Overnight - Residencial el Cuartel
Another day, another long walk. Can't yet say I'm getting used to it, but each morning's packing is certainly becoming more efficient. With not much of a dinner last night and only a late breakfast offered at the wonderful Hostal Hispano, I decided to pop into the early opening cafe recommended by Brierley just across the river. It was a good spot.
The day was scheduled to be another long and reasonably cool-ish one, ahead of a few 35+ degree stinkers predicted to be coming up very soon. And while there was barely a cloud in the sky, it remained very mild all morning. When I stopped for a leisurely lunch around 11:30am at the popular town of Santo Domingo de la Calzada, it was actually quite bracing sitting in the shade outside the cathedral.
There had been a couple of solid climbs on the walk up to that point to make another lengthy trudge that little more interesting. I’m also finding that I’m tending to go harder up hills. I'm not sure why, but it certainly provides a great reward when a hill is crested.
The final few kilometres up to Granon - my stop for the day - were in open, gently rising country along mostly gravelly paths with the sun now doing its best work. From all I've heard and read, I expect these are the sorts of conditions I'm going to encounter along the famed Meseta and beyond in the next few days, so I better start getting used to them. It's sure going to be a test.
My pre-booked hotel is a little out of Granon with only a communal TV. For some reason, the cycling channel is showing a tennis match at the appointed time for coverage of Le Tour, so I went and had a lie down. After a short nap, the coverage resumed (Froome increased his lead with a solid time trial while Porte moved into the top 10).
Afterwards, it was time for a final evening wander around the village then back home to prepare for day 10 on the trail.
Weather - Much sunnier today but quite mild and breezy. It warmed up toward the end but it wasn’t at all discomforting. That's not far away though!
Health - No real issues today. The left heel is still a little painful a few hours after the end of the walk. I might bandage it tomorrow and see how it goes. At the moment, it only seems to start complaining toward the end of a stage.
Food - Bocadillos x2 + Coffee; Gel; Big salad with bread roll + Cups of tea x2 at Santo Domingo de la Calzada (this is my new favourite meal!); Chocolate ice cream; Apple; Packet white chocolate biscuits + Potato Omelette on bread roll
Expenses - Accommodation - 20.00; Food/Drink - 20.50 Total - 40.50
Walking time - 7 hours, 5 minutes (start 6:50am, arrive at accommodation 1:55pm)
Brierley distance - 28.0km (total 219.8km)
Daily Steps - 42,172
Total Camino steps - 364,431
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