Camino del Norte Day 38: Gontan to Vilalba

We slept really well in Gontan’s very pleasant albergue. We passed through the town of Abadín and out into the countryside. The weather alternated between cloudy and sunny, though the temperature stayed quite chilly most of the day.

The trail twisted again back and forth over the main road, connecting quaint villages and farmland. Overall, the day was fairly unremarkable but pleasant.

We arrived to the Xunta albergue in Vilalba, which is a huge industrial building with a dark stone exterior. It’s an amazing place, but kind of an odd use of space with all the dorms on the third floor, bathrooms on the second floor, a lobby and kitchen on the ground floor, and half of the building is open all the way up all three floors.

The albergue is located in an industrial area just before Vilalba, so I ventured the 2km into town to get groceries. I came back with fixins to make beef strogonoff, one of Dave’s favorite meals. Unfortunately, the kitchen had no pots, pans or cutlery, so we had to utilize our small titanium pots. I made the sauce in the larger pot, and boiled the pasta in three separate batches in the smaller pot. Very tasty with a cool bottle of white wine!

We were feeling quite tired, so turned in early and watched an episode of a TV show on our laptop. I know, I know, not a very pilgrimy thing to do, but so relaxing and fun.