Another jewel in the crown. They just keep coming. Ampudia has the most beautiful castle and wonderful church. This part of Spain is just full and I mean rammed with churches, castles (Castilla y León is a clue I suppose…), and monasteries. But all of them are fantastic. It’s WOW followed by more WOW. We stayed in Las Casitas de Papel in Ampudia, apartments, which was a welcome change from hotels, they are lovely apartments, really comfortable. And a chance to get some laundry done! So we had a rest day there, and Jack and I checked out the next 2 days route, which takes us near Tordesillas.  Day 1 of phase 3 started with strong winds, a bit of rain and bitter cold. Julia was running with Katie, Rob, and Tony, so the pace was quick! Unlike when I run with Julia! I will be running/walking on Friday and Saturday when Julia is on her own for a few days. We’ll see how that goes… Last night we stayed in the Hotel Rural San Pelayo, which I have officially designated the middle of nowhere. There is nothing here, other than this fabulous hotel, where the owner treated us wonderfully well, and the food was delicious. But nothing else. The owner of the hotel gave us a history lesson on this part of Spain, and who knew that Valladolid was the capital of Spain twice in its history, and this part of the country was very powerful when Spain ruled the world!

Today the route takes Julia near to Tordesillas and we stay in Nava del Rey. Today looks better weather wise, sunny and no wind and allegedly the temperature is rising. We’ll be wearing tee-shirts and shorts in no time at all. Haha…