10. Lorca to Viana 16/7/12

I didn’t leave till midday as had a lovely morning sitting and drinking café con baileys and chatting to lots of people and Jose.  My bill for 3 days for all my food, booze and accommodation was 60 euros. I couldn’t pay Jose that so gave him 80.  I know he didn’t charge me for some things.  He gave me his phone number in case I had any problems while I was in Spain.  I could have stayed longer.

Saying goodbye to Jose Ramon in Lorca

The bike ride was a lovely one to Viana.  I got there about 5pm but at about 3pm rang up one of the recommended albergues to check they still had available beds as I'd read that they only had room for 15.  I knew it was one that you had to sleep on mattresses on the floor but heard that they had a lovely evening meal together.  The guy who answered spoke English and said they couldn’t take reservations but that there was only 8 people so far and because I was only one person he’d make room. I was happy about that so kept on my way.

Views and towns on the way to Viana:

When I got to the centre of Viana I found the albergue easily as the guy said it was near the church.  I leant my bike on the church and climbed the three flights of narrow spiral wooden stairs and when I got to the reception I saw a huge cross with a Jesus on it and the notice in a few languages that guests had to attend mass at 8pm and then they’d have dinner at 9pm.  This was not for me this day so I quietly crept back down the stairs hoping no one had heard me go up. I justified it to myself that I couldn't carry my bike up there and that 9pm was too late for dinner for me. 

So I found the other albergue in town which looked lovely from the outside as it was an old building. I entered and there was a rather officious person at the desk who I'm sure could have got a job with the Gestapo. I’m not sure what nationality she was – but I paid my 6 euro and another 1 euro for sheets and then went to find my dorm room up the stairs.  It was like a prison with the 3-high bunk beds – and I was very relieved to see that I’d been assigned a bottom bunk. 

For the whole floor of dorms there were only 2 showers and 2 toilets for women – but they were quite clean.  In my dorm was a couple (Bob and Janelle) that I’d met and had a coffee with in Lorca. They asked if I’d have dinner with them so we arranged to meet for a drink at 7.30pm.  Bob asked me if I’d given up smoking on the 15^th like I said I was going to do. I asked him to ask me that at dinner.  So before I met them for a drink I bought a beer and went and sat in the plaza to smoke the last 3 cigs in my packet – and decided I’d better give up then.

Photos of the plaza where I sat to give up smoking:

We met up for a drink and then asked some old men in the plaza what restaurant was a good one to eat at and then headed there (it was about 20 metres away). In Viana there is one street of a few restaurants and they all looked good as they had outside tables. 

The old men sitting in the plaza

The plaza is the town square and looks to be the meeting place for old men in the early evening. The men all seemed to be shaved, showered and had on good clothes and they just seemed to wander into the plaza and sit down beside what I presumed were their mates. They’d chat a bit and seemed to watch the world go by and I presumed this might be a nightly ritual while their wives cooked the dinner.

Dinner was fun. We joined tables with another 3 pilgrims beside us. One was an Irish women who was as funny as a fit, her new boyfriend – a navy guy from the US and a German woman whose birthday it was that day.

The Irish woman spoke Spanish so we could make informed choices as to what to have for each course. We drank a lot of wine and had a lot of laughs.  Just as we’d ordered another bottle of wine – someone I knew from Lorca, and was staying at the same place as us, came running past to say that we had to be back at the albergue by 10pm as they locked the door. I knew the opening hours were 12pm to 10pm – but I thought that just meant that you couldn’t arrive after 10pm.  So we skulled the wine, paid the bill and ran back to the albergue and that same officious woman was standing at the door, key in hand – and she would have locked it I’m sure if we’d been a minute later.

I felt sorry for the Dutch couple who were sleeping above me.  It was lucky the husband was agile as it seemed a long way to climb to the top bunk.  In the night I felt that everytime I turned over the whole bunk bed wobbled and I was sure it must have woken them up.  In the morning he said he didn’t sleep a wink as one of the guys in the other bunk beds was snoring all night. I did remember in the night he called out to the snorer and shone his light in his face – but that’s all I remember as I went straight back to sleep. 

The poor couple who were in the two beds above me - 
I'm pleased it wasn't me that had to climb up and down that ladder