Friday 23rd August 2019

I wake up to the sound of swearing in Italian. It is Mrs. Asinello who is in a foul mood and doesn’t want to get up and go walking. I understand only too well. The room is beautiful and it would be nice to have a lie-in but we have no choice so we get

Thursday 22nd August 2019

No, the drunks did not keep us awake. We have slept beautifully. We wake up at 6:00 and enjoy the luxury of a good breakfast in an albergue. A generous coffee with an even more generous slice of Santiago cake. The closer we get to Santiago, the more the Santiago cake replaces the napolitano as

Wednesday 21st August 2019

We leave Villafranca full of trepidation for what lies ahead. Massimo has scared us. We don’t even bother looking for a bar but just start walking; we come across an open bar in Pereje, however, and it looks so nice that we stop for our napolitanos and coffee. It looks more like an English pub

Tuesday 20th August 2019

Despite the expensive hostal room, we have slept badly. The light in the bathroom was impossible to switch off and the glass door was about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike. The hostal owners redeem themselves, however, with a very decent breakfast of a napolitano, but with cream instead of chocolate. It

Monday 19th August 2019

I have slept like a log and lie contentedly in bed while Mrs. Asinello has a shower, thinking how sad I am to have to leave this place. I think you can get a good idea of what a place is like in just one day and I like this place very much. We go

Sunday 18th August 2019

I wake up feeling every one of my 50 years. I only realize now that the shower cubicles and toilets are mixed sex, which I find rather strange and quite unpleasant. Once again we have to grope around in the dark to get ready as another Spaniard, a girl this time, insists on continuing to

Saturday 17th August 2019

We leave the hostel while it is still dark but this is not a problem today, as the road is dead straight and it is impossible to go wrong. Amelia says goodbye to us as though we were family and off we tramp into the dark. The next stop is Puente del Paso Honroso which,

Friday 16th August 2019

I have slept badly, woken up continuously by the smell of insect repellent and by some pissed-up Germans making a racket out in the street. The Spanish boy in the bed opposite sleeps and sleeps and so again we have to prepare with our torches. We have a Nescafé in the kitchen, which is better

Thursday 15th August 2019

The alarm goes off way too early. It feels like every bone in my body has been crushed to powder. As usual, no bar is open anywhere. Indeed, today is The Assumption and we fear that everything will remain closed all day. We start out at 6 on the dot but then Mrs. Asinello wastes

Wednesday 14th August 2019

I wake up this morning in severe pain. The insect bite under my foot has become infected. My thigh bones are aching horribly and the pain in my shins has got worse too. I really don’t believe I am gong to be able to make it and when I think just how far we still