Santiaaaaago!

I made another attempt of a long day's walk to arrive in Santiago on Saturday instead of Sunday, but again, the high temperatures and hard walking limited my mileage. The last couple of days, Eva and Hans and I were joined at the albergues by Divina and Nadine, a very nice mother and daughter from Norway. I walked with the two of them my last long day and it really helped pass the time and I enjoyed their company. I nearly cried when I arrived in the tiny town of Oteiro realizing I was just 10 miles from Santiago. I just couldn't believe it. We checked in at the albergue and the nice girl who stopped by to register us drove us the half mile down the road to the restaurant as we were too tired to walk. We had a nice dinner at a nice restaurant and then the owner of said restaurant drove some of the group up the hill. Eva and Hans had ridden their bikes so I rode Eva's back up the hill but mainly walked it up as it was too steep for the likes of me. I got up pretty early on Sunday and walked into Santiago. I arrived and went to the pilgrim's office to register and then to the pilgrim's noon mass which was VERY crowded as it was palm Sunday and there was a procession and loads of people at the cathedral. In my previous visits it wasn't so crowded so I kind of worried that I wouldn't be able to meet up with any of my cohorts. I had hoped to go shopping to buy Spanish ham, cheese, etc to take home as I usually do before leaving Spain but as it was a Sunday, very few shops were open...mainly souvineer shops. I went to Casa Manolo for lunch. This was the favorite restaurant of my dear friend, Christian, from my first camino. I had a very good and filling lunch and went back to the cathedral which was nearly empty and very quiet. On my way out I ran into Eva and Hans which was great as we'd made no plans to meet up as I was sure I would see them but at this point I was beginning to fear that I would not find them. We went and had a drink and then it was nearly time for me to go to the airport. I did not see the Norwegians but I have their contact information. I had also hoped to run into the Polish/German woman and her daughter. I returned home late last night and Brian had things all prepared for me....the grapefruit juice that i had asked for, various bottles of ibuprofen, Aleve, lotion, foot cream, etc. etc. I've spent the day so far enjoying such luxuries as full sized towels, certain hot water, not having to carry a toiletries to the bathroom etc. etc.

This route, the Via de la Plata, was very hard for me. I had worried before the Camino Frances that I wouldn't be able to do it but after the first day I had no worries as I knew I could. This time i was really never sure that I could walk the whole thing. Three days before the end I considered just taking a bus and hanging out in Santiago. I'm glad I went though. I had a good time. I met lots of nice people. I spoke a lot of Spanish...I think more than on the previous trips...I stopped and talked to lots of villagers. I saw lots of pretty places. As much as I complained, the first two hours each morning were usually very enjoyable. I walked 1000 km. I cannot imagine that I will do that again though.

Hangin' with the Monks

Well, I was, in fact, not able to walk 27 miles straight uphill which turned out to be fine, as instead I walked about 20 miles and ended up staying at the ever so lovely Monastery of Oseira. It is the largest monastery in Galicia and one of the largest in Spain. In it's heyday (12th-15th centuries) I imagine that it housed hundreds of monks...now, there are just 17. I arrived in the late afternoon unable to walk more (the heat, in the upper 80s, continues to be tough) so I checked in with Paco, the caretaker. He informed me that there was an evening vespers service where the monks sing. First I went to the village bar for a coffee. The village poplulation matches that of the monastery and I hung out with about a quarter of the population there at the cafe for a couple of hours chatting. Sadly, I did not pack a "duster" so I didn't really fit in with the ladies but they were kind nevertheless. I returned for the vespers service and all of the monks were gathered at the entrance and seemed to be having some sort of celebration. One of the monks, Luis, came over and introduced himself and spoke surprisingly good English. He told me that it was a special day as the new superior arrived. Then the new superior came over and greeted me. The superior was so exicted that there was an actual pilgrim walking to Santiago on his first day. I felt bad that I was the only one but they were so very kind and welcoming and I was happy to be there. Luis gave me a little painting he had done on a small piece of wood. Then Paco took me through the enormous and beautiful monastery to the small chapel where I listened to the monks sing their verses. It was rather nice except for the portions where I was required to stand as me feet really hurt. When I returned to the dormitory for the walkers I saw that Eva and Hans had arrived so I ran over to the bar to great them. I loved the monastery but it was by far the coldest place I had slept during the entire trip. The next morning's walk was very beautiful and I really enjoyed it and was glad I had not attempted in the afternoon before when I would have been miserable.

