Puente La Reina

Today started with sunshine in the distance.   If you look real hard you can see windmills on top of those hills. And that is where I headed out to this morning. They call this the hill of forgiveness. As you are killing yourself climbing this little hill you are supposed to be forgiven of your sins.

Here is a monument about half way up the hill where someone didn't make it. I wondered ' too many sins?"  

I got a little scared at this point.    :)

Getting closer and closer to my destination as the windmills get closer and closer. 

Look how thick the fog is.   I had to wait for it to lift for a moment to take the picture.

That's where I am headed kept wondering if I would be able to see anything.

And finally the top. The next couple of pictures any one that has seen the movie The Way will recognize.

Graffiti even here

This is the verse the Canadian woman translates for Martin Sheen

Same picture from a distance.

It was either here or at the wind mill in the back where Sheen puts some ashes. It was way too cold to walk up on the windmill. About this time my body is going into shock from the cold.   The pain was unbearable. I was soaked from sweat and then the wind and it had to be near 0C up there.

All I could do was think of that sunshine I could see over the other side of the hill. The hill was only a 450m climb.    It seemed easy compared to the first day, that was, until the cold hit me.

The views were great. The climb down was a little steep and it was on loose rocks so you had to watch every step.

Pilgrims leave rocks along the trail supposedly to lighten the load of all your sins. Ya, ok if these people carried these rocks from home to leave along the trail they are a lot better than me!    I would have dumped them the first day.

You see these all over where the stones are piled.   Lighten the load..   I was tempted to leave my computer on one of these piles!  It seems silly to carry a rock just so you can lighten your load further on down the road.

And we even had the Virgin Mary

At the bottom of the there is farmland. This is wheat.

And some smaller wind mills

And my first olive tree. At least that is what I thought it was but someone said it could be a Almond tree.  Until I am corrected I am sticking to Olive tree.

This is the town I am staying in tonight.  About now the feet started to kill me so I decided to stop here.

This speaks for itself

Entrance to something.  I don't know what.   I thought it was the town but the town was still a couple kilometers away

First grape fields

And my first stork's nest. It's on top of a smoke stack.

And the first Stork

Then another on top of the church tower

Here is a close up

And this is where I am tonight 43E includes diner and breakfast.

The church across from me

Lots of gold in here

The street I am on, it was kind of hard to find a hotel.   A guy said go to the church steeple there is a hotel around there.

And this is the Bridge that the town is named after I go over this when I leave tomorrow.

So I went 20km today left this morning at 6:30 and was here at 10:30 so I averaged 5k an hour.   My average rate was so high because I walked with the girl that did 47Km yesterday.   I could only keep up to her for the first couple of kilometers. She walked way over 6km an hour.  She is from Holland and is a stewardess on their airline (what ever that is). She is walking the Camino in 23 days and I have no doubt she will do it.   A nice woman I will never see again.   My feet are killing me so I am just laying around today. Hoping tomorrow well be easier on the feet.