A good night’s sleep with even something of a sleep-in, not really waking up until 0830 by which time I was well and truly ready for breakfast.
As I was walking back from dinner last night I’d spotted a good looking coffee shop on the waterfront, so headed back there for what proved to be an excellent breakfast, in terms of composition, quality, volume and value for money!
Petit déjeuner Moroccan
I also had an excellent coffee and spent some time finishing up my Stage 4 blog post with a view of the beach.
By then I’d been procrastinating long enough and it was time to return to camp and the joy of laundry. I think that’s going to be the thing about camping on rest days I find the most painful – having to use a bucket to wash clothing. In every hotel we stayed in on the Silk Route it was possible to get laundry done – sometimes at an exorbitant price, others at ridiculously low prices, but always by someone else with a machine!
I saw Italio passing and he filled me in on Eriberto – his left arm was broken in several places, and there were a number of bone fragments which had to be removed. After four hours of surgery he now has two metal plates and several screws holding everything together and will be in hospital for at least another three days before he is able to return home to Milan to recover. A stark reminder to all of us of the need for great care on the road!
I’ve taken more of a wander round town this afternoon in search of lunch – I was going to have something at one of the many places on the beachfront, but it’s so incredibly windy that they really weren’t viable so I headed back to a cafe just round the corner from the campground. Two beers and a very good chicken pizza later I’ve returned to the campsite to make sure my tent’s still standing.
More by good luck than good management I managed to pitch it on more-or-less the right angle. As you may recall from the Silk Route my tent’s fine in the wind so long as it’s end-on, any side winds tend to flatten it! I’d left my washing up, and Clive had kindly retrieved my towel and tied it to the line – remarkably everything else was still attached! That’s now come down and been packed away.
I’m now sheltering behind my tent to type this up, but even here it’s crazy windy, so I think I’m going to go back to the cafe I just left and continue with this, plus do a few work jobs that need taking care of.
Here’s a look at the week to come
As you can see still plenty of climbing in the earlier part of the week to keep things interesting and the legs working – stage 8 is long, with plenty of climbing, while stage 9 is just plain long so I think this is going to be a pretty tough section.
Later: I didn’t end up going back to the cafe but hung out at the campsite doing some work jobs before wandering down to the seafront for some dinner, ending up at the same coffee house as I had started the day at for an enjoyable dinner.
I’ve just been sorting bags, and am now as ready as can be for tomorrow and the week ahead!
View (from) of my tent