Mountains, Mountains, Mountains, and YES, More Mountains

The last five days I have been climbing up, and down, mountains. I guess I should have expected it but, man alive, it is tough. The actual going up isn't so tough, it is that the trail is usually so full of rocks and stones and after about 20 miles per day of this, my feet are really hurting. As it seems, in every post, I do nothing but complain about how hard it is, I must also add that it is really beautiful. The mountains are covered in a purple flowering shrubby plant that is very pretty. The first day of the mountains was so hard on my feet. The second day, the ascent was tough but the remainder of the trail was soft and pleasant. The third day, 18 of the 22 miles were all on pavement which was really tough. I then lost count. Today was a short day, and not too mountainous but, pretty much, all on pavement. I passed through some very tiny and nearly abandoned villages on these mountain passes over the last few days. It seems almost like the land that time forgot...crumbling stone houses with "4 citizens and 7 thieves" as the population, reported one of the villagers. I don't know if modernity has reached these villages in the way of, say, dentistry, or vaccines. It would seem that neither flea powder nor feline birth control have reached the villages based on the number of mangy dogs and pregnant cats on the scene. The dogs scare me to death when they come bounding out barking. I don't carry a walking stick but I do carry a dog stick to scare them off. Picking up rocks from the road also seems to scare them a bit. And speaking of dentistry, or lack thereof, I met a couple of folks in a subsect of the culture that I was previously unaware existed but, yes, it seems that there are such a thing as French Hillbillies...at least two of them. They were a couple who stayed a few nights at the albergues with us (and when I say "us" I mean fabulous Bavarians Hans and Eva). Both the husband, and wife of this French duo are about the size of Granny Clampett. They are a bit odd, not very social and they stand there with their hands in their pockets and their toothless grins and mutter things in rapid fire French. They seem unaware that others might not understand them. They make no effort so slow down or use gestures. Hans and Eva speak French relatively well and cannot understand the husband. Much as in my own marriage, the husband seems to be more of a hillbilly than the wife. They are an odd lot and it is to their credit that they were aware that there was life outside of their rural village.
I've now walked through Andalucia, Extremadura, Castilla y Leon and am now in Galicia. It is a region known to be green, wet and rainy. But, alas, since I have entered the region the temperatures have sky rocketed. It is a rare situation that Galicia has the highest temperature in the whole of Spain but this has been the case for the last several days. It was well into the 80s again for about the third or fourth day and was around 90 here in Orense a couple of days ago and might match it today. Again, it's beautiful but way too hot. I shouldn't complain though as these mountain passes would be treacherous in the rain so I guess I should be content with the sun. Today was rather hazy, perhaps due to the local wildfires that are covering some of the area moutnains.
Tomorrow I will make an effort to walk a whopping 26 miles all up hill, in an effort to cut out a day of walking and arrive in Santiago on Saturday, rather than Sunday, the day of my flight. It will take a huge effort on my part and I doubt that I will make it that far so it is more likely that I will arrive on Sunday but well ahead of the time of my evening flight. I imagined that I would return home feeling a bit more fit, with stronger muscles but I think it will really be the case of returning home with ruined feet and knees.
If there is anything that has kept me going the last few days, it is Hans and Eva who are so kind, generous, and fun, it is truly only the hopes of seeing them each evening at the albergues, that gets me through the days...that and the delightful "village people" that stop me to chat in these little tiny villages that I pass through each day. Today I am in Ourense which is a full on city with over 100,000 people so it is quite a change from the last few weeks. Perhaps, if I survive, my next post will be from Santiago.

Puebla de Sanabria

After a long day yesterday (about 25 miles) and about 20 today, I'm pretty tired but still things are easier than when it was hot. In the mornings it is pretty cool...there is frost, but by the afternoons it is sunny and pretty warm. I´ve seen a bit of wildlife: two foxes and two deer along with rabbits which is rather nice. I always thought my mother's hometown was very small but over the last two days I have walked through VERY small villages ranging in population from 14 to 425. So, today's town of Puebla de Sanabria is a veritable "metropolis" with 1700 residents. It is a beautiful town perched way up on a hill with a castle and other gorgeous stone buildings. After the long walk today, I managed to climb the 150 steps up to the center of town and have a stroll around. It is amazingly well preserved and I was pleased to see it. I continue to meet up each evening with the charming and delightful Hans and Eva from Bavaria. They are so much fun and so happy. Eva made us dinner tonight. Usually cyclists fly by and you see them only once but these two are taking it slow which is a treat for me as I really enjoy meeting up with them each evening. English Katherine and German Daniel are also along and it makes for fun, yet early, evenings. I do miss the old crowd as well. I miss Cecilio and his footprints. For days, he would rise early and as the roads are so dusty, I was always able to identify the footprints that his hiking boots left on the trail before me. It was a real comfort as if I was ever in doubt of which way to turn, I would look for his bootprints and carry on. I cannot believe I have just 9, or possibly 8 days of walking left. I thought I would never see the end of this trip. And although it is hard, I am happy to be here but will be happy, too, to arrive in Santiago. Tomorrow I have about a 18 mile day to Lubián which is reportedly another very beautiful, yet small, town.

Zamora-Granja de Moruela-Tábara-Santa Croya de Tera

I had a very nice little evening in Zamora. There is a little alley that leads off of the Plaza Mayor full of tapas bars which I remember from my days in Salamanca. I had a glass of wine and some chiparones a la plancha (grilled little squid with lots of garlic and olive oil). They were so good. I also stopped in at a bar that I remember from back in the day. It has a wood burning oven and they grill chorizo which is so tasty. After this fine food I felt so good the following day that I did a very long walk of 26 miles. The lower temperatures are agreeing with me as I feel so much better walking. It was a long, but not difficult day. I spent a bit of time with 73 year old Cecilio and then I arrived in the village of Granja de Moruela. In this town the camino separates into two routes. The actual via de la plata follows the old Roman road between Merida and Astorga (In one of the previous posts, there is a picture of me leaning against a big stone marker...it is a "miliario", a Roman mile marker... it marks the distance from Merida). If you continue north from Granja, you reach Astorga where you continue on the Camino Frances. As I have already walked that route, I opted for the Camino Sanabres which cuts to the Northwest from Granja. In Granja I met up with Daniel, the German boy from weeks ago, Catherine (an English woman) and Anya a German girl. The albergue was VERY cold and I was very tired. We ate at the bar connected to the albergue and got a kick out of the fact that they didn't take our order or tell us what was available, they just served us each a heaping plate of food (pork, salad, fries) which was tasty nevertheless. The following day, I headed on to Tábara which is a really cute village which is featured in the pictures. The one church, with the tower, dates from 1137. It was a reasonably short day´s walk and a nice one too. The cooler temps and the softer trail are really making this so much better. Also arriving at the albergue in Tábara were two German couples: Andrea & Frank and Eva & Hans. Andrea is nice but some sort of a nut as she is running the camino. She ran about 35 miles yesterday and Frank, her husband, follows along on a bike, hauling a trailer full of what appears to be hundreds of pounds of stuff to include a laptop computer and a teddy bear. Although I wouldn´t want to run 35 miles, nor one mile, I wouldn't mind having Frank haul all my gear for me. Oh, and when they get to the albergue, Frank cooks dinner. Take note, Brian, this could be your role on future walks. Eva and Hans are from Bavaria and are so incredibly outgoing and friendly, and, frankly, "jolly" is the word that best describes them. Usually you never see cyclists after one night as they cover so much ground but they assured us that they go very slowly and that we will surely see them again. I certainly hope so. Catherine, the English woman, and I are here in the town of Santa Croya at a very comfortable and well equipped albergue. I threw in a load of wash immediately after arriving and I washed EVERYTHING so I am here wearing a pajama top, raincoat, and pants with my feet in my sleeping bag as all my clothes, including my socks, are out on the line drying. I fear they will not dry as it is about to rain. I will be in a real fix then as I will have nothing dry to wear but I could not face another day of semi-dirty clothes. Although I handwash daily, the roads are so incredibly dusty that my socks are filthy as are the bottoms of my trouser legs and after scrubbing and rinsing them repeatedly, the water that runs out of the rinse is still so dirty. So, instead of having a peek around the village, I wait, inside, semi-dressed, for my clothes to dry. It looks like I am well on my way to Santiago and barring injury or extreme weather event, I should arrive in time after all.

