Week 1 - continued

Day 5. Real de la Jara to Monasterio 20kms
I got up at 06.00 as there was a bar serving breakfast at 06.30. It is not that 20 kms is a long way it is the heat later in the morning and early afternoon. The first 10 kms were quite pleasant, it was even chilly at first. I think there had been an overnight frost but it soon warmed up.

Into Extremadura.

The walk was through countryside and there was a bar at about 10kms, somewhere to have another coffee and use the toilets, so civilised, but after that the walking was horrible, to start with my legs seemed very tired, but the path was awful as well,

some of it was next to the road but at one point it was signposted off the road but suddenly there was no path, just the escarpment, a slope. I climbed up thinking I could climb over the crash barrier but it was too high so I walked along clutching the crash barrier. Later there was a very narrow path but with obstructions, so I walked along the old road. All in all it was unpleasant and hot. I am staying at the new parochial albergue in Monasterio, there are 7 of us in 3 rooms, so we are all well spaced out. It doesn't feel hot here, I can understand why locals tell me it isn't hot, it's just when you're walking with a back pack and there's no shade it feels very hot.

Actually are numbers increased by the evening when 3 cyclists arrived. Miguel Angel, the parish priest, came about 8 pm, he was really nice and not at all what one expects a priest to be like! we had a very pleasant evening with everyone sitting chatting around the table.

Day 6. Monasterio to ......
I got up at 06.00. Sometime during the night, about midnight I think, I was aware that we acquired a 4th person in the room, I don't know how. I must ask Ulrica, I keep forgetting. (I eventually asked, apparently the Spanish cyclists couldn't sleep for snorers so moved rooms, the girl came to us and the lad went to the other room, the other room had a door which wouldn't shut properly so they had wedged it shut! The lad put his weight against it and they all woke up!) I got up and made myself coffee and had bread, butter and honey. Then I got sorted and left just before 7 am. It did not seem so cold, it is definitely more pleasant walking in the cool. I was walking to Fuente de Cantos, 21 kms by my book, though every source seems to give a different figure.

The walk was very pleasant, through countryside, there was sun but just a slight breeze, not too hot at all, so I decided it would be worth walking on, especially as I got to Fuente de Cantos at 11.30.

I stopped for a drink and a bocadillo, I didn't see the albergue at all, nor any signs for it, though there is a new private albergue that had been putting out a lot of literature, I suspect that they have been tampering with some of the arrows on the way in. I found a 'Centre for Information' which declared itself to be open between 10.30 and 14.30 but the door was locked so I decided to walk on. I had a choice between Calzadillas de los Barros at 6kms or Puebla de Sancho Perez at 20! I fancied going as far as Puebla but it was getting hotter and hotter. I gave up at Calzadillas. I arrived about 2pm. I wanted to buy some fruit but I also needed to find out about the albergue, I headed towards the Town Hall but all the old men sitting outside pointed me off in another direction. I discovered in a few minutes that they were pointing me to the camino, you'd think they might realise that in the heat of the afternoon a pilgrim might be looking for something else! I walked the way they pointed then a man in a van passed, he pointed in the same direction but I told him I wanted the albergue, he asked if I had the key, the answer being 'no' I had to go to the ayuntamiento. I got there just in time, but missed out on the shop, which was just closing as I went past. I had to walk about 2kms to the albergue, but that was less than walking on to Puebla de Sancho Perez. I was told there was no kitchen and I feared it might be like the Refugio in Barros, or wherever, on the Portugues, but when I eventually arrived I found the place to be very clean, with bunk beds and clean sheets, pillow cases and blankets. Then I went for a shower, this was cold water so it was a very rapid shower and even so I noticed that the water was disappearing, I just managed to rinse some clothes but I couldn't finish washing my T-shirt as I had squirted soap on it and I couldn't rinse it off! I found a clothes line outside in the sun and sat and rested until it seemed worthwhile going back into the village to get some food. Fortunately I had had an enormous bocadillo at lunch so I didn't need much food. I went to the Ayuntamiento but they were not able to sort out the water until the next day, so there was no point anyone else using the albergue. I bought some wine and some nibbles and strawberries, I already had a rice pudding with me, and I got a bottle of chocolate drink and a kind of croissant thing for breakfast.
There were computers in the Town Hall but you have to be registered and have a password etc.so back to the albergue for a peaceful evening. I reckoned I walked about 26kms, so probably only 20 to do to get to Zafra.

