Bussed on rainy day ahead from Zamora to Santa Marta de Tera to catch up with Camino buddy Mariska. Surprisingly we passed my Dutch friend a few hundred meters before we were left in the small plaza adjacent to Church of Santiago.
Mariska and I had connected on FB yesterday, realizing we were close to each other so Mika and I decided to take a bus to catch up today. Our first pilgrim connection of what so far had been a lonely Camino having seen no other pilgrim.
We walked together 6k in a light drizzle to Camarzana de Tera where we stayed at Hotel Juan Manuel. In the cozy modern bar we we nibbled on tapas and drank Toro wine until early evening while catching up since our last meeting in 2019 in Santiago de Compostela.
Our mutual Dutch Camino buddy from 2017, Bo, called and has decided to fly to Santiago and meet us in A Gudina in 4 days. Things are perking up.
The following cloudy morning, we started walking at 8:30 ahead of Mariska and walked through forests eventually crossing a modern bridge on the Rio Tera and then walking along the river.
There was occasional drizzle and a bit cold. Hoping for a hot drink, we reached Albergue Rehoboth in Villar de Farfon around 1:00 though David nor his wife were around, so we rested briefly.
On our final push we walked into Rionegro del Puente where we stopped at the Virgen de la Carballeda Pilgrims Albergue which was closed. So we crossed the street to Teo’s Me Gusta Comer Restaurante and had tea and cafe by the fire.
I was going to add some comments about our meal but frankly it was so good I will write a separate post dedicated to our Michelin like dining experience in Rionegro del Puente, a village of less than 150.
