Today is the longest stretch of the camino without services, so before I left San Zoilo I made certain I had ample water as well as some food. I set out for Calzadilla de la Cueza, hoping to find my friends along the way.

After nearly four hours I came to Calzadilla and there, at a bar/cafe, were Trevor, Danni and some new friends, including Tim Brennan of Australia, Maria Paluselli of California, and Angela of Munich. This group would become my camino family over the next many days, and I enjoyed our reunion over cervesas and bocadillos.

We walked together toward our stop for the day, Terradillos de los Templarios, and arrived there at the private albergue. We set out our sleeping bags and adjourned to the bar/cafe, which seemed the only entertainment in this tiny village. Before long the men were at one table and the women at another, talking loudly with the many pilgrims who’d made this their overnight stop.