Today was a beautiful day. As we left the albergue the sun was out and it was crisp. Read that COLD. Our plan was to walk 24k to Santa Marta de Tera.

The walk was very nice, we were in the foothills and walking up and down along dirt farm paths. Not bad at all. Not too much mud and beautiful scenery. We walked about 14k to our first town and we’re ready for a hot coffee con leche. Much to our dismay there was no bar in sight, the town was basically deserted. So we took a little break and then off we went to Santa Marta de Tera.

We arrived in Santa Marta de Tera about 1:30 only to fine that the albergue was closed until mid March. So we went to the local bar to find out or options. We ended up taking a taxi to the next town.

Tonight we are staying in a donativo Albergue in Calzadila de Tera which is basically a room in a building with 6 beds a bathroom and a shower. There is not heat and no hospitalero. There is a stamp on the counter and a donativo box there as well.

I finally spotted someone to ask about a bar. We learned that there was a bar in the next town over, about a 5 minute walk across the river. Off we went. We had a nice lunch and then walked around the Pueblo a bit before heading back to our albergue. Tonight a new pilgrim joined us. His name is Julian and he is from Cavernal a town on the via de la plata.

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Location:Calle de las Tras las Casas,Calzadilla de Tera,Spain

My days and dates are off this is correct.

Today we decided to take a shortcut, which actually was a long cut but it shortened camino by one day. The Camino goes in a triangle and the normal route would be to go the two short sides. The shortcut was to follow the hypotenuse of the triangle and cut off a day. So we walked 29k along the road to Tábara. It was not a bad walk. I am still not a fan of the road by all and all it was ok. We had a bunch of wind and some rain along the way. But made pretty good time and arrived by about 2:30. We stayed in an albergue in town and even had a room with just two beds.

It is cold and the forecast is for more rain and snow. Tomorrow we begin to transition from walking in the flatlands to the foothills and by the end of the week we will be in the mountains of Galicia.

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Location:Tábara

Today we walked from Zamora to Montamarta. It started out overcast but not too bad. We followed the road out of town and then onto the Camino. It was a nice walk for the first half. Once we passed our first town we turned onto farm roads. It started raining and the roads were pure mud. My favorite kind of mud that sticks to your boots and adds weight as you walk. At one point we were able to move to the highway. We walked along the highway for the rest of the day about 20k to Montamarta.

One of the things that I am learning about winter camino’s is that there are very few municipal albergues open at this time of the year. When we arrived in Montamarta we learned that the only albergue in town did not open until spring. So we ended up paying 20€ per person to stay in a casa rural. This is the first time I have stayed in one in all of my Camino’s. Of course we got a challenging one that the owner did it want to turn on the heat. We finally worked him over enough that he did. Funny enough he is a heating and air conditioning installer. He just did not want to pay for it.

Montamarta is a nice town and the people were very friendly. We found a nice bar an had a good lunch.

Today was one of those days that I really wanted to though in the towel and go home. Walking in the rain and wind along the highway is not my idea of a good time. Once we arrived a pulled it together and moved on.

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Location:Montamarta