After a great sleep in the old monastery hotel, we headed out to another cool, sunny morning…with one distinct change.  The prevailing easterly wind that had been at our backs for the last week was now coming straight out of the west at 10-15 miles per hour.  This wind was in our face consistently all day.  The constant whistling in our ears only exacerbated the growing mental challenge of walking straight, level paths with unchanging scenery.  Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”  A lesser-known Einstein quote was his definition for monotony – “seeing the same thing over and over again and wanting to pull my crazy hair out”.  (Actually, the appearance of clouds at the end of today versus the previous clear sky was a welcome change…see below).

We continue to meet interesting folks on The Way.  Today we walked past a guy wearing a kilt (decided not to ask him any questions) and a guy wearing shorts/no shirt/flip flops/full body tattoos (a bit afraid to ask him any questions).  We thought about taking photos for the blog…but decided discretion dictated otherwise.  I later regretted this decision.  Why else would you wear a kilt or no shirt in 45 degree windchill…if not to be photographed?

We perceive the distribution of pilgrims to be essentially bimodal from an age perspective, with larger numbers of people in their 20s or people in their 60s.  But we have also met 2 French families doing a 1-week stint, as  well as numerous solo pilgrims of all ages.  Everyone is pleasant and willing to share a meal or a quick conversation on the road.  But there is an understanding that the Camino is an individual journey and a typical farewell often sounds like “I may see you tomorrow but if not…buen camino.”

We arrived about 4pm to the city of Terradillos de Los Templarios  (Terraces of the Templars). As the name suggests, this town was once under the direction of the Knights Templar.  Reminded me of the first time I heard of the Knights Templar…almost 30 years ago…from this scene in “Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade”.  Love the Knight Templar’s line… “He chose…poorly”.