16. Hostal Austuria to roadcross & Cáparra - Aldeanueva del Camino, 26km
Possibly one of the best days regarding weather…sun shine most of the day and quite warm after 11pm. I made 26km, from hostal austurias back to Cáparra arch, and then to Aldeanueva del Camino, so in fact, only 19,4km in the camiño. Hostal Asturias was a disaster. The rooms are nice and have all a pilgrim needs. Yet the owner, Óscar, is an ordinary and cynical man. Food isn’t great either and it was the worst menu I had so far. I tried to get a lift back to the arch at the bar the night before, but the owner wanted me to take his friend’s taxi. He then brought a taxi driver to my dinner table so I could arrange things. Luckily, the taxi driver told me it would be silly to drive me in the morning and she would have to come from another village, and so too expensive (+30-35€). She told me it would be better to arrange a lift with someone. In fact, the girl serving at the bar offered me a lift, up until Óscar talk to her aside and then she told me that maybe she would be late in the morning, blablabla. In the morning I got up early to have breakfast, which was supposed to start at 8am. I found out that at night guests are locked in the upper floor, and I had to come out through the emergency exit and some broken stairs!! I waited then outside for the bar to open to leave the key. After sometime, and after I rang him, Óscar arrived. I told him it was strange to have to leave through the emergency exit (it would be a problem to go back to the room if I wanted to). He responded he is not an architect, and only an hospitalero, so he doesn’t have to think about these kind of things! I was pretty pissed off with his attitude so decided not to have breakfast and leave, walking the road back to the Arch (that’s about 12km). I thought I could get a lift, but none of the 4 cars stopped at that time of the day. I walked as far as the petrol station that is beside the other hotel – Avión, I believe. There I had a very nice breakfast and bought some food for the day. On the cross to Cáparra, now on a local road, I just walked 500 metres, and the first car stopped. A farmer going to work on his field – fruit trees. So he took me to the arch where I got at about 10am, and after walking about 7-8km. Maybe it was something meant to happen (this altercation with the Asturias Hostel man), as the arch and the ruins were fantastic with that morning light, so I was delighted! It was then a great walk, with a lot of streams to cross, most of which were fine. I walked the last 5-7km on the road, as there was a stream which was unpassable (even taking the shoes off, the current was too strong). On the way I could see Serra da Gata to the northeast and Serra de Gredos (with some snow on top) to the northwest. I got to Aldeanueva just before the world cup game, which I watched alone in Albergue La Casa di mi Abuela: a great place, despite being a little cold (with one or two guests, heating is not on). Leave you with a photo from the arch.
