Viana - Ventosa - Azofra - Tour De Espana !

Tonight I´m in the peaceful simple of village of Azofra. For the last two days I´ve been walking thru wine country with lovely weather and mildly warm temperatures. The night in Viana turned out to really pleasant. Although I had to sleep on the floor the hosts were exceptional. I´d reccomend staying at the refugio donativo over the larger albergue in Viana. They fixed a large dinner for all of us and took good care of everyone. I felt very welomed there. Very nice experience.... It rained during the night while in Viana but I awoke to cool temps and clear skies. My next destination was Ventosa. Along the way I passed thru the small busy city of Longrona and was happy to be passing thru. I prefer the smaller quiet and quanit villages. For part of the day I walked with Mark. Mark is the Swiss man I mentioned in my last post. He walked right out his door in Zurich, all the way across France and his headed to Santiago. He´s a web designer for Greenpeace with 3 months off. A very nice person and good company. The final few miles into Ventosa we walked together. Just as we were about to cross the road into town there was alot of commotion. Traffic cops on motorcycles and all of the locals coming out of their homes. As it turned out, the famous bike race, Tour de Espana, was just getting ready to pass by. I´m a fan of bike racing so I was Psyched ! What timiing ! Mark and I waited for about 15 minutes. First the lead riders then the peleton. Really great to see and quite a sight with all of the media and support vehicles. After the race we went to the local Albergue. The Albergue was full even though we had hardly seen anyone on the Camino all day. We were directed to the local church where we were allowed to camp in a side yard. Before the trip I debated taking my tent but now I´m glad I have it. It definitely gives me more flexibility. If your able to camp, you can always find a place. As it turns out six of us camped that night. Every village has an ancient church and alot of them have a park, side yard or something of the sort....... Today was a much needed short day of walking. I´m staying at the municipal albergue in Azofra. It´s very nice and 6 euros ($8 usd) for bed in a room with only 2 beds. Bargain ! I walked into Azofra with Mark so we´re sharing the space......