Sep 12, 20174 min read

Day 9: italian spanish

Day 9. Azofra to Santo domingo. 16.5km, 6 hours.

Today we walked 16.5km – ‘our rest day’ Up at 630 on the road at 7am strolled through freshly ploughed fields in the dark until about 8 when the sun came up. You could see the lights of burgos reflecting in the clouds. Temp was quite mild for early morn. Once i got going my feet got used to hurting again! Every step is painful to a point where you look at the ground at stones to avoid stepping on where the blisters are. I had such a nice morning walking alone just thinking, listening to music, possibly dancing terribly as i walked along. The sun didnt really come up it was just grey clouds, then drizzle. I stopped to put my pack cover on, and caught up to a girl who was talking to an older gentleman. Aussie! No doubt. So i then started walking with nicky, 32, midwife from melb who also quit her job and is doing a bit of travelling. Her family has a unit in berlin so has invited me to come and stay if i get that way. We walked quite a while together. Theres something about meeting another australian. You just click. We no sooner got to an intersection and found Anna trying to call out to Sergio and Emanuele who had taken the wrong path and where now a km down this dirt country farm road. Nicky and i both tried coeing to them but couldnt get their attention. So anna joined us and we continued on in the pouring rain. It was bucketing down. Freezing cold! We were soaked. Finally made it to the top of this hill that seemed to go on forever and there were the rest of my crew under a tree eating pancakes. We stood in the pouring rain eating nutella pancakes for breakfast for Nils birthday. One i dont think he’ll forget. Id had enough so continued on, i could see the town so knew i wanst far off so walked as fast as i could to get to the first cafe i came to. A golf club. And every other pilgrim had that idea too. We waited it out a bit until the rain had eased but in the end i just decided to go for it. I walked through ?? Which was quite a bizzare town, just a bunch of idential apartment blocks all kind of built sporadically around the place but what i do notice is how good their parks and playgrounds are! Most include a table tennis, fountain and sometimes a pool.

I crossed the last road out of town and back onto a path through bright coloured fields. When all of a sudden two men walk up either side of me. Emeliano and Fracesca (the italina father and son – who i learnt through miscommunication arent actually father and son). oh my heart. I smiled so much! Francesco walks at quite a pace so i upped mine! The next 2 hours were so nice, you forget its cold miserable and grey. I kept up with them teaching me italian. And just had lots of fun random conversations about travel. And that how Francesco is now my Papa Francesco. The 2 hours went so fast! Such a good distraction. I was meeting my crew in santa domingo but as i we were walking through the town we came across Davide (another one of our italians), who didnt know where his crew were either. So Papa in italian, told us we all need to walk to the next town together!! But i was beat. I needed an afternoon off. So hugs all round then i left them to continue on down the lane. I checked into the Albergue (7 euros and this one is like a hotel!) Its great! And who would think that you just get so used to sleeping in a room with 20-30 people. I feel like thats my norm now! I was also reunited with Australian Jess in santa domingo. Sisters! We spent the arvo at a cafe bar, making friends with the waitresses and eating tapas. Soon joined by a south african couple, we met a few days ago, Dennis and Megan. An anethetist and a catarac surgeon. They are the loveliest couple! So interested in your lives and jobs and ask so many questions but in a way that you know they are just really interested to get to know you. We headed back to the albergue in the evening and Helmutt attended to my blisters. Seriously it is amazing having him & his med kit here, im not sure what i would do without him. Somehow dont think id the guts to be popping and draining my own blisters! Feet are the worst. Ugh R x