Day 11

Los Arcos to Torres del Río - 8 kms
21 April 2019

Easter Sunday - Feliz Pascua a todos.

We've walked such a short distance today that it could be called a rest day. After a late start we made our way to Sansol nearly six kilometres from Los Arcos, walking through cropping land interspersed with olive trees and vineyards again. We spent nearly an hour at a small shop/cafe in Sansol sitting out in a covered area chatting to other pilgrims while we all had drinks and nibbles. Two were a mother/daughter pair, Avril, the mother, was from Melbourne and Tillie, the daughter, from London. What a fabulous way for them to spend time together. We also met Leena from the Netherlands, she was a bright lady to spend some time with. From Sansol it was only one kilometre to our destination of Torres del Río. Torres del Rio is another very small and quaint village with a population of around 150. It's main feature is it's 12th century church, Iglesia de Santo Sepulcro, which is linked to the Knights Templar.

Some time before leaving home we read that Semana Santa, Holy Week - from Palm Sunday until after Easter, was a holiday week in Spain when many Spanish and French took the opportunity to walk sections of the Camino therefore there could be pressure on accommodation so we decided to book ahead rather than risk not finding places to stay. It turned out to be a very good decision. Accommodation has been hard to find for so many of the pilgrims. At Viskarreta we met a group of pilgrims who said that they had to walk 40 kms, from St Jean Pied de Port over the Pyranees to Viskarreta before finding somewhere to stay. Others said that they had arrived at the albergue in Roncesvalles, where we stayed, getting there as early as 3 pm only to find that it was already full, and that included the overflow area. Some had to taxi back to St Jean from Roncesvalles at great cost. The municipal albergues at Zubiri and Larrasoaña haven't opened which has caused more problems.
Our accommodation has been a real mix from albergues through to pensions or B&Bs - from using our sleeping bags on bunk beds in dormitories where so many pilgrims snore and 'burp' from both ends through to having a private room with beds that have sheets. All have pros and cons, each has been a great experience.
This afternoon we spent some time talking with two women from northern Germany. They said that they are finding the hills difficult as northern Germany is very flat.

Walking out of Los Arcos. After a very warm sunny day yesterday today has been cloudy and cooler.

The wild flowers make such a gorgeous splash of colour.

The two different greens of the crops is obvious here - the dark green is wheat and the yellow-green is barley. We've also seen huge areas planted in what we think is lentils - the plants look much like peas.

Look Girls there are four P words in this photo: Pappy, poncho, poppies and puddles. We had just enough light rain today to make us think we needed our ponchos - then it stopped. Going by the puddles it must have rained during the night.

First view of Sansol

Walking into Sansol

The wee Sansol shop/cafe where we had our leisurely stop.

Looking at Torres del Río on the path from Sansol.

Walking into Torres del Río

The 12th century Santo Sepulcro Church in Torres de Río

It's unusual for an octagonal church to have a domed ceiling

The crucifix, 98 cms tall, has been dated as being from the beginning of the 13th century.

The church can be seen from our albergue window 

Pappy checking out his new Pappy house in Torres del Río. It doesn't have any windows but he should be happy here as it's a lovely old village.

It won't take long for Pappy to fix his door will it Girls?

A couple of Templar Knights 

A Knights Templar flag