!! I now realised how often he sold shirts!!!.
He jotted a few figures down on a piece of paper
"15 Euro?"
"For the two" he added as an after thought.
"Fine I'll take them." I had not seen a shirt under 30 Euro in the shops in the big towns! I could not get over that I had come halfway round the world to buy two shirts! I had tried everywhere to buy shirts as great for hiking in and never found anything remotely as good.
I looked at socks but decided not to buy any, I could manage. He meanwhile was wrapping up the shirts.
"Don’t worry, they have to pack in here" I said indicating my rucksack.
We now tore them from the cellophane and removed the card and pins. He then carefully refolded them telling me how I should do it so as not to crease them and I undid my rucksack and placed them in with my other clothes. I repacked all and zipped up and paid my 15E while we joked about meeting again in 4 years time!
I told my shirt story and had a beer with a group of friends at a table outside a bar. All were stopping here and I said goodbye and they went off to find this shop, hoping to buy a few bargains.
I like this little town and have some great memories of it. Strange how some things change, and others not, I looked into the albergue and it looked the same but the little hedge in the patio had gone and with it the pungent smell that it gave off was also gone. That smell had driven me to take a hostel round the corner while the rest of my Spanish friends had stayed here! I had returned later and we had all chipped in and the girls made a great huge pasta meal and we drank many bottles of wine that evening in this patio!
I must be m
uch fitter now than I was then, I realised as I headed out over the bridge. I stopped turned and took a photo of the town I was leaving. This time I'm alone but it had been my choice.
My guidebook said there are no albergues in the next four villages but in 6 kms I came to Puente de Villarente. I now knew there was one here because some way back a Mercedes had stopped and a lady had given me a brochure about it. I was walking into town when the rain that had been threatening to fall most of the afternoon started. I came to the first few buildings, where signs indicated there was more than one albergue here now, but I had decided to use the one in the brochure.
It started to rain really hard so I sheltered in the lea of a building with three nice Spanish guys. The rain soon eased a little and I hurried on to find the albergue. It was run by foreigners and whilst clean, seemed to me, ridiculously regimented. After being told to remove my boots and place them in the coral I was issued a bunk. Walking with a heavy rucksack with hot sore and sweaty feet over cold slate floors is not nice! My sandals were hidden well inside my rucksack!
I washed my shirt and socks and hung them in the old open fronted coral to dry, not that they would dry much in this weather.
I took a chance when it eased a bit and went out to try to find a place to eat. The administrator had said it would be hopeless but I said I'd like to look anyway. I did make the acquaintance once again with Francesca, a Dutch lady. We had a few tapas and a drink in a rather miserable bar then when we returned to the albergue, we found everyone sitting down with salad and pasta on the table. Francesca disappeared to her dorm while I sat down with them and asked for a wine and could I eat, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears, (I am not sure whether they didn't understand or didn't want to). In the end I did get one glass of wine but not one person offered food and few even spoke to me! I thought how different were the Spanish I travelled with last time and left them to get some sleep.
There is little to look at and I am grateful of the cloud cover today as I have been now for the last two days. The new trees here are not big enough as yet to shade you as you walk and I was to take few photos today. I passed the first rest stop mentioned in my guidebook, it had a few trees and a bench to rest on and I remembered meeting a friend here before. The grass was more than knee high today and lush after last night's rain. A few frogs croaked a chorus from water in the ditch as I walked on, evidence of a wet spring. I was glad I had not weathered last night's storm here. There were a number of peregrinos all heading in the same direction but I stayed alone and eventually came to a second place and here too the grass was high around the big concrete tables and benches supplied for tired Peregrinos. I decided to make soup and eat some bread and was surprised how many peregrinos walked past, some I knew some not, but all called out"Buen camino"
Next stop was Reliegos and here I had coffee and Spanish omelette. Somewhere after that I text home and a little while later Maisie phoned me back. Amazingly, wherever it was I had just arrived outside a factory. Here was a shade stop with tables and benches too so I was able to sit down on a table and relax and talk comfortably.
My two kids, their partners and all the grandkids were there and all said hello to me. I told them how I missed them and that it was a good day for walking because it was still cloudy after last night’s storm and that I was fit and going well.
I was thrilled to hear everybody and was very happy but now I found as I rang off that I was crying my eyes out!
