Munich 2, Dortmund 1 ....... Big Billy is not happy

I head back to my Hostal Hispano well before my German friends will get to bed. Big Billy is to put it mildly very engaged in the game. Sitting at the very next table is a Munich fan who is nearly the same size as Big Billy. I had a feeling before I left at half time that these two very big guys both so completely committed to their teams may end up facing off.

I am not proud to tell you this but I have been in a couple of bars before and I know what can happen when you get this mixture of emotions and beer thrown together. It's not good. More about the end of the Big Game later. 

I am back to the Hostal by 9:30. I am the oldest in the group by a stretch and I know how I need to feel at 7:00 in the morning if I am about to throw on a twenty two pound backpack and go for a 15 mile walk. Watching Dortmund and Munich does not fit into a solid plan to make stage 10 painless. 

I get a decent nights sleep and leave the Hostal at 8:45. I need to return the key and my remote to the bar across the street because the actual front desk in the Hostal building is not occupied until 4:00pm. 

I don't care where I return the Hostal's property I just want to have a cup of coffee and perhaps something to eat.

The woman tending the bar is very nice and greets me in nearly perfect English. I give her the key and the remote and she asks me if I would like a cup of coffee? Yes, con leche please. As she prepares the coffee she asks "would like something to eat?" I take a shot and ask if it would be possible to have eggs? She turns toward a little room in the back which I cannot see into and begins speaking to someone in Spanish. 

A voice from the little room fires back and the young woman says to me "Mama wants to know if you want scrambled eggs or an omelette with cheese and ham?". I choose the omelette. Good decision. I am about half way through the omelet when Mama steps out from the back. She takes one look at me and turns to her daughter and in Spanish asks her a question. The daughter then tells me that Mama wants to know if you are tired? All I say is "no". More conversation and finally the daughter tell's me that Mama says my eyes are tired and that I need more sleep. No argument here. It's just not that simple.

I pay the bill, 53 Euros ( about $65 ) for room, breakfast with tax and tip included. Try that in Capistrano. 

I thank the daughter and put on my backpack and I am on my way to Santo Domingo De Calzada , fifteen miles away. Today is stage ten so its my tenth consecutive day of walking. I am averaging just about 15 miles a day and I am grateful that I don't have any serious aches and pains. 

I will soon find out just how much better I am doing than some of the other Pilgrims I have met along the way.

I am starting to understand that when I first start each day I am a bit sore and yes a bit tired but soon thereafter things get better. Once I have walked about a mile and a half my muscles warm up and I get more and more comfortable. It's all about the pace and of course it also depends on the weather and the condition of the trail. Today is just perfect. Not a cloud in the sky and a little chill in the air but without any significant wind . This is about as good as it gets for walking 15 miles.

I am walking alone. My German friends have probably stayed out well past my bedtime and may be getting a later start. All three of them are staying at a Hotel not far from my Hostal. Before I left the game we confirmed that we are all staying at the same Hotel and agree that will meet for dinner in Santo Domingo. 

After about three miles It gets a bit warmer and I have already worked up a pretty good sweat so I stop for a wardrobe adjustment and a little water. I am in no rush. The walk thus far has had only one hill challenge. I have my secret weapon and the hill is not a match. I take it without stopping. I am not trying to prove anything and I am in no hurry. It just happens. 

The scenery is once again spectacular. The mountains I am marching toward are covered in snow and I am surrounded by vineyards in every direction. I am still in the Rioja region. That will soon end.

I take a couple of pictures and as I do I can hear a group of voices getting closer. It's a group of seven locals out to walk to the next small village about a half mile away. I guess that's what they are doing because the have no poles and no backpacks. I don't like having people directly behind me so I decide to take a short break.

I wait to let them get well enough ahead and as I begin to get back on the trail Michele walks up beside me. He is all smiles and asks if I want to walk along with him.  Yes, absolutely and we move on. Our pace quickly matches the same pace we used when we first met leaving Los Arcos. The conversation quickly turns to how fantastic the weather is today.

