The early birds were chomping at the bit this morning, having gotten up just after 6am but forced to cool their heels until the monastery’s front doors were unlocked at 7:30am.  A big rush when the appointed time came, then a quietness descended as the rest of us slowly prepared to leave.  Iris, Philomena and I met half of them having breakfast across the way before they rushed out again to start their day’s walk.  We sipped our coffees and munched our toast until it was time to leave for the 9:10am bus to Caceres.

The bus riders! LOL!!  No, we took the real bus…

I had meant to go to Caceres, the plan was to take a rest day and spend it in Caceres but somehow I found myself off the bus in Valdesalor, suiting up to walk the 11.7kms into Caceres.  I guess I just had that urge…
It was a fine 2.5 hour walk through open country, the smattering of suburbs, then steeply up the cobbled streets and through the city walls into the old town.  All honey-colored ancient stone buildings in a warren of narrow streets filled with jostling tourists. I found it all quite overwhelming so I passed quickly thru and down into the Plaza Mayor where there was a host of sidewalk cafes and different lodging options.

The first pension I tried gave me €10 off the price of a little garret room, so I ended up paying the same price as those pilgrims in the local albergue! I’ll be thankful for the peace and quiet tonight as my upper bunk mate yesterday evening played a mattress spring concerto all night long, tossing and turning as he did. I think a private room every now and again is restorative to my nerves… 🙂