Via de la Plata - week 1

Day 1, Seville to Guillena - 22kms
Up at 7 for breakfast and then on the way. The arrows on the way out of Seville were pretty clear, but once out of the city I opted to follow the advice given by Eroski and follow the river, this started alright but eventually the arrows lead away from the river and didn't go anywhere. The guide said there would be an old house with kennels but I didn't see one. I started along a path, parallel to the river, then a young man, who'd been camping by the river, went up to the road and was waving his arms about frantically so I went back and followed a path by the road and eventually came to some arrows again. Then it transpired that the young man was not doing the camino at all, he was trying to hitch hike to Merida, he had just been excercising his arms!! After a while the arrows disappeared again, by this time I had met up with 2 Germans, a Spanish guy saw us dithering and came out from his workshop to point us in the right direction.
Eventually we got to Santiponce, I stopped here for coffee, this is one of the few days when there will be a coffee stop!

Then I walked on to the Roman remains at Italica, these are enormous and add a few kilometres to the journey but are well worth the detour.
The last 9 kilometres were along a gravel path, very flat and with no shade.

My guide book tells me that there is one small obstacle, a small stream that is almost always dry, but can sometimes require pilgrims to take off their boots and socks and paddle across, my book was lieing, there were 2 streams, neither one a major obstacle as it hasn't rained in ages, but they had very steap sides and it was incredibly difficult for me to get down to them, it would have been difficult for me at any time but with the weight of a back pack it was treacherous.

The first stream was also a ford, which was deepish but someone had put wooden palletts to one side, so it was possible to get across.

The second one was deepish and smelly and dirty but once I got down the bank it was possible to walk back a bit and cross on stones, it would have been far from funny if it had rained recently. I rushed the last part a bit as my guide book said that the albergue in Guillena has only 10 beds and I had seen at least 6 people but it was wrong, it has 30 beds. We were in fact 13.

There is a Civic Centre in Guillena where one can use the computer but when I got there it was full of kids, so I gave up.
Day 2, Guillena to Castilblanco de Arroyo - 18 kms
We had breakfast in Guillena, in the bar under the Albergue, he opens at 7.15. It was really good, I had 2 cups of coffee and toast and real marmalade.
Most of the walk was through countryside, initially fields of trees; olives, oranges and something in flower (plums I think), then we got into parkland, interesting country, cork oaks with grassland and asphodel and cacti, then it became scrubland, with small bushes and rosemary and lavender and other flowers I didn't know. Only the last 4 kms were by the road, by then it was getting hard work. There was a water pump at about the 10kms point so I filled up my bottle and had a bit of a rest. There are no villages and bars on the way. There is not a cloud in the sky, the temperature is about 25 in the afternoon and the sun just beats down.
We were a mixed group, german is the predominant language:- 5 Germans, 1 Frenchwoman, who speaks German, 1 Korean, 2 Dutch, 1 Scot, who's trying to pretend he's Spanish, a spanish couple and me. Then a couple of German girls arrived who had walked from Santiponce.
The Scot was already at Castilblanco when I arrived but I didn't recognize him. I was trying to find the toilet and he was the only person around so I addressed him by trying to find what language he spoke, he said he spoke a little Spanish but denied speaking English, so what should have been a simple question and answer, like: Do you know where the loos are? Yes they're in with the showers, you'll have to wait. We had a convoluted conversation as I tried to think of the word for toilet in as many languages as I could. I forgot 'Aseo'! Eventually I got the message that I would have to wait my turn.
The Korean didn't turn up, by the evening we were getting a little concerned. A Spanish man phoned the hospitalera of the next albergue who said that he wasn't there, so Manuel suggested that we ask someone, in the morning, to alert the police, just to see if he was OK.
Day 3. Castilblanco to Almadena 30 kms.
A long day, some people opted to do the first 16kms by taxi, they said that this part was along a road and boring. Those of us who were up for the walk decided that we would get up early and start walking before it got hot.
It was a chilly night, I could have put more clothes on, but by the time I realised it was cold I didn't want to move. I got up early and was in the bar across the road when it opened at 7 a.m. I got a bocadillo in the bar and had plenty of fruit and drinks so I could stop frequently and have a picnic lunch. We also told the barman/hospitalero about the Korean and he said he would notify the police and let us know later.
I started walking about 7.30, I had been told to follow the main road out of town, to the roundabout, when I got to the roundabout there were 2 roads and no arrows, so I dithered about a bit, my guide book wasn't any help either, fortunately I chose the right road and eventually found some arrows. After that it was well signed, 16 kms of road but the road was not busy and it was through countryside, it wasn't bad at all. I had decided I would stop after each 10kms, which I did. The main problem was that there were no bars so no toilets and nowhere to get off the road if one needed the loo. Eventually I found a spot that was relatively tranquil, I checked behind me and there was no-one, and no cars, I had to clamber off the road and down a slope, I was just getting back up onto the road when one of the German men appeared! Later, when I got to the parkland, the 'Sierra Norte' I was glad I had got off the road because the park was full of cork oaks with expanses of grass, there was absolutely nowhere to hide!
The land belongs to the 'Junta de Andalucia' and they encourage people to go and walk there so I think they should put some toilets at the gate. There was a sign that said 'Visitors centre' but it was 4kms off the route (4 there + 4 back + 30! I don't think so!) The final indignity of the day was a very steep climb, called the 'Calvario' or 'Calvary', just 3 kms before the end, this was on a dirt track going up but the walk back down again was on rocks, rubble and a dry stream bed. On the way up there were birds circling overhead, I asked a couple of Spanish if these were vultures, the guy said 'yes, they can smell us'. I reckon they thought I was going to drop dead on the way up!

