Camino de Santiago de Levante From Valencia.
Day 13 El Toboso to La Villa de Don Fadrique:
Still in Don Quixote country. The monotony of the terrain is balanced with the interesting villages and towns in La Mancha. Wonderful stay in La Villa de Don Fadrique where our host Juan Alcañiz Ruiz of El Rincon del Infante was exceptionally friendly and hospitable toward 2 pilgrims. Food and drink upon arrival. He said the restaurant was too far to walk in the hot afternoon sun and insisted on driving us. We told him we would walk back but found him waiting for us after a wonderful Meñu del Dia (3 course working man’s lunch with bottle of wine) at Restaurante La Mancha. Later Juan gave us small yellow arrows(a sign of the Camino) and gave us all kinds of tips and info for next few days. And insisted on washing our clothes. This is not an albergue but on The Camino, kindness can present itself anywhere and this is one of those spots. 27K €50 for 2 at Juan’s and well worth it.
Day 14 La Villa de Don Fadrique to Tembleque.
It is getting intensely hot and Juan insisted on driving us to the next town to shorten what would have been a long day. After less than 24 hours we found it difficult to leave Juan. But after all we are pilgrims so we continue on. And saying goodbye to Juan he handed us a couple of huge bocadillos wrapped up for today’s lunch.
The sun is relentless as the temperatures soar to 40/104F and we trudged into town. Tembleque is quite nice with a beautiful church and arched walkways reminiscent of Italy. We sat in the quiet plaza enjoying cold drinks and the pleasant shaded patio. Shifting our seating spots to be sure to be in the shade.
A pleasant place to hang out for the afternoon. 20K
