Today’s destination, Vilalba, is holding a music festival for the weekend so all accommodations are booked solid, except for the one public albergue. Public albergues are first come first served. We would like to be there when it opens to secure bunks.
We were up and on our way in the early morning rain. We needed to find some breakfast. Unlike home where places like Tim Hortons offer food early, few places in Spain seem to open before 9 am. We found a specialty cafe called Pasteleria Real and ducked in out of the heavy rain. The croissants may be the most expensive pastries I purchased on this journey, but they were delicious.
The rain continued off and on, mostly on, for the rest of the morning. Pathways were running with water. We took refuge at bar for a second breakfast around 11 am. We reached the public albergue at noon, one hour before it was to open. Eventually the woman operating the albergue returned to the front desk, and pointed to the hours on the door, signalling to us that we were early and would have to wait. And so we waited, in the rain, as she sat two feet from us on the other side of the glass wall at a desk. What else could we do?
We did get in, showered and set up. We then ran through the rain to a truck stop restaurant, Parrillada a Revolta, and had a very good ‘menu of the day’ meal. Back at the albergue we visited with pilgrim friends and played cards. My camera stayed in my pack again so no portraits were taken.