Hola! St. James,
On Friday September 9, really pretty walk along a canal to Rionegro de Puente. Had to walk over a dam, beautiful. One LITTLE village on the way, Villar de Farfon. Only 3 residents. I briefly met two, an old couple sitting in chairs on the street, I thought, asleep. I turned left to take a picture of the Church, and the man redirected me onto the path, I said, "Si, yo se, solomente un photo" (yes, I know, only a photo). He made a loud huff noise, told me there was a place for coffee, and to stay, going out of "town, and went back to sleep. Don't know who the 3rd resident was.
On the way out, Albergue Rehoboth, A private Albergue run by South African missionaries, with 4 beds. Too early to stay, but I was able to use the bathroom (A big deal for Pilgrims), and have a cup of coffee. The wife was very quiet, but the husband came back right before I left, and he could talk more than me. Took me awhile to leave, but I had time. It's them and their 2 daughters, and they serve the Camino and Pilgrims. Really nice place. 7k left to Rionegro. Nice walk, and the best way-marking into the village yet. Sometimes the hardest part is getting in, finding your way around, and getting out of these little towns. There's always a "main road" (or two), and the "services" aren't always ON the Camino. Walking into Rionegro along the river was a joy. The Camino came out on the "main road", and the Albergue was right there. It was what is becoming typical. One place to sleep, 1 OLD Church (OPEN!), 2 CLOSED bars, food from a refrigerated vending machine, BUT, this one had a restaurant (more on that in a moment). It was a restored medieval Albergue, pretty big, 30 beds. Very well appointed and comfortable, with lots of space (not always the case). There were instructions in my guidebook about how to get in, A lady in the street try to help, but the place was open, nobody there. I picked my bed and started on my laundry. A nice Dutch man came in (Jann), and said 2 Frenchman were behind him, and they already had reservations (?!) for 7:30pm and I would be able to join them. A Spanish pilgrim on a bike arrived too. The Hospitalera came at 6:30pm to collect 10 euros and stamp our books. I went to Church to pray, take some pictures, and, unbeknownst to me, get another tour in Spanish (this nice little elderly lady was really hard to understand), but the Church was beautiful and had a statue of St. James.
I went back across the street and we went to dinner (also across the street). When I came into town earlier, the whole area smelled like smoke, the kind you cook with. I had already heard about a Restaurant that was ridiculously good, considering where it is. "Me Gusto Comer", I like to eat. Very pretty inside, open kitchen, chef (with chef outfit and all) prepares the plates out front, 3 courses with wine, cordials, coffee or tea...15 euros. I'm not even going to describe what I had (ask me at home and I will). Extraordinary dinner, every mouthful perfect, AND the chef would come over and instruct you how to eat it! It would be a $150.00 dollar meal at home, and in THIS town. Amazing. Only 9k or so walk the next day, so even not sleeping great, it was ok and I took my time in the morning. Onto Mombuey...