Santo Domingo de Calzada

I'm lying here in my fancy hotel bed with three sheets, two blankets and a swirly cover sheet, three pillows, my own private bathroom and shower with perfectly sized goodies and three towels. All for me. There's also a television, sixteen plugs, a Heater and two windows that I have full control of whether they are open or not.

This is weird.

This is not the camino.

Where's the climbing over three people to get to my bunk? The snorers and the farters, the loud whisperers and door bangers? Where's the worry about my bag? Is it safe on the ground? Should I bring it up into the bed? ( terrible albergue etiquette by the way, short answer = no) if I had sheets and a pillow I would normally have paid more than a tenner anyway.

As for plugs?! Don't get me started. Find one and camp out for the night beside it fending off battery starved phones with flaming torches if you have to! I managed to buy a battery pack for my phone. But it arrived today, in Edinburgh. Useful.

Windows and heaters get turned into matters if dignity and honour. The window-open-for-a-bit-of-fresh-air camp and the shut-that-window-I'm-freezing! Camp. The war is long and fruitless, someone will always lose.

I'm all ready for the morning. I have my bit of bread and chorizo for breakfast. There's no kettle in the room to make a cup of tea (ATROCIOUS) but I suppose I'll survive this one time. (OR CAN I?) my weak ankle is all strapped up ready for the morning with my new fancy kinesio tape that all the fancy Olympic people used to use.

Tomorrow it is supposed to rain, all day. I might have a rain free window of around four hours from 7 to 11 so I'm going to get most of my walking done then. Either it works and I make it or it doesn't and I get soaked. These are small things in the grand scheme of things. Thank god I bought all waterproof and watersafe things. No iPad to worry about either which is actually really nice.

So I shall leave you all tonight with pictures of my spoils.