Distance, 28.5 km
Elevation gain, 146 m
Elevation loss, 83 m
Total distance 235.5 km
Daily average, 29.4 km

Unfortunately the dining room at Hotel Aro’s was not open in time for us to partake of the included breakfast. We were told that we could have coffee and toast in the bar instead. But there was no toast, just cakes (no good for me), and so I made do with a cup of hot water and some biscuits from our supplies.

And that is about the most exciting thing that happened today! Weather was ok – a bit chilly to start, but the wind warmed up by mid-day. We walked on wide gravel or dirt tracks all day passing a handful of crop fields and a few almond orchards but 98% vineyards.

Nina doing her Medusa impression!

Interesting fact…Bodega Vitivino was established in 1969 and now has a production of 6,000,000 kilos of grapes from 1,570 hectares, mostly producing the Bobal variety, red and rose

We passed through two towns enroute, stopping in the first for a drink and the second to sit on a bench and eat some supplies.

I found it hard-going today – a bit of a slog. There isn’t much to spike the attention. But I know this walk will become much more interesting very soon, I just hope the weather forecast for later in the week is wrong!

We arrived at Villarta in the early afternoon and although there is an albergue here it is run by the ayuntamiento and I didn’t expect to get any response on a Sunday. So we toddled off to Pension Los Tubos which has been recommended by others. We arrived mid lunch service for the feeding of the 5,000. The huge dining room was rammed with adults and children all speaking very loudly, all at the same time. The manager was very calmly dealing with the many demands on his time, but found a moment to tell us that the room couldn’t be prepared until a couple of hours later, after the rush. There was a bouncy castle for the little ones which was totally unsupervised and totally without mishap. When all the kids were called indoors for a presentation, Nina took her chance to go have a bounce!

We gained access to our twin room around 17:00 – a nice room but freezing after sitting in the sun whilst waiting. Cost 35 euros for a twin, 25 euros single. Avenida Cuenca 84, 962 189 132 / 675 726 655.