Before I left Najera I did not think to ask anyone at the Hostal if they knew what the result was of the Big Game last night so my first question to Michele is "who won?" He stops and tells me the story about how in the final minute of the game Munich scored the winning goal. Munich 2, Dortmund 1. He says something about it was not a good ending and goes on to tell me just how upset Big Billy was and how the subsequent face off with the other big guy nearly caused a riot. No punches thrown but it got close and the people in the bar made sure they were separated. Big Billy is so upset that he tells Michele and Rainert that he does not want to talk to anyone and leaves. 

In addition to Big Billy's disappointment with the game he is also still struggling with blisters and has decided to take the bus to a Burgos which is 4 stages away.  That will cut off about 60 miles from the total. Big Billy is the first victim I hear about today but he won't be the only one. 

Michele and I are making good time. I am twice his age so I think I am doing fairly well. I feel good and I am telling myself that I am walking for the tenth consecutive day and I don't have any issues which will slow me down. I don't want to jinx myself but I am beginning to believe I can complete The Camino without stopping. It's now my goal.

There is one very long hill that stretches for about a mile. It's a gradual climb and its long and over some poor terrain. We take it slow. Shortly after reaching the top we see a small village ahead and we agree that we will stop for coffee and a small bite of something. The name of the village is Azofra. We stop and take a table outside at the Bar Sevilla Azorfa. 

We are drinking our coffee and diet cokes when a young and very small woman spots Michele and shouts out his name. It's amazing, he knows everybody. It turns out that this young woman was part of a large dinner group with Michele in St Jean at the start of The Camino. He has not seen her since. Her name is Mee-Sue ( that's how she pronounced it) she is from South Korea and she has hurt her knee. Michele takes out of his backpack the bandage he used back on the way to Estella. 

He tells her to sit and he try's to get the bandage around her knee but she is so small that it just keeps wrapping around making the Velcro useless. He makes a comment about how small her legs are and she responds that he has the legs of an elephant, It's pretty funny and Mee-Sue is pleased with her ability to make a funny comment. 

Michele decides that he can turn the bandage a certain way and tie it which he try's and it works. Mee-Sue is better and gets back on the trail ahead of us. We will see her again. 

As we get started again we can see off in the distance some very dark clouds and we are walking directly toward them. We are about 5miles from our destination .  Nothing is said but I know what I'm thinking. 

As we get closer we turn through a small village which has all of these very modern, very ugly and completely abandoned group of apartment buildings probably a result of the global downturn back in 2008. They don't look like they will be occupied any time soon. 

Just as we come around the corner someone yells out Michele's name. It's the Brazilian couple I have seen every day at many of the Hotels and everyday on The Camino. They immediately break into Portuguese and we decide to join them for a short break. Michele introduces me to them. Fernando and Nelly. They are from San Paolo and they are the nicest and happiest people on The Camino. They are discussing Hotels which need to be booked and Nelly ( who speaks English ) is looking for Hotels in all of the cities ahead of us for the next ten days. I take out my iPad mini and show Nelly the schedule which Sharel has put together for me and she is ecstatic. She asks if I can email it to her when we reach Santo Domingo and of course I say "yes". Sharel, Nelly and Ferdinand both send their thanks!

 We finish our break and we need to get moving the storm is getting closer. We are only two miles away from completing the days walk. Our pace is much faster than our friends from Brazil and they are  soon well behind us. In the end we all make it to the a hotel just before it starts to rain. Well almost all of us. We have passed Mee-Sue down a very long hill which takes you into the city. She is struggling , the effects of the bandage have worn off. She will soon be wet as well as in some pain. the Camino has another victim.

Michele and I have not seen Rainert today and when Michele left his Hotel this morning Rainert was still in his room. We both think that Rainert is probably out on the trail getting wet. We are wrong. Rainert walks up to us and says that he's been waiting for us. How is that possible? Simple, he took the bus! To much wine watching the game and then he stayed out later than planned. When he woke this morning he was just not up to it so he took the bus.

That's ok . Rainert has completed two Camino's, he is allowed the use of a donkey or the bus. Time to head for dinner. Tomorrow on to Belorado, 14.2 miles away. The forecast is not good. Lets keep our fingers crossed.