A cold morning turned into a very warm day, which again turned into a cold swim.
But lets start from the beginning. I got up as usual at 6, did my packing, got a machine coffee from the hostel and hit the road at 7. I met much of our group outside the hostel and me, Colin, Louis the Columbian, Petro the Portugeese, Ciara from UK and Rachel from California went to the nearest coffee shop where we got first breakfast. We met the two danish cousins August and Lasse there as well.
Colin and Louis had bought a princess crown for Rachel, and we did a crowning in the coffee shop. Rachel wore it the hole walk and got lots of comments, really funny. So fun to have these strange moments of craziness, it makes the adventure so memorable and unique.
The morning was really cold and I had to start with both fleese and rainjacket, but it soon got really hot, and I was again happy for my Fjällräven abisko zipper-off pants, my safari hat and my Fjällräven safari shirt. But sun should not destroy the fun, so we did the days first Camino Crossfit, but was not able to get anyone else to join. It was a mood booster and we walked some more before getting the second breakfast. I like these breaks and breakfasts a lot, and it is always with freshly pressed orange juice and excellent coffee.
Some more walking before we took a break just 5 km before the end destination Belorado and 23 km walk. We got a glass of Tinto de Verano - kind of Sangria. That was nice and cold - but probably not so good before second round of Camino Crossfit and one hour walk in the sun. Some of us got a bit dissy in the end and remembered ourselves to drink more water going forward.
We got to the hostel that we had prebooked, and went directly to the pool. Yes, a pool, so nice, and it was cold as it should be. So good to get cooled down after 5 hours walking in the sun and 25 degrees. We did a hold-your-breath competition and this time I won the first price with 1:42, and Colin and Louis chicken out after 20 seconds. So nice to be the winner :-) - But of course, it is not about winning, but about having fun. And we have a lot of fun with the group we have built.
Now back at the hostel where I am sitting and writing and reflecting before going to dinner at 19:30. More people come and chat and we enjoy the garden.
The hostel offers Pilgrems dinner which many places do, and you typically get 3 courses with wine for 17 eur.
Dinner is done, so full of food and very tired after today. Tomorrow we will start at 6:00 to minimize the 28 deg sun and we will drink lots of water.