week 2

Day 1 Baños de Montemayor to Calzada de Bejar 14kms
I woke up at 06.55 again, I wasn't in any hurry but I got up anyway. There were 2 Spanish cyclists who had decided to give up because of the weather, they were up too. I had a chocolate drink and a Mars bar and started off. I was feeling more positive and considered walking the 30kms to Fuenterroble. It was still pouring with rain, so I remembered to put my hood up!
The path out of Baños was paved but steep, mostly it was not too wet but there were odd puddles and not always easy to see. The paving continued until the border with Castilla y Leon then puddles and streams continued to be a problem, I keep moving stones from one place to another to cross stretches of water.

New sign for Castilla and Leon, I wasn't sorry to see the last of the Extremadura blocks as I never got the hang of them.

 A nice use of under motorway space1

When I got to Calzada de Bejar I gave up on my plan to walk to Fuenteroble. I went to the bar to have a coffee and buy some food, then I discovered that the Hospitalera does dinner and breakfast. The Albergue has a lovely fire and my boots have time to dry.
Apparently  2 of the Italians from Casar de Caceres were here the night before, the couple seem to have given up. I settled in for a quiet evening alone when another pilgrim turned up, an English woman from Australia.
Day 2 Calzada de Bejar to Fuenterroble +/- 21 kms
Up at 7 for breakfast. Not raining! We had been warned not to take the camino straight away but to follow the road until the second sign as the first stretch is flooded. We had also been warned about a river that is impossible to cross, but that we can get over if we go through a gate. We were told not to walk alone and we had agreed to walk together at least until the river. Manuela said we would hear the river but we didn't, then a man on a tractor started yelling at us. We heard 'No pasais!' but thought he was referring to an enormous puddle we had just come to.

Being female and English we were determined to try, we struggled to get passed the water, only to discover that we had come to the river, so we had to struggle back!

We went back to the gate, I thought it would be the gate of a field but it was the gate leading to a farm, we had to walk up a farm drive then passed the buildings and exit by another drive. Eventually we got back to the camino.
I had managed early on to get water over the top of one boot, later we came to another river, there were granite blocks as stepping stones but they did not reach the width of the water and I got water over the top of the other boot. I did a little stone moving and placed another stone and Riqie managed to get across.
I had heard much about Fuenterroble and was very disappointed. It was occupied by some friends of Don Blas, they had lunch together in the main room so I had to sit in a freezing cold room to eat mine. I felt unwelcome and in the way. Later a heater was lit upstairs and I sat up there. I was invited to join them for their evening meal but they were eating at 9pm which is too late for me.
Day 3 Fuenterroble to Morille +/- 28 kms
As I went off to sleep I realised that I had not seen my shampoo since I showered so I reminded myself to look in the morning. I put on my alarm for 7.15 and put in my earplugs. There were 9 of us in the room, 4 females, 5 males, all older men. I was aware of someone snoring during the night but my earplugs are very effective. I was woken in the morning by light and people talking, I looked at my watch and thought it was 6.30, then I noticed that the mother and daughter next to me had gone, I was surprised, then I realised it was daylight, it was 7.40. I don't know if my alarm went off but if it did I must have been the only one not to have heard it.
I got up and went down for breakfast and checked on my shampoo, it had gone, someone had nicked it, that just added to my general disappointment with the place. Finally we set off, then Rique remembered she had forgotten to leave a donation so we went back, we finally started at 8.45. Four of the men were ahead of us, they were taking a stroll before lunch!

 Remains of Roman road

We made good progress for a while then we saw a major water feature ahead of us. The men had stopped, then we found they had been plotting a course for us, they had made an opening in the barbed wire fence into another field and directed us to a place were there was less water and we could cross back. That was most useful, I don't know what I would have done if I had been on my own, especially as they held my back pack for me.  The men decided to go back after that.

We continued and walked the 11kms until we reached the spot were there should be signs showing a choice of routes. Right for a longer higher route to San Pedro de Rosadas and a shorter lower route to the right, leading to Morille. We had decided to take the shorter route! we found someone had completely vandalised the signs for the right, leaving just the ones for San Pedro.

 We stopped for a break then walked the 4 or 5 kms to Pedresillos, where there is a bar (2 in fact) and an Albergue. We stopped for a coffee and from there the camino followed the road, via Monterubio to Morille. This was the first day in ages that it did not rain and  I did not get my feet wet.
The Albergue is very small (6 beds) and only a bedroom and a bathroom but there is a heater and as we were only 2 it was fine. we had dinner in the bar and then went to bed!

Day 4 Morille to Salamanca +/- 16kms

We got up early , had some breakfast and left. The lady in the bar said it was 16 kms to Salamanca, I'm not sure I believe her. We had also been told about a stretch of water that needed paddling, we were a little worried. It was pouring with rain. When we got to the water feature there was no alternative to paddling and we decided just to go for it, after that we were soaked and I just kept walking.
It would have been possible to take a slight detour for a coffee but it would have been too uncomfortable getting slightly warm and then getting cold again. The walk was relatively flat but very muddy and the wind was strong and cold. Then when we just got close to Salamanca there was another major water feature and the only way across was through, we were very wet and not very happy when we arrived.

Salamanca was like most big cities, you get there and then have to walk around for ages till you arrive! it is packed with tourists (Good Friday) who looked at us as if we were mad.

