We left Fórmista and headed out, it was cooler a bit yesterday walking to Fórmista. There was a lot of wind which added a chill that I didn’t appreciate as much.

But we walked about 10 kilometers and stopped at the first albergue for some breakfast. WELL. This albergue has to be the best one we have seen on the Camino so far. It was so cool! I wish 1) I had taken more photos 2) We had stayed there the night before. Everyone could see it for miles because it has a giant teepee you can sleep in. Today’s walk was boring- it was a straight shot for 12 miles only 10 feet from the road. So, the giant teepee wasn’t hard to miss. But they had little huts you could sleep in, heaps of grass, geese roaming, donkeys roaming, hammocks, slackline(!!!), Juggling balls, hula hoops- literally anything fun you can think of, it was there. It was SO cool. We ate here with Marguerite and Cyrille, eventually Silvano found us as well. We spent some time here, eating, fixing feet, and I played on the slackline.

After that, we just kept walking straight. I didn’t really take that many pictures because 1) it was boring looking 2) I didn’t charge my phone the night before and it was sitting with my portable charger in my pack, rather than my pocket.

It was SO FREAKING HOT. So for that, today was rough. We took breaks as we could in the shade, fixing feet some more and just cooling off.

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There was quite a big chunk of the walk where lots of people including Silvano, Debbie, and Cyrille, ran out of water. It was boiling. But we made it! We walked by a beautiful church on our way in. Doors were opened as cold air poured out. It was a welcomed relief.

We got to the albergue and got our bunk beds. They were filling up fast. We were in a place run by nuns. While sitting there, relaxing, I got a message from Jens telling me he was pushing ahead to Carrión and to ask if we could get him a bed. I tried, but they wouldn’t let me. I’ll give you one guess as to who walked in and got the last bed. THE FRIAR. Alberto. And where was he tonight? The top bunk next to mine. Three nights in a row we have Alberto the Friar and his Mary statue next to us. Debbie could have died! She was napping and opened her eyes only to see him RIGHT next to her and the he asked if he could put Mary on the table between the two beds. I also saw him when he walked in and asked if I could take a photo of him, he happily obliged.

Also, Rachel is here! It was great! Loads of our people were all in the same space. Debbie and I walked the town to get food (paella) and go to the supermarket and pharmacy.

OH! SIDENOTE** It was brought to my attention yesterday by my mother that this entire time I’ve been spelling pharmacy farmacy, without realizing it. When I type these blogs and picture the day over again, I walk through what we did, when we went and what it looks like. Well here, a pharmacy spelled farmacia. So I just accidentally have been combining the two languages for the last pffft…18 DAYS!? COME ON PEOPLE! One time (maybe even two) is a typo. SEVERAL is just plain error! But, whoops. My bad.

Back to the pharmacy- I’ve been on the hunt for tiger balm for my shins and I FINALLY found some here! I am so excited. I also got my first two baby blisters because of my sandals. I’ve been wearing them the last couple of days because the heat. I popped them, drained them, and cleaned them with something Debbie got at the pharmacy. We grabbed some ice cream and headed back. I went out and watched Silvano and Marco play chess on their makeshift chess board. I sort of got trapped outside because in the main walk way there’s a foyer space where there was a group choir/sing along. Which sounded beautiful but I did not want to walk through to go back upstairs. So outside I sat. Eventually it ended and everyone joined us. Marguerite, Cyrille, Rachel, Debbie- Daniel and Nicholas two guys we have been seeing but haven’t talked to all sat around the table in groups chit chatting. It was quite nice. We were all out there pretty much until we went to bed!

Day mileage: 12
Total mileage: 226.7
Personal mileage: 13.51