Day 54 - Vianna Spain - 62 kms ! Crossing the Plains !

After leaving behind a battery charger in Burquete and having to wait a day to receive it by courier I nearly completed a double by walking to the bike from the hotel having left yesterdays riding gear still hung up in the closet. Only a call from a chamber maid to the reception saved further embarrassment although it is likely that ill be booking in with Henley to the Alzheimers clinic when back in Melbourne !

On road we launched straight into a climb on a beautiful sunny morning taking a near deserted road to a hilltop for great views of the Camino path and the wide open plains !

What a difference the scenery has been since our arrival in Spain. Endless fields of grass and wheat, few if any trees or shade, and timeless villages sitting in neat order on the tops of various hills or escarpments.

You almost have the feeling that youve stepped back in time into the middle of an El Cid movie moving across this beautiful ( or as H calls it) / bland countryside.

Kev struggled a bit early on and had to go for an early puffer while `nurse` Litchfield had to remind H of the need to apply plenty of lip balm and sun screen with Henleys face looking like a `napalmed forest - ugly & blistering with heaps of peeling skin !

We stopped briefly at Estalla to admire some magnificent church carvings and then took in the much anticipated tradition of free wine at Irache !

The stone fountain at Irache that disperses free red wine and water was built by the Bodegas wine company in 1991 and allows the pilgrim to celebrate the Camino while sampling some of its wonderful stock (look it up on the internet as it has its own web cam and you can watch pilgrims in real time drinking - a wonderful passtime !)

There's no bad time for a nice red so I took a good glass and a half of the stock (a beautiful taste) while Henley took in some water, a wiser choice perhaps but according to our half translated discussion with fellow Spanish travelers this now means that Henley will never fall pregnant (as best as I could translate anyway !).

Now the route really opened out with little shade and scrub like conditions making me feel a tad nervous even though the temperature was only 25 c.

After 50 kms and with H pleading, we took lunch in the shade at the tiny town of Santos following up with lovely panoramic views from its church forecourt before heading back into the sun again.

It was another 20 kms when H, not usually one to make an early call, reckoned the place we were entering, Vianna, looked like a dump!

I explained to him that this was the `dump where we staying the night !

In fact the old section of town has a delightful small square and marvelous views from its church courtyard looking down across the plateau.

Nearly 1,000 km into our Camino journey we are soon to exit and head to the coast for some r&r ....

Just in time to cheer on Cadel !