20/4 Wednesday Boo to Santillana del Mar 21kmThis morning the guide recommended one stop (2 minutes) on the local train to Mogro to cross the estuary as the alternative is 8.5km by road.
Toni, Marco, Heika and I were all waiting for the train together. At Morgo we set off together to rejoin the Camino route. Marco soon sped off and Heika decided on a different option. Toni and I were happy at the same pace so got to know each other.
Toni is a 59 year old Catalan with very little English. At last a good opportunity to use my limited Spanish. Sometimes I get the gist of what someone is saying even if I could not translate word for word.
Toni likes sport, football particularly and Barcelona of course but also my team Leeds United. Once I discovered Pink Floyd was his favourite music we swapped lots of music likes - Eric Clapton, Dire Straits, blues, Bruce Springsteen etc.
When we stopped for coffee in Cudón I told him about the house in Vejer and it emerges that he wants to retire there. So lots of locations and traditions to share!
Having Toni's company today was great as the route was the least scenic to date. Mostly road walking, factories and nothing in the way of scenery.
Toni wanted to eat his main meal along the way and as I was enjoying his company I agreed - a good decision as we found a bar at Viveda with a menu del día. Bean stew with morcilla (black pudding) and chorizo to start - filling and delicious local cuisine. A main course of fried mackerel and Tarta de Abuela (grandma's tart) to finish. Oh and a whole bottle of red wine to share! A glass was enough for me but Toni had a little more! Fantastic value for € 11.
After lunch the last 6km were more rural and as we approached Santillana del Mar (which surprisingly in not near the sea!) we had the first and only shower of the day. To our delight we found we had rooms of our own at El Convento.
I showered etc and wandered out to the old village which is ancient, pretty but very commercial, reminding me strongly of Hawkshead! A few obligatory photos and back at El Convento it is now raining heavily as I write today's blog.