I went to the Albergue,

I was allowed to leave my boots and bag but it didn't really open until 4 so I could not stay there and eat my lunch as I planned. Rique was staying in a hotel but had forgotten the name so we went to a bar to resuscitate ourselves.

The weather improved and some of the processions managed to go in the evening, I found them less impressive than Astorga.

Day 5 Salamanca to El Cubo de Vino 35kms
I was woken by the dawn chorus, what a lovely way to wake up. I got up at 6.45, the hospitaleras were up too and let me out at 7.15. I had a very slow walk through the old city, it was so beautiful and there were no tourists. I found a bar for breakfast and finally left Salamanca at 8.15.

The fist village I came to had a bar but it was closed, I was glad I had had breakfast in Salamanca. There was a small supermarket open so I got some fruit. I tried walking off road but the paths were glutinous, claggy and slippery so I opted for following the road. Much of the route seemed to be on the road. I get the impression that the camino has been displaced by the new motorway. I had a second coffee in Calzada de Valdunciel, the guy in the bar told me that it was only 15km more but it wasn't. After about 8 I came to a sign pointing off road and backwards through a very wet area, so I passed on that, there were also arrows pointing ahead and under the motorway so I went that way, from  there on the road followed the motorway and was much drier. Eventually I arrived at El Cubo de Vino, I stayed at AT Torre de sabre, they were very welcoming, it is a good albergue, I had dinner and breakfast, my clothes washed and dried and he produced a computer! There was one other pilgrim, a German who started in Salamanca.
Day 6 - El Cubo de Vino to Zamora 34 km
The clocks went forward last night but we got up early as it is a long walk to Zamora. Andreas wanted to arrive for the 1pm Mass and procession, I wanted to arrive in time for my Easter Sunday lunch! The walk was much dryer, not only because it didn't rain (2 days in a row) but also because the ground is better drained. I stopped for coffee in Villa Nueva de Campean then rushed on. I got to Zamora just after 2.30 and went to the Albergue first because I found it first, then rushed on for lunch, I had been dreaming of roast lamb all morning!  I found a restaurant open but they were fully booked so I tried the sob story: I'm a pilgrim and have dreamed of lunch all morning:) So he let me have a meal in the bar, it was very noisy and also the waiting area for the restaurant, they had sittings going on till 4, so I needn't have rushed so.
After lunch I returned to the Albergue to shower and change. The Albergue is very well equipped., There are more people here, some who seem to be starting here, some have walked and some have come by bus! I went to the Tourist Office to get info on the route through Portugal but I arrived at 17.45 and it closed at 17.30!

There are 30 something km to walk tomorrow but I am not in a hurry. I returned to the Albergue to rest, the lights in my room went out at 8, a problem with the electricity, but it was light until 8.30, then I decided to have an early night!
Day 7 - Zamora to Muelas del Pan ??????kms.
One of the cyclists in my room had his alarm on for 07.00 but he just turned it off and didn't get up. I had mine on for 7.15 but as I was awake I turned it off and got up and went for breakfast. The hospitalera told me that her light had gone off the night before but that it was working now so I tried when I went back and it was working.
I had to leave at 8, I waited around until the Post Office opened at 8.30 then went up to the Cathedral, which is really beautiful, and started my walk.

 I had promised myself I would not rush today, I would regret this later!

The path was well signed, though it varied from the guide near the beginning, I think it had been diverted by the new motorway, I also think the diversion was longer!
I had planned to stop for coffee in La Hiniesta but the bar was closed, ? permanently.

After La Hiniesta I had to pass under a railway bridge, the path was full of muddy water, there was a construction site on the other side and they were simply emptying the muddy water under the bridge, once I had negotiated the muddy water I had to traverse about 50 metres of really claggy mud that I just sank into, it was awful. It started raining just before I got to Casa de Palomares, I hadn't put the cover on my back-pack as I was trying to dry socks! I had to traverse another water feature before I could get to a derelict building and rest and cover my bag. There was a very strong head wind all day though mostly it was dry and sunny. The whole route was very well marked but it seemed to take forever. I know I was late starting but it was after 2pm when I stopped for lunch and I had apparently only done 18.5 kms. Then I got to San Pedro de La Nave, a beautiful church from the 7th century that has been moved, stone by stone, from it's previous site, which is now in a reservoir.

I had overlooked the fact that it is closed on Mondays but that is just the luck of the camino. I hadn't really taken in the instructions for leaving San Pedro, other than that I would need to cross a stream, this had given me cause for concern. In the bar I was advised not to follow the camino but to backtrack and take a turn off higher up, so I did this. the path I took suddenly petered out so I carried on down through a field to a path I could see below. Then I  turned left and eventually the path turned up and I found myself returning to San Pedro. I decided that I would just have to paddle the stream so I continued and planned to follow the camino. It is scary being in the middle of nowhere with no idea of which way to turn, at least with arrows I would have a guide. When I got back to the village the Guardia Civil were there, I asked them for directions and they sent me up to the road. It was a long walk and in the last hour the heavens opened with rain and hail. Finally I arrived in Mueles del Pan, I totally ignored the signs for the town and followed those that led to a restaurante and Casa Rural, my guide said it was also a Pension. I got there just before 8pm I have never walked so late, I was exhausted. There was no Pension but I was offered Pilgrim price in the Casa rural, I had a lovely room and ate in the Bar. I was nearly too tired to eat and delighted to get into bed. I had been told I could breakfast at 8 so that was fine.