Zamora

As it seems I write in every post, the walk from Point A to Point B was very difficult. And, yesterday's walk, from Salamanca to Vino de Cubo de la Tierra was no exception. It was about 8 miles of pleasant walking through the countryside and passing through a few villages and about 14 more miles of walking on a dirt track that was parallel to the highway. It was just long. The weather, however, has changed and it is much cooler, which, for me, is really great. I could not have made it yesterday without the cooler temperatures. It spat a few drops of rain off and on for about an hour but it was very light rain and the wind bothered me more than the rain. The temperature continued to drop and as I was alone at the albergue, I moved the portable heaters into the room with me and the bathroom as it was downright cold. Today it was probably in the 50s which is about 30 degrees cooler than last week. This morning I got up early and set out at about 7:15. It was rather nippy but very comfortable for walking. Today's walk went through farmland and was on a comfortable soft dirt path for nearly all of the 20 miles. There was even a village after the first couple of hours to break up the trip so I stopped in for a coffee and some toast. It had started to rain as I went in but after 15 minutes, I emerged to find the sun shining. So, the cooler temperatures and the comfortable path made these 20 miles rather ...dare I say...easy. And, to top it off, I arrived in Zamora, a town that I like a lot. There is a little street off the main square that is packed with tapas bars, as I recall, so I plan to stop into a few and make a meal of it. I was delighted to find Cecilio here as I hadn´t seen him for a couple of days. I seemed to have lost Gemma and Alfonso yesterday and Gemma goes back to Barça tomorrow morning so I won´t have a chance to say goodbye...although we have exchanged email addresses so I expect to hear from her. Alfonso has a few more days to walk so I hope he will catch up. Oh, and I was sure that I was gaining on Anna and Katerina, the German mother/daughter team but word is that they took a train from here in Zamora, this afternoon to skip a few stages so it seems that I have just missed them. Curses! Maybe I'll see them in Santiago. I've now completed three weeks of walking and have two left and I am hoping that all will go well and I will manage to arrive in Santiago without incident. If the weather remains cool, and the trail soft, I think I will be okay. Tomorrow I will try to do a long day 22-24 miles to try to make up for some lost time and then I should be able to follow the suggested stages. The new camera seems to work...I've also posted some pictures with the previous post and if you scroll down, I've added the sheep video. I've just reread this and have to say that today, wasnt really "easy" just not as hard as the tough days. I keep waiting for it to get easier but it doesn't seem to get any easier. I'm hoping this is the turning point.

Salamanca!

For the last few days I have been very excited to reach Salamanca for this is where I lived for a year back in 1989. I love Salamanca and the year that I spent here was one of the best in my life. I arrived today along with my companions of the past week, Alfonso (French-Canadian) and Gemma (Catalan). We ate lunch together and shortly before leaving the restaurant it began to rain...hard...with hail. We have been SO lucky with the weather and were lucky that the one time it rained, we were inside. We checked in to the albergue which is in the very best part of town, right next to the cathedral. I decided to walk around town to visit all of my old haunts. I went by my old apartment building, the bars I used to go to, the school where I used to work (which is now owned by one of the teachers I used to work with -side note to LAM--It was "Fancy Pants" I talked to her awhile. She was really nice.). Then I went to the big Corte Ingles department store which did not exist in Salamanca when I lived here but is now located across the street from the apartment I lived in my first month here. I bought a new camera so I hope I will be able to download pictures for future posts.
In other news. I have reached the halfway point! I've walked over 300 miles but, sadly, have that much left to go. On the first camino that I walked, I enjoyed it so much that I NEVER wanted to arrive in Santiago. I wanted it to be longer. This time around, I definitely want to arrive...and soon! I am happy to be here, I love the scenery and the villages. I love meeting people and speaking Spanish and eating Spanish food. I love that there was a 13 year old bartender waiting on us the other night (learning the family business) and love that 85 year old men in the street taking a stroll around the village stop to ask how the walk is going. I love that nearly every person I see everyday has a kind word to share. But this walk is really hard. My feet hurt everyday. The blisters are completely better but my feet just feel sore and worn out...a lot of this walk is on pavement which always seems to be the last 10 miles each day and always uphill. Today was a great day. It was short (15 miles), not hot (cloudy), and not on pavement. It was a joy. I'm glad to be here but this isn't easy and I have to think if I had done this walk first, I would not have returned to do another. I have mapped out my remaining days and it is doable but I will have quite a few hard days ahead of me. Gemma only has two more days before she must return to Barcelona and Alfonso a couple more after that. It will be quite a blow to me when they are both gone. We also see alot of Jose Luis and Cecilio, the aforementioned two Spanish men. Cecilio is particularly nice. He is, get this, SEVENTY THREE! He is quite a trooper. He looks to be about 10 years younger than he is and when I doubted his age, he provided documentation. He is quite a wonder. It seems I have seen a lot and done a lot and it seems to much to remember to bring you up to date. I need to get a bite to eat and return to the albergue as there is a curfew at 10:00 p.m. so LAM, I won ´t be able to go to Piper, MOderno, Country, Puerto de Chus, or Piper which still seem to exist. Roses and Submarino were there but look to be different places now.

