Today was a very satisfying day – some beautiful and varied terrain, a river crossing requiring removal of shoes. We had been warned that it might be very slippery, but it wasn’t.

Then about 6 km along a highway but traffic was minimal.

Made it to Valdeolivas in the nick of time when a baptism was finishing, so Laurie was able to convince the custodian to give us a custom tour of the Romanesque (1200-1300s) church.

In Salmerón we went straight to the Bar Cazador to get the key to the albergue, which is in a building that supposedly was an Inquisition prison. It WAS rather dark and gloomy. Back at the bar, Antonio served us salad and platos combinados (fried eggs, pork, chips).

For several days, we have stayed in towns that have no hostales, or where the temporary workers at a nearby power plant have taken all the rooms. So we have had no choice but to stay in the municipal albergies.