Six more kms and Mansilla de las Mulos came into view. I had stopped in this village before with a big crowd of Spanish peregrinos. My shirts and trousers had just about worn out and here we discovered a little shop where I could buy some new ones and today I was still wearing one of the shirts and the other was in my bag! I have never been able to find shirts that wore so well, looked as good or dried as quickly as these two do. They were just beginning to fray at the cuff but were still serviceable. I was determined to see if that little shop was still here and if he still stocked those shirts! I racked my brain and found the street and the shop! The same man was serving a customer and I waited my turn.
"Can I help you" he said as he finished serving the lady.
"Si I want two of these," I said touching my shirt collar, "I bought two from you four years ago in this very shop and I have warn them almost every day since. I have searched the world looking for any as good but it's impossible! So now I am hoping you have two new ones or me."
"What size" he said smiling
"I have no idea, small I suppose!"
He pulled out a pair of steps and climbed up, dived his hand in a pidgin hole and came out with two shirts exactly the same white with a stripped pattern.
"Only one small but this is not much bigger. It will be ok for walking" he said noticing I had my shirt unbuttoned.
The collar size said only one number different so I took his word for it.
"Ok I'll take them how much"
The ticket pinned to the shirts said 140 pesetas!! I now realised how often he sold shirts!!!.
He jotted a few figures down on a piece of paper
"15 Euro?"
"For the two" he added as an after thought.
"Fine I'll take them." I had not seen a shirt under 30 Euro in the shops in the big towns! I could not get over that I had come halfway round the world to buy two shirts! I had tried everywhere to buy shirts as great for hiking in and never found anything remotely as good.
I looked at socks but decided not to buy any, I could manage. He meanwhile was wrapping up the shirts.
"Don’t worry, they have to pack in here" I said indicating my rucksack.
We now tore them from the cellophane and removed the card and pins. He then carefully refolded them telling me how I should do it so as not to crease them and I undid my rucksack and placed them in with my other clothes. I repacked all and zipped up and paid my 15E while we joked about meeting again in 4 years time!
I told my shirt story and had a beer with a group of friends at a table outside a bar. All were stopping here and I said goodbye and they went off to find this shop, hoping to buy a few bargains.
I like this little town and have some great memories of it. Strange how some things change, and others not, I looked into the albergue and it looked the same but the little hedge in the patio had gone and with it the pungent smell that it gave off was also gone. That smell had driven me to take a hostel round the corner while the rest of my Spanish friends had stayed here! I had returned later and we had all chipped in and the girls made a great huge pasta meal and we drank many bottles of wine that evening in this patio!
I must be m
uch fitter now than I was then, I realised as I headed out over the bridge. I stopped turned and took a photo of the town I was leaving. This time I'm alone but it had been my choice.My guidebook said there are no albergues in the next four villages but in 6 kms I came to Puente de Villarente. I now knew there was one here because some way back a Mercedes had stopped and a lady had given me a brochure about it. I was walking into town when the rain that had been threatening to fall most of the afternoon started. I came to the first few buildings, where signs indicated there was more than one albergue here now, but I had decided to use the one in the brochure.
It started to rain really hard so I sheltered in the lea of a building with three nice Spanish guys. The rain soon eased a little and I hurried on to find the albergue. It was run by foreigners and whilst clean, seemed to me, ridiculously regimented. After being told to remove my boots and place them in the coral I was issued a bunk. Walking with a heavy rucksack with hot sore and sweaty feet over cold slate floors is not nice! My sandals were hidden well inside my rucksack!
I washed my shirt and socks and hung them in the old open fronted coral to dry, not that they would dry much in this weather.
I took a chance when it eased a bit and went out to try to find a place to eat. The administrator had said it would be hopeless but I said I'd like to look anyway. I did make the acquaintance once again with Francesca, a Dutch lady. We had a few tapas and a drink in a rather miserable bar then when we returned to the albergue, we found everyone sitting down with salad and pasta on the table. Francesca disappeared to her dorm while I sat down with them and asked for a wine and could I eat, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears, (I am not sure whether they didn't understand or didn't want to). In the end I did get one glass of wine but not one person offered food and few even spoke to me! I thought how different were the Spanish I travelled with last time and left them to get some sleep.
END DAY 25 = approx. 24 km Sub Total = 290.3 km Total = 628.2 km
