After a good sing in the shower the night before and a wonderful pizza in a bar watching football ( Spain 4 v Italy 2) I was ready for a good nights sleep. This time I did get a very good nights sleep!!
It was raining again which made the journey hard. The only difference was that this time my feet felt much better , it was clear that the blisters were beginning to heal, thanks to some good advice that I had received earlier.
I stopped for coffee and a Spanish cake in a tiny little bar in Calzada de Coto. This tiny village was of significance since it was a place where the Camino splits, I took the shorter route.
After about three hours walking the rain stopped and I stopped too to eat the avocado I had bought the night before. The Camino followed the main road for much of the way but this didn't matter much because it was a very quiet road. What did matter much more was that the countryside I walked passed was truly magnificent. It was alive with the music of nature: wind in through the trees,bird song, frogs (rana) and an angry babbling stream that was busy collecting all the rain.
Finally I arrived in Mansilla at around 4pm. It was very quiet but had soon filled up by 6pm.
For 5 euros I was stunned that the showers were the best I had experienced thus far and there was actually hot water for hand washing clothes. I cooked a meal of spaghetti and salad for myself and a couple of fellow travellers and then went for a short stroll In the village.
Had a funny interlude with some young South Koreans who shared the kitchen. I informed them that they were not in
the place they thought they were but some 6km further on. This news came as some amusement to the South Korean girls in the room, who proceeded to throw things at the young Korean guy who thought he knew where he was going.
I discovered ( see photo), that elvis had also managed to visit this small corner of Spain. He was a busy guy!!