Fuzzy Math

After tomorrow I will have reached the half way point based on the amount of days that I have available to walk. Yet, oddly, I will not have completed half the mileage. So, if you do the math, or even if you don't, it means I have to walk more. If, things go as planned, I should be able to make it to Santiago by the skin of my teeth, without having to take a bus. The last few days have been good but fairly difficult due to the unseasonably warm weather. Although 80 degrees might be nice for a picnic, it is rather warm for walking. It was been quite hot. I can't complain too much though as it has been really quite beautiful. It has now been over two weeks of tremendously lovely weather. The last few days have been spent mostly in the company of "Eggyolk", my Catalan friend, and Alfonso, the French-Canadian/Colombian doctor. They have been very kind and yesterday when they found me sitting in the shade with no will to continue, they rallied me onward. We have entered more grazing areas but this time with actual grass and there are loads of cows and bulls. There are lots of cute little calves as well which are just adorable. The last few days we have been heading for mountains and today we have reached them. The last few miles going uphill, on the road, were pretty tough but the albergue is very nice and the town, Baños de Montemayor, is charming. Lots of old buildings made of stone and wood and as they are higher up, where they got a lot of snow, they have split front doors where you can open the top half and leave the bottom half (which in winter would be difficult to open due to the snow) shut. Yesterday while I was walking I went by a little cow pond and as I passed I heard a noise and looked and there was a little wave at the edge of the pond. I could not work out how the pond could have a wave but then I looked carefully and realized that as I passed, I startled about 40 turtles who simultaneously left the sunny shore for the pond, causing the wave.
I am sorry I am unable to post any pictures and I am also sorry that it seems I broke my camera. I usually keep my camera in my sleeping bag at night to prevent theft (which thusfar is probably a bit on the cautious side as the other walkers don't seem very criminal like). In any case, each morning I shake out my sleeping bag really well just in case there are bed bugs or any other vermin in there. Yesterday morning, it seems I forgot to remove the camera before the customary shaking of the sleeping bag. Alfonso provided some medical tape and I tried to fix it but I can't quite get it to work. The camera was already damaged and on the outs but I hate to miss out on photo opportunities....one of which was yesterday in Càparra, an old Roman settlement which, among all the excavated ruins, has a very tall Roman arch which is actually the symbol of this entire route and is featured on all of the waymarkers. My new friends have taken pictures and promise to send them to me. On Friday, I should arrive in Salamanca where I lived many years ago. It is such a great city and will be strange, but really good, to be there again. All is well. The days are hard and long but today was pretty good and I'm feeling pretty good. I complain a lot about how hard it is but I probably have it pretty easy. My Australian friend, Phillip, walked this route years ago before there was much of any type of infrastructure. He would likely be amazed at the available accomodation and the way that the route is pretty well marked. As always, no time to proofread.

Casar de Caceres to Cañavaral

It was another long walk today (21 ish miles). The first two and a half hours was great...a flat and rock-free farm road through hills with loads of cows which I enjoy. There were huge boulders and unusual rock formations on either side of the road. Sometimes the cows would rub against these big rocks in order to scratch their necks. There were pretty, yet frightening mountains in the background. I say "frightening" because when I see them, I fear I must scale them. The second phase of the walk was on the road which is hard on the feet but allows for quick walking...I walked all around a HUGE reservoir which I have been by on a bus before which takes nearly an hour to get around by bus so the walking was rather lengthy. This route is hard because the stages are quite long and there is NOTHING inbetween....no cafés, no fountains/water supply, etc. So it makes for long days where you must carry all food and water which isn't nearly as fun as stopping every hour for a drink/snack/chat. And the last 6 miles was on a sometimes rocky path up and down hills to the town of Cañavaral where I discoverd that the albergue was closed so now I am staying at a rather dodgy pension but I couldn´t stand to walk 6 more miles to the next town. Gemma (aka "Eggyolk") is here as well as new friend, Alfonso the French-Canadian doctor. It looks like some more long days ahead for us. The weather continues to be glorious although today was a little on the warm side.

Things are lookin' up!

