I left the sleepy little town of Rabe early in the morning and started a peaceful walk through the eerily quiet Meseta.

My early start definitely had some sunrise advantages and I seemed to reach the peak of a small mountain just as the sun started to Shine across Spain.

It really was an incredible view and I had a moment of extreme gratefulness for being lucky enough to be right at that spot on the planet at that beautiful moment.

I was really starting to notice how easy it is to be grateful for small things and life on the Camino de Santiago seemed to be many moments of small happiness that are so easily unappreciated in my ‘real life’.

Even writing about this moment four months later makes me feel grateful for that sunrises and the many sunrises I have admired since.

I took some photos and then sat at the top of the mountain and took in the view. I could finally see the path ahead and the endless wheat and hay didn’t even bother me. I was excited to pass through such ‘boring’ landscape if only to appreciate the subtle changes that would lie ahead.

My guide books descriptions about the scenery had certainly shortened since the previous days along the Camino de Santiago which could only be an indicator of the monotony I was about the endure but luckily I wasn’t really looking at my guide book very often so was happily ignorant.

I walked 40km of hay-lined natural paths, religiously applying sunscreen and eating wild blackberries I found along the way.

I was starting to enjoy the solitude along the Camino and realised that the paths were becoming much less crowded.

The day was intensely beautiful for what is warned to be ‘monotonous’ and it even passed through some gorgeous ruins that really made the Camino de Santiago feel like a walk back in time.

The afternoon ended with a steep climb in sweltering heat where the only other person I met for hours was an older Italian man who had a giant Italian flag hanging from his rucksack. He seemed slightly manic and continued to speak to me in Italian long after realising I had no idea what he was saying. He showed me photos of his son and played some ‘5 Seconds of Summer’ hits on his iPod for me before running on ahead down the hot path.

I eventually ended my day in the small town of  Itero de la Vega where I had dinner at a local cafe outside watching the local elderly population have extremely loud private conversations for the world to hear.

I was extremely lucky to be the last person arriving at the albergue and they opened a new room for me that ended up being private – it even had an ensuite!

I enjoyed the privacy of my own room feeling extremely grateful for another wonderful day on the Camino.