April 18: Walking Day Villamayor de Monjardin to Los Arcos

Miles walked: 8.3

Flights of stairs climbed (equivalent): 22

As you can see, there was only 1/5 as much elevation gain as yesterday so a fairly flat walk today. There was a lot of downhill at the beginning and then it was gently rolling hills. Gentler than usual. Nice!

There are no towns between V de M and LA so that made the walk seem long. But there was a food truck with chairs and benches so we were able to get a cold drink, an orange, and rest our feet a bit. The food truck didn’t have a bathroom and it was wide open country so … I had to be creative to find a place on the trail.

Our wonderful hosts from our B&B last night were Bert and Betty. Betty was an amazing cook. And possibly the nicest person I’ve ever met. Bert and Betty are from the Netherlands but moved to Villamayor de Monjardin about 13 years ago and worked in the albergue there. Then 3 years ago they bought this B&B, Casa Rural Montedeio.
Betty’s vegetable tart. I’ve never eaten anything like it.
Bert making breakfast for us this morning. I asked him about the bread machine (right). He said they make fresh sour dough bread every day for the guests. We had it for breakfast, it was still warm. OK, if you ever get a chance to go to Spain, go to this B&B!!!
Our room in the B&B.
Heading out this morning.
Looking back at Villamayor de Monjardin. There is a castle at the top of the hill. Built in 5th century. Bert said there is a little church inside it and twice a year all the people in the village (population approx. 100) walk to the top and have a church service there.
Steady stream of pilgrims.
In Los Arcos we ate at the restaurant across from our hotel. A delicious menu. Unfortunately it’s Saturday and the menus almost double in price on the weekend. But, it was worth it. First course, beans and mixed salad. Both were outstanding. The Spanish make such good beans and fresh salads. For second course we had chicken and trout.
We have windows in our hotel room. And a huge balcony. We are in a regular hotel. Very comfortable. Now sitting in the hotel bar blogging.

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