So, I last wrote from Alcuéscar where we were hanging out at the monastery. I say "we" because for the first night on this trip there was actually more than just a couple of people. We had been told that there was an evening mass at 7 p.m. where the priest would say a blessing for those walking to Sanitiago followed by dinner at 7:30. So, at around 7, a group of us gathered and I asked the caretaker where the mass was. He pointed at the other building and said it was there and to go on in. So, we go in and walking though what appears to be some sort of hospital ward with people in wheelchairs, people milling up and down the halls, a couple of nurses, some oxygen masks etc. The Germans looked at me as if I clearly had misunderstood the caretaker and had entered the wrong building. We later learned that the priests here run a facility for physically and mentally challenged older men. They are very poor people who have nobody else to look after them. At this point, however, we were still a bit mystified but continued down the corridor until we found the chapel. The mass was just starting and there were about 10 of the patients/residents at the mass and then us. Afterwards, the patients returned to their rooms and the priest called us up to talk. He was a very friendly and very funny guy. I had met him earlier in the day. He is 78 and was a real pistol. I regret that he did not join us for dinner as he would have had us in stitches. The dinner was fun and was attended by Anna and Katerina (the mother and daughter Germans who are actually Polish) (oh, and Brian, they are dressed from head to toe entirely in Jack Wolfskin products), a Danish man, Daniel (the young German who does not speak English which is a bit odd for a German but aforementioned German Poles found this fact astounding) a Catalan couple, me and there were also two Spanish men. It was fun to finally be around people. My feet were really bothering me and the next day I did the very short walk to Aldea del Cano. The walk was nice except the one or two mile stretch that featured thousands of caterpillars on the ground. I'm not keen on caterpillars and there were so many of them that it creeped me out a bit. But as I have learned from the English, I kept calm and carried on. Because the walk was so short, I got to the albergue just before noon where I found the two Spanish men who had already arrived and was joined shortly after by Anna and Katerina and Daniel. Anna and Katerina have been great and that afteroon Anna cooked lunch for us and then we went to the cafe together. Before lunch, one of the Spanish men (whose names I should learn) insisted that I go next door to the "Hogar de Mayores" (ostensibly an activity center for the town's elderly but really just a bar which did not appear to be frequented by the elderly) to try the local tapa, "pig tail on toast". It was really good. It was a really good piece of bread, grilled and topped with a fried quail egg, grilled onions, some brown sauce and three pieces of roasted pig tail. It was really tasty. Oh, and the kicker was that the tapa and the glass of wine came to a total of about 65 cents U.S. I love Spain. Later in the afternoon a Spanish girl arrived bringing greetings from Marcello who was my only friend during the first 3 days of my walk. He is a day behind me and sends greetings along with faster walkers. I hope he catches up with us too. So, yesterday, on that very short leg of a walk, my blisters didn't bother me too much and had not gotten any worse which was great news indeed.
This morning I set out with Anna and Katerina and we stopped first at the gas station cafe for breakfast and again for a drink in another town a couple of hours later. We stayed together until Caceres where they will stay for the night as Anna's other daughter, Monica is joining them there. I was feeling great and decided to power on to Casar de Caceres a few miles on down the road. Today was the first day that I walked a long day (about 21 miles) that I felt good. I can feel my blisters but they don't hurt. My legs didn't feel so tired. I didn't feel so tired. I felt like I did on any given day on my previous walks. This is good because the next week is full of very long (all about 20+ miles) stages without a lot of towns in between. So, I hope I continue to feel as good as today (after 12 days of walking) is the first day that I have felt that I can really do this thing.
I'm staying at the albergue with Daniel, the two Spanish men, and the Spanish girl whose name is something like "Yema" which can't really be right as that means "egg yolk" in Spanish.
I would like to have stayed in Caceres as I love that city and it is so pretty and the old part is amazing but alas, I had to move on as the way the stages are from this point on it would have meant that I would have lost a full day. But, Brian, we will go there on our big Spanish tour next year.
Sorry I'm unable to post pictures...I also have a video that I took when I was stuck in the midst of some sort of sheep herding operation. I decided to just stand still and let the hundreds of sheep go around me. I didn't want to earn the ire of the sheepdog by getting in his way, or the shepherd who actually had one of those Little Bo Peep style shepherding sticks with a hook at the top.
Oh, and the weather remains incredible. It was cooler the last few days...probably in the 60s but today got rather warm again. But is is so sunny and there's usually a nice breeze and it is cool at night. There has not been a drop of rain and rarely a cloud in the sky. This morning at the cafe the news was on the tv and they showed the weather. The map of Spain had about 30 little cartoon suns scattered about showing the forecast which is, evidently, in the whole of Spain, sunny for the next several days.

Still hobbling along

So, I last left you at the Joe Mantegna albergue in Torremejia. It was a beautiful old building...a former palace connected to the church. Again, I was the only one there. I set off, with my blisters, towards Merida, one of my very favorite places in Spain. Merida was a very important Roman city and the evidence is everywhere...an impressive Roman theater, aqueduct, two Roman bridges, etc. I stopped at a shopping center for about an hour to look for new socks but came up short. I thought, maybe, my socks weren't cushiony enough. But I continued on. I toyed with the idea of checking into a hotel in Merida and staying a couple of days (or, MOm and Dad, looking for the pension where we stayed and the owners had to go out for a birthday party and gave us the keys and left us in charge of the place, and, I believe,with instructions on how to register new guests) but alas, I decided to walk several more miles and arrived in the town of Aljucen where, miraculously, at the albergue, I found some other people. There's a very nice mother and daughter from Hamburg. There was also a young guy from Hamburg. I walked about 20 miles yesterday, in the sandals, and although it did provide some relief from the blisters, the sandals are not as supportive as the boots so I figured I shouldn't stick with that plan. So, today I had planned to walk about another 20 miles but boy, my feet really hurt. I headed out with the German mom/daughter through a nice encinas forest with a fairly decent dirt track but each step really hurt. People have all sorts of motives for doing these Caminos...mine are mainly that A) I love Spain and B) I feel really have fun here. Today, I figured out that I wasn't really having fun. So, I walked just 12 miles and am now in the town of Alcuéscar staying at the monastery along with the three Germans and a Spanish lady that I had seen at a restaurant a few days back but had not seen since. Oh, and there are a bunch of priests there too but, of course, they live there. They will have a group dinner for us tonight at 7 which will be nice for us. I am thinking that tomorrow I will do a short day...very short, about 10 miles and stay at a reportedly nice village along with the Germans. The following day, if my feet are not feeling great (well, even if they are) I will arrive in Caceres, a city that I love. If I am not feeling great, I think I will stay there for a couple of days. The thing is, that I scheduled this trip without any room for error, so, if I miss a day, or do too many short days, I will, eventually, have to take a bus or train and skip a few legs. I really don't want to do so but if the alternative is being miserable, I might as well. Then, if I do that, I won't mind skipping a couple more days to visit my friends who live near Salamanca where I should be in about a week. So, yeah, I've decided the pain is not worth the not having fun. I did go to the pharmacy this afternoon and bought various bandaid type products which may or may not help. (To add to the previously untouched baggie of band aid products that I brought on all previous walks) The biggest worry about the blisters is that even if I take time off for them to get better, I fear that once I start walking again they will come back. I cannot believe how fortunate I was in not getting them before.
Okay, people seem to like mentions (perhaps not as much as I love getting your comments) so, Delaney: sorry you are not here for nightcaps. Leef: LOVE the kids' message, I commented on your blog. Brian: you don't love being mentioned but as I walk each day, I'm busy in my head planning a (non-walking) trip to Spain for us for next year. So, tomorrow I am thinking of a short walk to Aldea del Cano. Must run for the festivities at the monastery.