Still I did it. there were other Spanish doing a bit of the camino and later they turned up at the albergue to have a look, they asked about the camino and I commented on the heat, they reckon that it isn't hot, it's 26 degrees! but if you are Andaluz and not walking all day in the blazing sun it probably isn't.
I had a phone call during the day to say that Lee had turned up in Almaden yesterday!

Day 4. Almaden de la Plata to Real de la Jara - 15 + 3!
I woke up at 6 and thought; 'No, not yet.' So I turned over and went back to sleep, when I next woke up it was 7.30 and daylight, most people were up and some had gone. I got up, had a chocolate drink and a piece of cake for breakfast, today being Sunday and started about 8.00. I started by taking the wrong turning, I didn't go far then turned and met one of the German girls who had had breakfast with the Spanish couple, he has done the camino many times and he had warned her that it is very easy to get lost on this stretch today. We walked out of Almaden together then I went ahead, blissfully day dreaming. I followed a path and just followed it until I got to a road and found that there were no more arrows! I looked behind and could still see Dorothy, I walked a little way up the road but there was no sign of arrows, and I realised I was walking east not north, so I turned back, by which time I couldn't see any sign of Dorothy. I had to walk about 20 minutes to see any sign of an arrow, then there was a gate leading off to the left, well signed if one happened to look that way! It turned into lovely parkland (Andaluz parkland) with Holm Oaks and very dry areas with bulls, pigs and goats.

I didn't see Dorothy again until later at the albergue, she had realised the lack of arrows before I did but turned down various paths towards the south before she found the right one.
The path was mostly fairly flat, with some steep bits, once again the steep bits were difficult going up but they were at least dirt tracks, coming down they were dry stream beds and were horrendous.
I got into Real de la Jara at 12.20. The municipal albergue is just as you come into the town, according to my book you have to get the key from the Town Hall, I wondered what you were supposed to do on a Sunday but in Guillena we were given information about a private Albergue, which claimed that the municipal opens at 17.00 and that at 10€ they were the same price, (I've since seen the municipal is 8€) but I was just happy to get into an albergue, and the private one was easy to find and fine. So I showered and went to find meal, I like to have a Sunday lunch! I found a restaurant by the church.
It seems that the group is splitting, first Lee, the Korean, then a German yesterday (having got a taxi for the first half he then walked on) and today the French lady.
The weather is still full sun shine, it is lovely to sit on the terrace in the albergues and the clothes dry very quickly!
The bars seem to open much earlier in the morning here than on the Frances, it is generally possible to have breakfast early but then there are no more villages for miles, all day until the next stop there is nowhere to rest.
Today we passed dogs, this was the first occasion. There were some loose ones in the park, one was very friendly but it kept grabbing at my hand, in the end I threw my stick and it went to fetch, after that it left me alone but apparently it bit at one girls back pack!
I have been very grateful for my broom handle!