Day 7. Calzadilla de los Barros to Zafra 20kms+
I had a good evening on my own, sitting outside with my wine. I stayed outside until the sun went down and it got chilly, then I tidied up and went to bed, there wasn't much point in sitting around inside, it was a big cold empty room. My bedroom was warmer as I had had the window open and the sun streaming in. It didn't take me long to realise that I was tired and I wanted to get up early in the morning, so I went to sleep. I got up at 06.30, had 2 mugs of chocolate and the croissant thing, which was horrible, but it was a breakfast. I started at 7. When I got up the moon was shining, only half a moon but quite bright, but when I went out it was almost getting daylight. I had to walk the nearly 2 kms to the village and drop the key at the 'ayuntamiento', then I started. It started well enough, then I missed a turn, I was looking at some sheep to the right and missed the turn to the left! I arrived at the main road and realised that there were no arrows, so I had to walk back. It started to get warm quickly, by 9 am the sun was already hot and the path was really bad, lots of stones underfoot.

We also had to cross 2 streams, these were wide and fast flowing, and there hasn't been any rain for weeks. They were not easy, the stones which were only just covered with water were slippery and many of the dry ones were wobbly. I found the first one to be really difficult as the placing of the stones just didn't suit me.

Eventually I got to Puebla de Sancho Perez and had a coffee, it was lovely to have a proper break, I set off to leave at 11.15 but lost the arrows, I went to look around the outside of the church but overlooked any arrows there, then I saw signs for the albergue. I fancied seeing that anyway and wanted to see the 'bull-ring', it's square and reputed to be the oldest in Sapin. It was worth the 1km walk, even though I had to walk back again. Eventually I left at 12.15. It was not far to Zafra. The strange thing about arriving in Zafra is that you come in by walking along a railway track, mostly this is well signed but just as it becomes questionable there are no signs, the same with signs in the streets, lots of arrows when it was straight ahead but none at junctions!
I found the albergue but was dithering because though it is said to be on c/Anche the entrance is around the corner, fortunately the hospitalero was outside chatting and pointed me the right way.

The town was lovely, an old quarter and an Alcazar, now Parador and some nice parks.
I also managed to use the internet for the first time, and could start blogging!

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!

Via de la Plata - leaving home!

Nearly time to go! For once I haven't had to get up early and walk to the bus stop in the dark:) I have a dental appointment in half an hour, so I am going to get the 6pm bus to Ourense, then the train to Santiago. I have the choice between the 19.55 TALGO, which takes 42 minutes and costs €19.70, or the 20.15 Regional, which takes 1 hour and 49 minutes, and costs €8.20! I'm hoping to get there in time for the TALGO, it will give me time to check in at the hotel and then go out for something to eat, and still have an early night. I have to get the 06.30 bus to the airport! Actually I could get the 07.00 but I would like time for breakfast.
My bag is packed but I keep thinking of things I have forgotten so I am going to have to re-pack. It is very difficult knowing what to wear, there are still heavy frosts here at night so I'm not sure about Extremadura. The temperature in Seville is 21 degrees today but Caceres is 18, they say it is going to continue getting warmer again, the 'cold' spell of the last few days was very short and not very cold. I've packed the sun cream this time, though my face is already well tanned and my arms still have some of the tan from October's Potugues.
This time tomorrow I will be in Seville, I'm very excited. As the airport bus stops near the old town I will walk from the Cathedral to Triana, that I way I can start off from Triana on Thursday morning. :)
Wednesday, 7th March
I arrived in Santiago last night, in drizzle, but without problems. It was still damp, and foggy, when I got up this morning. I got up in time and got to the airport. I had a "senior moment" with my liquids, I had put them into a plastic bag but forgot to get the plastic bag out of my back-pack. My back-pack went through the check twice but she let it through. Today the Ryanair staff were checking the size of every single bag, I have never seen them do that before, fortunately mine fit.
When I arrived in Seville I went to the Cathedral to find the beginning of the route, I wanted to walk from the Cathedral to Triana. I walked all round trying to find the first shell or arrow, eventually I asked a security man who pointed me in the right direction, the door I wanted was having works done and the ground is covered so I couldn't see a shell there but I found the second one.

The shells here are 'back to front', i.e. the opposite way round to other caminos, I think that may take a little getting used to.

The route is well signed, even within the city, which is unusual, so hopefully bodes well for elsewhere.