Blisters are for suckers

So, in my previous Caminos, I always felt for the people who had blisters but at the same time, I kind of thought that blisters were for suckers...chumps who had not prepared well or who did not have adequate footwear. I had prepared so well for my first Camino and I never had any trouble...only a couple of tiny blisters and only when I walked something like 24 miles. On the Camino Frances, our evening entertainment invariably started with looking at Raul's feet. He had horrific blisters the likes of which I had never seen. Huge silver dollar sized portions of flesh were either missing or hanging off his foot by a thread. He had to go to the medical clinic 2 or 3 times for professional care. I tend to think that he was one of said chumps. But maybe I am too. I'm mystified as to why, now, I have these blisters appearing and not going away. I guess generally if you get a blister, you change shoes and then opt NOT to walk 15 miles the next day. But anyway, they are not so pleasant. Today I woke up, and for the first time in any of the walks I have done, I really felt like just not walking. But, I got up and walked and the first mile or so was not so great, but then it improved and I was so glad to be there. If I had the blisters in combination with bad weather, bed bugs, dog bites, etc. I might have thrown in the towel. But, man alive...it is so beautiful here. The weather is amazing. It is cool and crisp in the a.m. but sunny and the sky is so blue. The road today was pretty good too...mainly flat, wide, packed dirt farm roads which are about the easiest thing to walk on. And despite some foot pain, I just enjoyed being out there on such a nice day....looking at LOTS of olive trees and LOTS of vineýards and LOTS of red dirt as that´s about all I saw today but it was nice. So, ´'m glad I persevered. Tomorrow I might try walking with my sandals (mom, they are the Columbia sportswear ones that fit you but I kept instead and I have to say that I'm glad I have them).
Char--so far, no wacky new friends. I seem to be alone here although they tell me there are a few people a day ahead of me.

CCW--if you were here, you could carry Clare in your pack and I could help out by carrying your stevia packets

Leef--send me an email with your blog link...can't find it and want to keep abreast of your cambridge activities

BT-finished the last of my valentine´'s day good chocolate with chili--like a true spaniard, I ate it in a baguette...when I worked at the summer camps here in spain the kids' official merienda (snack) provided by the dining hall was a chocolate sandwich...a chocolate bar in a baguette.

Must run, Joe Mantegna look alike who runs the place is letting me use his computer while he studies his lines for the local theater group and I think the typing is annoying him.

Zafra to Villafranca de los Barros

I walked another relatively short day today (about 12 miles). This route does not have villages every five miles as the Camino Frances does, so the location of the villages/accomodation generally dictates how far you walk. Sometimes it is a choice of 10 miles or 30. It seems I have developed quite a few blisters which I am rather flummoxed by. I'm using the same socks and same boots and I can not account for these blisters that are springing up all over the place. I 'm doing the best I can to take care of them. So, while twelve miles constitutes a short day, it seems rather long when you feel every single step. Although my legs don't feel as tired my feet really are taking a beating. For the first time today, I thought of taking a bus and skipping a few days walking in order to visit my friends in Valladolid. I might still do this. We'll see...but then again, I would hate to miss seeing the villages that I'd be skipping. It was a nice walk through farmland...again mainly olive trees and vineyards. Quite a few farm workers were out pruning olive trees and doing whatever they do to the vines. Generally you will see a little car pulled over to the side of the road and one guy, or maybe two, out doing the work with a ladder and some pruning loppers. I also saw a few people out riding horses through the olive groves. I'm in yet another cute town full of bright white buildings. There is no albergue in this town so I am in a rather comfortable pension with my own little room and bathroom and a tv which is quite a luxury. Also, they have a "modern" computer which I've been able to stick my memory card into and download some pictures. I've added some to the previous posts as well and tried to put the right pictures with the right text but I didn't spend to much time with it. As it was a short walk, I got into town fairly early and was able to rest, wash and mill about and go to a lively and crowded restaurant for lunch where I had a huge salad and a good pork dish. Enjoy the photos.

Fuente de Cantos to Zafra

Yet another gorgeous day weatherwise. Most of the walk was through farmland...lots more olive trees and today's new feature...vineyards. I love how the olive trees are spaced so that from a distance, they look like polka dots. From afar, it seemed that some of the olive trees were growing in red soil and some in what appeared to be an ashy white soil. I couldn´t quite work out how the soil would be two different colors so close together. As I got closer I could see that the white "soil" is really a ground cover of tiny daisy-like wild flowers. I arrived in Zafra in fairly good time and checked into the albergue which is very pretty...another converted convent. There is pretty cloister area for lounging. Most exciting of all was the brand new washer and dryer and after showering I immediately threw in a load of wash and feel so happy to have really clean clothes (as opposed to the semi-clean hand washed clothes that I usually have). It was also a treat not to have to do the hand washing which I pretty much hate. Zafra is a much bigger town than the others that I've passed through and it has some incredibly beautiful town squares and pedestrian streets.
I know that around the world there is a big economic downturn but in Spain, "la crisis" is particularly bad. The unemployment rate is something like 23% which is the highest in the industrialized world. EVERYONE I meet speaks of "la crisis" and I feel for Spain. Yet, if I did not know of "la crisis" I would have no reason to believe that it existed. The shops are full of shoppers, the cafés are full of people, the bars are full of people. It is the social Spain that I know and love and although I'm sure people are suffering, it sure doesn't show. It is very lively and seems to go on as always.
I´m holding up okay. Half of the walking today was on tightly packed dirt roads which are very comfortable to walk on. The other half was on similar roads but with gravel and/or rocks which feels very uncomfortable as it seems I can feel each jagged rock through the soles of my trusty boots. I also have three blisters which confounds me greatly. On the previous walks I only got one or two blisters and only when I walked something like 24 miles in a day. I am tending to them and hope they go away soon. I'm also hoping I'll lose some weight which would make the walking a bit easier but as I'm eating ham and chocolate hand over fist, I'm not sure that's going to happen.
Happy Birthday Dad. Sorry the phone call was so full of static. Have fun.

