2015-05-08: Walking day Fuenteroble de Salvatierra – San Pedro de Rozado (30 / 512 km)

It was dark when John and I left the albergue, but the daylight arrived gradually. A rather uneventful morning with only a small confusion at a road sign the road began to rise. It turned into a path.
After a while appeared windmills at the ridge we were heading towards. We had reached “Pico de la Dueña” at an altitude of about 1.200 m, the highest point of Vía de la Plata. What first looked like 7 or 8 windmills later proved to be a farm of some 40.
At the northern end of the ridge at the highest point and a short distance from the path there is a “Cruz de Santiago” a Santiago cross. The we found Margarete, an elderly – well, our age then – German lady that we had seen earlier. She is waking with a light pack and is staying at cheap hotels, hostals or corresponding. If you are using this philosophy, then you can walk with a very light pack. We asked her to take some photos of John and me at the cross. It looked like she did that but when I checked at the end of the day I saw nothing. Pity!
She joined us downhill. A fast walker.
I had to phone Germany at the road to clarify some matters. We passed a “screaming farm of pigs” and eventually we reached the last hill before “San Pedro de Rozado”. John wanted to continue and I wanted to stop, so we split.
I was looking around the village and found first an albergue that was a bit primitive. Had lunch and did then find one that was a lot better but unmanned.
It proved that you should go to a bar to check in and fetch the key. Got company of a guy from South Korea that I had met earlier together with the two Americans. After a while an Italian also arrived. We had dinner at a dining room at the same place as the bar. It proved that Margarete lived at the hotel that also was connected to the bar. She was joining us for dinner.
I’m writing these lines when waiting for the clock to strike 7 when the serving will start. It does so now so I stop writing here.