Day 12. Could young al be decended from atapeurca man. The similarities seem obvious to me!

Day 12 – Villafranca to Atapuerca

Hi workers!

Many thanks for the lovely comments on my most recent photo. I may look like crap but actually I am feeling rather good. I clean up well after a hard days walking ( and listening to Al!)

Short trek today – 18 k.

First part is uphill which is always good first thing. It gets the heart pumping and allows me to get a healthy lead over Al.

We met this guy called Klaus from Germany in the bar last night who was having problems with his kids, his recent retirement and generally not knowing what to do with the rest of his life. We gave him some very sound advice – Get smashed and worry about it in the morning!

I digress, and probably will again. Todays walk was mainly through woodland and grassland. No crops just the ocassional massive lorry piled high with trees crashing by.

Everything was going swimmingly until we met upon a herd of cattle in the middle of the trail. Now being city boys we weren´t exactly sure what to do.

Do we walk through them or go around. Forward we ventured, At this point we noticed that ALL cows in Spain have got horns – bloody big ones and that there were also calves. Now we kinda reckoned that they may be protective of these calves and as we got nearer they certainly were staring at us like this was the case.

We chickened it!

Over the nearest fence we went and around. We made it. We looked back with satisfaction only to see the next 3 walkers casually stroll right through the lot of them without a care.

Oh well…………….

Because we left late again today – 8.20am our first stop at San Juan de Ortega 12k in was at around 11am.

I have been telling you about my recent sore foot, well yesterday I think I found the solution – The foam out of one of those plate scrubbing thing you get in a kitchen. I had tried in the last refuge – hence the pacing up and down talking to myself.

Now was time to use it. It seemed good. We continued.

12noon – Ages. (its a place). Another pit stop for food and drink.

1pm – Atapuerca – They had twin rooms for a liitle extra. We got one. Our own shower. This place signifies us completing one third of the Camino. It is also famous for Atapuerca man – a prehistoric discovery aroung a million years old. We think his apperance looks kinda similar to Al´s present one. What do you think?

had a few beers this afternoon and now going food hunting.

Back Manana. Keep the comments coming and many thanks for all the recent ones.

Adois Amigos

Aches pains and Rains

t 7am – the class of Endurance participants have put their last poly bag away and have evacuated the dorm.Si and I plus a “sleeper” across the way.

Simon Vaughn Alexander the Great Blue Peter fixer and mender Kettles is currently pacing the ward a la one flew over the cuckoos nest muttering “this’ll work” or “I think this’ll work” or even ” yes, I know this’ll work” followed by “I think I’ll cut a bit more”.

I’m delighted, he’s at his best talking to himself and when he’s in self congratulatory mood I know I’ll be in for an easy time.

There no such thing as a victim less crime, so I better get up before he spots me sleeping.

Its 7.23 its still pitch black and I can think of no better stretch – going through 12km of woods – to avoid going out too soon, so I told him I was away for a Sherman – cockney rhyming slang for glass of hot water. I believe it was based on General Sherman’s daughter Elsie and sleeping with an enemy captain during the US civil war – but that’s another story.

Its 7.32 and I’m shaking my boots out. The last few bits of lavendar that I picked up in Logrono have now been overpowered by my feet and boots natural aroma. That’s a shame, I had not been glowered at by my fellow housemates for 4-5 days!

With it being a 12km stretch through the woods, we pondered 1 sugar lump or 2, or are we bears.

Ok – I can stall him no longer – see you at 3pm!