Day 5: Monesterio to Fuente de Cantos

Each night I have been falling to sleep immediately but then awake at 1 a.m. for an hour or 2 which is rather annoying. Last night was no different but the albergue really was the best and it was completely quiet and comfortable. Miguel Angel, the "young" (40) priest runs the place. He has walked various routes to Santiago a total of 15 times. When he was assigned to the parish he realized the parish house where he would be living was right on the route. The house was in ruins and he had it renovated to have an apartment for him on the bottom and the upper floor apartment made for pilgrims walking to Santiago. As he has walked so many times, he knows what is needed and has it set up really nicely. Only 4 beds per room, really great bathrooms, a nice kitchen with coffee, etc. Two Finnish girls who I had seen here and there stayed last night as well. They have been camping to save money. They must be hauling 35 lb. packs each. MIne is about 13 or 14 pounds and I don´t know how they do it. They were sweet.
This morning I had a short (13 miles) walk to Fuente de Cantos. It seems when I have lengthy and tough days, I make the effort and walk in pretty good time. On easy days I seem to drag and unwittingly take my time in arriving. It's much like when I was in college and would take a class that was purported to be very difficult. I always worked hard and got "A"s. On the other hand, when I took a "gut" course which was supposed to be easy and was, stereotypically, yet invariably, filled with football players, I managed to get "C"s. The priest dropped by in the a.m. to bring some breakfast items for us and as I was walking out of town at about 9, I saw him again as he was jogging. Yesterday, I left the province of Andalucia and entered Extremadura. "Dura", in Spanish, is "hard" as in not soft but also as in difficult. Extremadura is extremely hard. It is very hot and dry in the summer and, I believe, quite cold in the winter. This morning's walk started out through lands separated by stone fences filled with encinas trees and more grazing animals: pigs, sheep, cows, and goats. If California cows are happy cows, than Spanish pigs must be very happy pigs. They really do have the good life, of course, until they are eaten. As I walked it seemed there was a little bit more grass on the ground than in previous days and as I continued a few kilometers further, I left the encinas trees and animals and entered an area with cultivated fields which I had not seen (apart from orchards) yet on this trip. I love it, on these walks, when the landscape changes as it makes me feel like I am making progress. This change was lovely...a patchwork of fields; some green, some yellow, and many just recently tilled earth, all spread like a quilt over gently rolling hills. Way in the distance beyond the hills you could see the white buildings of this village. You could see the village from 6 or 7 miles away and it was quite nice perched up there in the distance. I have arrived at the albergue which is a converted 17th century convent. It's quite nice and as an added bonus there are fresh sheets on the bed and blankets so perhaps I can give the sleeping bag a break for a night. I've rested a bit and am about to go have a look about the town.
I would like to add, after spending a couple hours in the village, and keeping in mind that I really hate to say anything negative about anything in Spain, that this town is, sadly, a bit dull. It just seems for a town of its size to lack shops, bars, restaurants, and people. There a few places but not many at all. Years ago when hitch hiking in Spain with my friend, Lisa, the driver dropped us off in his village of, at best, 900 people, and proudly told us that the village has "roughly 28 bars". And, this is pretty typical. I did see a bunch of activity and followed to see where everyone was going. Alas, it was a funeral so I did not participate. As it turns out, this sleepy little town, is rather sleepy, and, in fact, so am I.

