About 5 minutes further on a slight breeze appeared and blew away the fog to reveal a beautiful clear blue sky.
Soon everything warms up and the scent of pine and flowers is wonderful. Usually the first thing I say each day as we wake up in the albergues is "I love the smell of pilgrims in the morning!"
Someone asked me why all the bedrooms smell of feet; I replied that it is the people that smell of feet!
The accommodation varies widely in quality and price; from 5 to 12 euros or donativo which means you pay what you want or can afford. Some pilgrims are very wealthy and sometimes moan a bit about standards and quality; maybe they should stay in a hotel or Casa Rural? There is an often displayed mantra on the Camino; "Tourists expect, Pilgrims thank"
To qualify to stay in the albergues you need to have a pilgrims passport or "credencial". This is an official document issued at authorised places along the Camino. They take your personal and passport details and add a stamp of authenticity. Each place you visit - bars, churches or albergues add a stamp or "sello" with the date to prove you have been there. When you arrive at your albergue for the night they check to see that you have walked the Camino and don't just want a cheap bed for the night. It works really well. There is a photo below of my passport so far.
Tonight we are in a nice modern place with 6 rooms of six beds; two pairs of bunk beds and two single beds. As Paul and I were the first to be shown our room we grabbed the singles.
There is a young American couple in our room; he is walking in Crocs that are two sizes too big and she in tiny leather sandals. Barbie (as I call her) started crying 5 mins after arrival about something not being nice? It is tempting to say "You're not on a bloody beach holiday, you bimbo!" but I said something like "Maybe tomorrow you will have a better day."
I am in Atapuerca for the night; a very important prehistoric site. It was made a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000 on account of its source of the earliest ever European human remains; dating back over 900,000 years. (That is almost as old as my mother in law!)
They have confirmed that our ancestors were cannibals. Not sure what we will be eating tonight as everywhere seems to shut on Sunday and sometimes Monday too.
See below my Pilgrim Passport, my mother in law as a young girl (sorry Sylvia, I miss you really), a walk in the woods, some nice Camino signs, my Camino buddy in his favourite shirt, some graffiti, a picture of Stefan the German who we saw again at a cafe and some butterflies.
Buenas Dias, Ian.
PS - Mike, thank you for the comment, have a great time and remember "shiny side up."
