Another night in the top bunk, but I slept alright despite needing to climb down a few times during the night for the bathroom.

Outside? Fog. Thick fog. I could barely see the ocean but the route veered away anyway and took a route through thick, tropical forests and gardens. We seem to be walking through a series of vegetable gardens and green houses. It’s quite lovely…I enjoy seeing all the food growing. Even better? The morning smelled like basil.

We had a mile or so on the slick wooden boardwalk before transitioning to cobblestone. Both surfaces are impressive feats of engineering. The boardwalks make up 80% of the route so far, si much work must go into keeping it up in this damp costal environment! But it keeps the sand out of my shoes and ill take it. The cobblestones look like they were all cut by hand and gridded out into patterns. Wow. I have to much respect.. although I can only imagine it would be torture on my neck if I was driving on them.

Speaking of my neck, it’s doing ok! There are times when I can feel every bone in my spine with each step, but I’m managing without popping pills all day long.

Mid-morning found me in the beautiful little village of Apulia when it was just about time for a break. I tried a new style of baked good with my coffee to my stomach’s delight.

On my way out of the cafe, some other pilgrims that actually talked to me! I met Adrian from Rugby, England and and Ignacio from Madrid. I sat and chatted with them for a while, and later down the way, while I was getting a stamp for my passport, they walked up, and we ended up traveling together for the next few hours. This is how I was expecting it would go. The two met last year on the French Camino, became friends, and planned this walk together. We came upon a few other pilgrims at a café around lunchtime time and ended up joining them for a beer. The girls were here from Belarus, and it was so nice chatting with them and walking for a bit.

They all seemed on a mission to get to the next hostel asap, and I didn’t want to, so when the path took us close to the sea once again I dipped off, found a bench, took my shoes off and ate the rest of my pizza from dinner last night. I am really happy to have folks to walk with, but I didn’t want to be done for the day at 1pm. I’ll be super early again as it is, but there is a pool where I’m staying tonight, and I packed a swimsuit just for the occasion 💃

After airing out my feet a bit I decided to dip them in the ocean and got an ice cream from a little stand. Ahhh, bliss! The sun had come out a few hours ago, so the day was perfect for some sand between the toes.

I didn’t have far to go after my ice cream break, and the last mile was along a busy road where I tried not to get squished.

The hostel is the best one yet. Very clean and white, and there were several bunk rooms but no bunk beds. Whew. Im not a big fan of the bunk beds. I put on my suit for a swim and met Janet and Jim from Ohio. The water was too cold to really swim, so I had a nice time chatting with them for a while. Later, I was in the lounge when another American came over asking about my shirt. I had on my “2024 National Public Lands Day” shirt from the last trail work trip I led about a year ago in Steens Mountain…. right as I was getting sick. Bill was another American out with his hiking partner, Michelle. I ended up joining them, and later, the other American couple joined us, and we had a great time sipping wine, eating dinner, and watching the sun set. Today was a wonderful Camino experience…it’s the people, like it is on most trails, that make the experience come alive. ❤️