Via de la Plata: Days 2, 3, & 4

So, it seems I am the only one in Spain, or perhaps, the world, who does not have an electronic gizmo that enables me to phone, e-mail, blog, download photos onto said blog, e-mail etc. As such, I'm reduced to pay phones and going to the local library which seems to be available in only every 3rd village and which seem to feature 1992 era computers. In any case...
On Day 2, I left Guillena and walked through several miles of orange and olive groves and, what I believe, were almond orchards, and arrived at what was described in the guide (and by "the guide", I mean the few pages of information that I downloaded from some Spanish grocery store website) as a Mediterranean forest. In a dry and scrubby way, it was very pretty. Loads of encinas trees and lots of shrubs and bushes that look like they have a very hard life and do the best they can to survive and/or thrive on the few drops of rain that come their way. Although I'm more inclined to like lush, green forests and landscapes, this was also quite beautiful. I'd like to describe it as the chaparral but as I'm not precisely sure of what that word means, perhaps I should not. In any case, this interesting dry, scrubby, landscape, in my mind is the chaparral. This was about a 14 mile walked but seemed like 20. At the albergue I found, Marcello, the Italian who looks somewhat like our family "friend", Eddie Jr. So, at any minute I expect him to talk at length about his kids' ear tube surgery or hobnobbing with mid-level management at government agencies but fortunately, Marcello seems prone to carry on normal conversation. Also there, was French-Canadian, Maurice. We felt we should take in the local color so had some large beers and then moved on to some tapas and wine for dinner. The town, Castilblanco de los Arroyos, was yet another lovely Andalucian town with bright white buildings and sunny skies. The church tower had four storks nests on each of its four corners. I LOVE the storks and am always amazed by these giant nests that they build which are reportedly something like 6 feet across. Unlike when I lived in Castilla Leon where the churches are mainly stone(where the brown nests blended in somewhat) the churches here are often bright white so the nests and storks really stand out against the white of the church and the deep blue sky. On day 3, I got up pretty early and headed out for a long walk to the town of Almaden de la Plata. The first 9 miles were on the road but it was not a terribly busy road so it wasn't a problem. The views were mainly olive trees, farms and horses. Then I entered the second half of the walk in a large national park. I was immediately enchanted as it was full of cork trees. I'm particularly fond of the cork trees. I believe it is every 7 years that the cork is harvested and they strip the bark off the tree leaving a beautiful reddish brown trunk with something of twirling pattern to it. The park was gorgeous and I sat down on a rock to eat my lunch. Seven of the remaining nine miles of the park were enjoyable. I was unaware that there would be hills, or what may possibly be mountains, on this route. So, after walking the 17 miles it was quite a dagger to come across a steep 2-mile ascent up some sort of mountain. Fortunately the weather was dry but the trail had previously been washed out leaving all sorts of rocks, trenches, and sticks along the path. It was so incredibly steep and so tough. Yes, the view at the top was nice but the descent into the village was also rather tough...going straight down some type of ravine filled with rocks and rubble. Alamaden de la Plata though was yet another charming village with a beautiful stork topped church and an even prettier stork-topped clock tower. The albergue was very nice and clean as well. Day 3:This morning I headed out for an even longer walk to the village of Monesterio where I am now located. The walk was primarily through farmland. Because it is rather dry here the farms are mainly for livestock and not crops. There are miles of land that contain little apart from encinas trees. These are a type of oak that I came to love in salamanca. They stand out in fields of dirt. The trunks are a grayish knarled wood and the leaves are small, dry, tough and somewhat prickly...they resemble small holly leaves but are more olive in color. THe animals (pigs, sheep, goats, cows) eat the acorns that drop from the trees. THis is allegedly why the Spanish ham is so good. On yet another mountain pass, I encountered a wee baby lamb just sitting by himself. I could hear the adult sheep a bit further up the path. This little fellow was possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen and he followed me bleating at me as he wobbled along after me. I tried to reunite him with his mother but he seemed more interested in following me. I'll post a picture as soon as I can of this little creature who finally stayed with his mom. I plowed on ahead through miles and miles of encinas trees...it was a really pretty walk. And, much like yesterday, spent the last 2 of the twenty -two mile walk going uphill...not as bad as yesterday for it was a gravel road so it wasn't so steep that cars couldn't scale it. Now I'm in Monasterio at the albergue run by the local priest. Seems I might be the only one here tonight so I'll have the brand new and stunningly beautiful place to myself.
That about catches me up.
A note on walking: It is SO hard. WHereas on previous walks, when I was prepared and about 15 pounds lighter, I would walk about 15 miles before I began to feel tired, or to start counting the kilometers and long to finish. Now, I go about 6 miles and my legs feel incredibly heavy making the last 15 miles very difficult. I aslo start out each day thinking how long it will take, when I will finish, etc. I'm hoping that after I have a week under my belt I will have adapted to the toughness of it all and will not have any more trouble. Miguel Angel, the priest, claims there won't be any more hills for a long time which would be a true blessing.

Via de la Plata: Day 1 Sevilla to Guillana

So, Spain has lured me back for another walk...this time from Sevilla, in the South, to Santiago in the North. As always I was nervous and worried before this trip but I arrived in Sevilla last night and Spain, well, it kind of calms me down. Sevilla is a city that screams "THIS IS SPAIN!". It's got the amazing cathedral; beautiful, bright, white buildings with gold colored trim; colorful tiles; palm trees; orange trees so heavy with fruit that they are just plopping on the ground; lemon trees; charming town squares and gardens;amazing tiled courtyards in the buildings; cloudless blue skies and tempertures in the 70s. Plus, there's all the rest of the stuff I love about Spain: getting up early and seeing shop keepers scrubbing the sidewalks outside their doors while beer trucks restock kegs at all of the bars; the old men jabbering with one another on park benches or in cafes; helpful strangers, cheap drinks,and, yes... even the coffee served in juice glasses. I just get a few degrees happier here. But, if Spain lifts me up, the actual walking might just wear me back down. I am totally ill prepared for this trip. I figured I have the time so I should do it, yet I haven't prepared much at all. I did a few walks of about 8 miles but topped out at about 12 miles and this hardly has prepared me for the 1000 + km walk (over 600 miles) which, with the time I have, averages out to about 18-20 miles per day.Piddling around the house in England and drinking beers in Ireland, were more appealing than going on long walks...especially when we had snow and ice. I had not carried my 13-15 lb. pack on any training walks, nor I had I really accounted for the 13-15 lbs of weight on my person that I had not carried on previous walks. So, today's "short" 14 mile walk, although nice, has worn me out a bit. I feel fine but my legs feel very heavy. Before I set off I went to what is possibly my favorite breakfast cafe for coffee and toast with tomatoes and olive oil run by surly men in the Barrio Santa Cruz area of Sevilla, then I checked out, took a walk around the cathedral and set out. Although Sevilla is beautiful, the outskirts are not and are filled with warhouses, dumps, etc. So, the first 7 miles or so were not so nice, the rest were better as the trail was on the old Roman road which is now, essentially, a farm road through fields, olive and orange groves and into the very pretty town of Guillena. The walk was comfortable, weatherwise. I started out this mornign wearing my fleece jacket, mainly to justify bringing it, but soon took it off as it warmed up. It was probably 75 which might be a tad warm for my liking but it was beautiful nevertheless. I am staying at the very clean looking albergue. So far there is an Italian guy there and I saw a couple of girls on the walk so should expect to see them and, I hope, some others.
Because I have no modern tech. items with me, these posts might not be frequent (although they might) and, sadly, might not feature photos as often as I would wish which is a shame as it is very pretty here...and so different from the Northern routes (architecture, landscape, etc.)