I went to Triana and dropped off my bag but it was too early to register and get my credential, so I went shopping! I needed a stick as there are no woods on the way out of Seville. Someone suggested I buy a broom handle! I found a chinese shop and bought: a broom handle; a pen-knife with cork screw; a mug and an excercise book, it came to the grand total of€3.60!! Then I went to the supermarket to buy some food, my emergency supplies.
Once I got my credential I went back to the old town, first I went to the Alcazar, which I have not visited before, it is beautiful, quite as impressive as the Alhambra. After lunch I went back to the Cathedral to get a stamp on my credential. I also paid €8 to go in, I was not impressed with this but she wouldn't accept that I am retired. I didn't really want to go around the Cathedral again but I felt it was the appropriate start to the camino, if an expensive one. The cathedral is enormous and not at all prayerful but I found the right door, for starting, even though I couldn't go through it, I also saw the grave of Christopher Columbus, which I don't remember seeing before, finally I went up the Giralda Tower, that was really worth while and not too difficult as one goes up a series of slopes, not steps.
It was a lot easier than going up to the Dome of St Pauls Cathedral.
Now I'm exhausted, I've been sitting up on the roof of the hostel, it is so warm even though it is evening. I think I have not drunk enough today, I have bought bottles of water but I am going to go and get some lemonade, I feel the need for something sweet. Tomorrow I start properly.

nearly time.

A week today I will be in Seville, ready to start walking the next morning. I have been practising regularly, I walk at least 6kms every day with a couple of days, each week, of walks between 15 and 20 kms. this has been greatly helped by the fantastic weather we have had this month. The weather has just got warmer and warmer, not even frosts at night now, today I walked in a T-shirt! The picture below shows a stream that I couldn't cross last winter! The water came over the stepping stones and poured into the abyss below and I froze half way over, I thought I was going to stay there indeffinately but eventually I managed to get my weight onto my back foot and I returned the way I had come.

Now there is almost no water, it is the same every where. We need water. Whenever I walk 'off road'' I am walking on dry leaves, I think this has caused my hayfever to come very early, something has, and there is no pollen about. The other cause could be the smoke everywhere, my smokey fire in the house at night and fires outside during the day. Lots of permitted fires, so many that even the locals are querying why, and lots of 'accidental fires', as there is low pressure the smoke is sitting like a layer of pollution.

This is a little chapel in the middle of nowhere, dedicated to 'Our Lady of the Snows' though there has been no snow this year.

I took this picture because it showed my village and where I had walked from but it is all lost in obscurity and haze.

The weather forecast says there will be a change next week and it may rain, I hope the rain falls up here and not too heavily in Andalucia and Extremadura!

walking!

Actually the miserable damp weather only lasted a couple of days and we are back to freezing nights and sunny days. I have started walking further and yesterday I excelled myself, I walked about 25kms, much further than I should have done so early in my training. I didn't expect it to be quite so far! I decided to try a new path, or rather, to combine 2 paths I know with a new bit in the middle. The new bit was long:(

I started by walking through the woods of A Fraga, I wanted to do this whilst the weather has been dry beacause, to get to where I wanted, I had to cross a mountain stream, with water-falls, on stepping stones. Last year the stones were under water in the winter and I could not get across, I froze with panic half way across, for a few moments I thought I was doomed to stay there forever! This year there has been no rain and the crossing was easy. I then got onto the road to Navea.

This road seemed to go on forever but the scenery was lovely.

The little church in Navea.

A reservoir beyond Navea.

It was the 'beyond Navea' that became interesting. I thought, naively, that once I got to the village I only had to cross a bridge and do a short walk to Trives. The picture below shows Navea in the distance and the road down to the bridge, taken from somewhere on the 9kms walk from the bridge. In Galicia, if you go down to a bridge you always have to walk back up again!

I did discover the answer to something that has perplexed me ever since I started walking here, that is, why is there a canal across the mountains. Now I know, the canal carries the water from the reservoir at As Guistolas to the top of this hill where it runs down pipes to an electricity station, I suppose to some kind of turbine, rather clever really. The road visible is part of the route I had to take to get back!

The reservoir is then formed by all the water flowing down the pipes and the the water is used again firther up, clever really.

I was exhausted when I got home, I thought I was going for a 4 hour walk but it took 6 hours. I didn't start till 11 and it was still very chilly then but it warmed up, as long as I was in the sun, which I was most of the time. My left hand swelled up whilst I was walking, it has never done that before, and today my hips are painful. Old age is starting to tell

The best laid plans......

So, I won't be in Seville for Holy Week. Dear Ryanair! Once again they have messed me around, flights from Santiago to Seville stop at the end of March, the alternative means going to Madrid and then on and this means even more money, especially if I want to be in Seville for Holy Week, so I have changed my flight to early March. The flight is really cheap and accommodation is much cheaper in March so there is an upside.
There is a second downside! I have a month to prepare and the weather has just changed to being damp and miserable. I have been walking about 6kms every day but this is not enough, I must be strict with myself:) I WILL WALK LONGER TODAY, it's actually not cold outside just miserably damp, but the excercise will warm me and it is cold sitting around indoors:)