Boadillo Del Camino to Carrion de los Condes - 25 K

Had a nice stay at the private Albergue in Boadillo. I think I mentioned how nice it was.

They also served dinner, which isn't that usual for an Albergue, but a few do.
All the Pilgrims sat at a large table and it was the usual international mix - Swiss, German, Korean, Japanese, Spanish - and me. Interestingly, the German and Swiss usually speak some English, but not so much the Spanish. One young Spanish guy, who has taken me under his wing, speaks English quite well. When I asked him how he learned to speak English, he said that every year at the end of school, his grandmother always bought him a gift, and one year he asked for English lessons. Commendable, I think.

Chiavi, as he is called, has helped ensure that I can always order my first meal of the day in Spanish - Cafe con leche e basso e tostada. (I have no idea how this is spelled, but I manage to get my point across.) Which means that I get a nice big tumbler of cafe au lait and toast.

The toast here is always prepared on a grill, I think, and basted with olive oil. It takes about the same length of time to prepare as it does to roast a leg of chicken. It's either pieces of baguette or one thick piece of white toast (like Wonder Bread, but much denser), and you always get butter and jam with it. In some places it is really good, and I fear I'll be making toast in the frying pan when I get home, with liberal dashes of olive oil.

Today's walk started out well.
We moved to daylight savings last night, so it was light when we left today and the sky was bright blue - the air cool. Once again I had most all of my clothes on, and by noon we were sweltering. It went up to about 27C today and it was hot hot hot for walking.
The Mesata is relentless in this regard as there is no shade anywhere. I found the afternoon very tough, and one of the German guys and I decided we would prepare a petition for the King of Spain to see if he could have more bars and cafes along this route.

On an entirely different topic, and not wanting to appear indelicate, I am now down to one pair of underwear. I can't fathom how they disappear, but while the downside is washing every night - and wearing damp, or no, underwear if they don't dry - the upside, of course, is less to carry.

Today's Albergue is a convent attached to the back of a church and run by the nuns. While it was blazing hot outside today, the Albergue is freezing on the inside. They do have blankets though, so we should be OK.
The nuns had a little sing-song at 6.00 pm tonight and handed us song sheets (in Spanish, so we could sing along, if we chose). One of the nuns played the guitar and led us in song although, in truth, her voice was so wonderful - she was so animated and beautiful - that people were just transfixed. I felt like I was in a rerun of the Sound of Music.

Even the nuns look stylish here: robes and scarves of beautiful soft material and wonderful leather, lace-up shoes. I went to the mass for the experience and to see the interior of the church. You just can't believe the magnificence of the interior -and again - in such a small hamlet.

The nuns are preparing some food for us, so gotta run.

Trying to gear myself up for tomorrow - 18 k with no villages - and more Mesata.
Wendy, thanks for catching up with my blog. So good to hear from you.