Estella, hauntingly beautiful, a hill too far

For a change the other folks in our hostel in Lorca got up early. Up till now we have usually been the first up, leaving many still sleeping at 8am or 8.30am.  Not Today! It may have been because the hostelndid not provide a sit sown breakfast , but gave us a bag of food to eat, that many people chose to get up early and walk somewhere for food.

Matt's and I ate our breakfast in bed about 7.30, well after everyone had gone.

Then we headed out for the 12km walk to Estella. Imagine our surprise when we got there about 11am, including a short break for coffee and croissants along the way, why was this such an easy walk when the other day 12km took us till 2pm?

Estella is wonderful, with historic buildings, narrow winding streets, fabulous bridges and a busy vibe.

I thought I had taken a picture of the Prison Bridge but somehow it is not on my tablet.

We split up, Matt to find a SIM card and me to find the Albergue about 2km out of town. It was only 12 when we met up and there followed a discussion about what to do next. I knew that Matt wanted to get more kms in but although I had felt strong in the morning I didn't feel up to a 8km hill climb in the heat of the afternoon. 

Eventually we reached a compromise. Matt would walk, and I "shock horror" would take a taxi. So we have come to Villamayor de Monjardin. This is the cutest little 150 inhabitants stone village, with the  an old palace for a Navarre king of long ago. Tucked around it is a cluster of buildings. It even has a ruined castle on the hill above.