14 oct

From last night's @ I walked down steeply to gorge by river. As I looked up to mountains all around, I doubted myself. But throughout the day we avoided raid ascents by entering  tunnels & a circuitous path, nearly always in reach of a river. 

I saw an ambulance crew doing a dawn retrieval at the out suburbs, & wondered if the patient had passed in the night. Other cars were arriving. I prayed for them.

At PEREXE a little village above a bubbling stream I called in for caffe Americano & the last piece of almond cake slice. 

At VILLAFRANCA I discovered CASA SUSI quite out of the blue. 

took photos

Just beforehand I found a dead tricoloured cat probably an unlucky car strike. Seeing CS lifted my spirits, but as usual the legend is bigger than reality. A two lever Casa Blanca with a simple garden. But with the river below & a quiet road, it had a nice feel. But the freeway noise was ever present.  

Near here I restocked with agua with "no guarantee". As I de-packed i found pack open & my pouch laying just behind me. Phew, lucky escape. 

All morning i had been walking silently. Apart from the sound of crunching oak leaves, my walking was silent, & I suspect, very soothing to my body. I  determined that this was Walking mindfully & it left me feeling magestical. 

At one village, possibly ARBASTAMEDTOS, I dropped in & got  wmesl bag. Tuna, apple and at a little park by the stream I ate crunchy tuna, cheese & Apple rolls that I shared with a local cat. She arrived quick smart, do knows a pilgrim hanfouy. But what with this sm's sad cat scene & missing sooty & patch, I got a kick out of making that cats day. 

Soon after I looked literally skywards to ogle at two highway overpasses. The rear bridge actually dipped rather than arched, unusual. But I have it on Pilgrim Authority, that Spanish Civil Engineers are worldclass, & I don't doubt that.

13:00 HERERRIAS.

This valley feels dreamy, a bubbling stream, narrow flats  surrounded by steep ridges. No doubt there are trout in the waters. By the river & foothills Swiss dairy cattle graze with bell collars making fairylike  tinkling sounds. Every little while there are villages that pay only minimal acknowledgement to pilgrims. I had lunch (tuna, apple & soft cheese on wholemeal baguette) that I shared with a little cat. Apart from her mewing, only bubbling water could be heard.

But the strangest thing is that anywhere from 50 to 100m (maybe more?) overhead, there is a main road that crosses the valley on massive bridges. They are literally so far away that very little noise carries.its an amazing feat of engineering. 

I'm sitting outside my @ waiting for it to open. It being a "rest day" I am only doing 20k, & hope to get my laundry out as soon as. 

I checked my phone account & learned that it expires in 5 days. I took a chance on listening to acyvlong podcast, really long, with HEINZ STUCKE. I so enjoyed it, as hr discussed cycling around the eotlf for about 60 years on steel framed bike, a Bike Friday & later a Brompton. Hr has written books, I merf yo get one. 

Goof night, big hill in the morning. :))

* Rosary Beads Repair: as far back as Leon maybe, I've been hoping to pop into a jeweller's to get dad's beads repaired. But they are rare & when found the glittering lights & extravagance, put me off. But today I found an "artisan" shop selling jewellery pegged on felt boards by the Way. I beckoned the squirrel featured fellow & showed my problem. He immediately set about reeving a wire strip through & around the eyelets. Done by €1 donation, but it didn't last till the next use! I then noticed that one eye was C shaped instead of a O. After I lunched with the local cat, I used my penknife to close the eyelet. Bingo, job done.

* Lesson for Today: mindful walking is peaceful & stress free.  

Overheard an American barfly boasting loudly to another that he had "fly fished up from the Roman Bridge". He seemed to indicate that there were no fish, " they had gone down". Perhaps gone downstream for breeding or avoiding cold waters. Who knows? But it set me abuzz, I checked the stream & thought I saw one on the edge of .vision. But with overhanging vegetation I'm certain a clean cast would be impossible. Too narrow for a side cast. May be a rollcast? But very tight. How exciting! 

When I get home I really want to set up a lightweight fly rod for bikepacking trips. Alpine, river or coast ... mmmm!

This Hererrias @ has no Wifi, so its annoying ++. Of all the substandard @s, they've all managed to have WiFi. I'd love to research the local fishing options. 

PILGRIMS PROGRESS imitates life, or vica versa.

Due to the lack of WiFi I've been reading. "Simple, Sloth & Presumption were hanged (or manacled) because they were persuading Pilgrims to give up the Way ... and describedcthe Lord as a slave driver". Some of those pilgrims included; "Slow Paced, Short Wind, No Heart,  Linger-After-Lust and a young woman named Dull". Coincidentally, while reading  I overheard a young hospitalera I'd been speaking to earlier announce to a colleague that today's pilgrim were "dull". How fascinating, that she should use that word, & that she would find my description of religious pilgrimage as dull. She hinted that "groups of forty year old men ..." were more to her liking. Well Miss Dull, I am glad to have avoided your distractions, & am superglad I will not be pursued by you again. Hiss!

"Unto Pilgrims [s]he is not a friend".