Day 4: to Monesterio, 20.4kms

The Big Red Tomato Returns!

Rain, rain, didn't go away.  The showers of yesterday afternoon that interfered with my laundry drying satisfactorily returned this morning as a steady drizzle.  I walked most of the day in my striking red rain poncho, with my damp socks pinned to my pack, dangling underneath.   I had on my shorts and sandals (with socks, of course) so I made quite the fashion statement though nary a cow nor sheep deigned to give me any attention :-(

Okay, there was one curious cow

I only saw 3 other pilgrims on the road today, I think most of them snuck out of the albergue in the dark. Christian had definitely disappeared by 7am.  I again waited till almost dawn to leave, and was sipping the last drops of my cafe con leche in the neighborhood bar when the church bells chimed 8 o'clock and then I too was off!

Lunch during a break in the clouds

The first half was very pretty, like the pic above, but I happened to take that in the only tree-less section of that 11kms!

The second 9kms were by the road/highway or on hard gravel roads so it was a pleasure to reach Monesterio at last.

Ham capitol of the world!!

I've booked into a cheapo hotel - a single room with private bath and TV for the same price the albergue charges one to sleep in a room with 7 strangers!  What a deal!! I've stocked up on cheese, bread, and a box of wine so it's a picnic dinner and telenovelas for me tonight.

Thanks, Allison
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Day 3: Castiblanco - El Real de la Jara, 30kms

El Real de la Jara

I must confess right at the start to cheating a tiny bit today. The first half of the stage consists of walking 16kms on the shoulder of a rural highway, which didn't really appeal to me especially as I always seem to injure myself walking too much on pavement.  So I arranged last night to share a taxi with two other pilgrims to where the camino leaves the highway and enters the Sierra Norte National Park (thanks to the camino forum members who suggested this!). 

They only trim the lower trunks of the cork trees

We set out of Castiblanco at 8:30am and started passing a steady stream of pilgrims slogging on the highway in single file. I bet some must have started by 6am to be so far along the road!  The three of us set out pretty much at our pace, leap-frogging a bit as one stopped for a break but I lost sight of the others after the 3rd hour.  It was glorious walking in the park: open forests of already-harvested cork trees, which I'd never seen before. It's really surprising how thick the bark is and the trunk is skinned right up to about my arm's reach, with the crown of the short tree looking very much akin to an oak. However, it didn't remain cork-y for long as the rolling land started a determined ascent through pine forests to Cerro del Calvario (a site of both roman and prehistoric significance).

It doesn't look bad here but it's steep & treacherous downhill

A steep rocky descent led down to the town of Almaden but it just past noon and the walking felt good so I picked up a bun, tomato, ham and some more water at a corner shop and continued on my way. I had a slight ulterior motive for going on as well. There were well over 40 pilgrims in Castiblanco - typically there's only 10-12 walking each day on this route, so there's going to be a rush for beds at some point. By continuing on to Almaden I'll not only put in an respectable 30kms today, I'll have jumped ahead of the masses by one stage (one of my taxi mates stayed behind an extra day in C. so she knew there weren't that many pilgrims ahead).

And so I walked out past Almaden's bull ring and out into the country. Half a hour later I spied the perfect rock under a shady oak for a lovely picnic lunch. I aired out my tootsies and snacked on my sandwich while I watched a big pack of black Iberian pigs snuffling around a watering hole. Jamon Iberica, dry-cured Spanish ham, is world-famous for its flavor as the pigs eat only acorns, and voila! Here are said pigs!

I started on just past the pigs when the cacophony of barking dogs arrested my forward movement. I thought they were locked up but in Spain you never know... I looked back to see a big pilgrim striding my way so I waited for him to pass me (let him be their snack while I sneak past!) and found out it was one of my Belgian men! And not the one who almost fell in the river! His name is Christian and he had walked the full 29.2kms from C. and was going the further 16k to El Real de la Jara! He yelled at the dogs, chained of course, and we passed on. He kept a fast pace but I had switched to wearing my hiking sandals which were sooo comfortable I felt like I was walking on two big sponges, so I was up to the quick tempo and we ended up passing each other most of the afternoon. 

It was a stupendous afternoon - sunshine, cool breeze, rolling terrain, trees and pigs and trees and sheep. Poor Christian had a nagging cough and set all the little piglets scrambling in fright at one particular farm we passed. :-) I left him trailing behind when we reached a steady steep 1.7kms of ascent and I walked the final 7kms to town alone. That's El Real in the photo above - can you see the castle in the background? I think I walk by it tomorrow, I wasn't about to go trying to find it today!! 

I'm staying in a nice new albergue with a large roof terrace and only 4 beds in my little room! I gave Coughing Christain my lower bunk and will take the top bunk. He bought me a beer from the vending machine as a thank you, I just hope he doesn't snore!!

Thanks, Allison
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Day 2: Guillena - Castiblanco, 17.8 kms

Castiblanco - "white" town

Today was a good day.  It had an inauspicious start as my darn roomies were rustling their backpacks at 5:45am, a time which the stars haven't even begun to think of snuffing themselves out, all so they could congregate in the common room over their coffee or cafe or whatever the French drink in the morning.  I hadn't slept more than 2 hours due to les francais's snoring so I wasn't feeling very warm and fuzzy first thing so I just got up, packed, and left.   It was 7:40am and still pitch black outside. I started following the only 2 moving objects I could see: 2 Belge men, one of whom almost went for a swim in the river looking for the Camino arrows!  Luckily it got light 10 minutes later so I could let them to themselves and carried on my merry way.

The narrow verge alongside the highway soon gave way to a hardened dirt path through fields and olive groves, and that in turn gave way to scrubby oaks and chapparal forest (?)  and distant horse farms.  The birds were chirping good morning and the sun rose orange and bright and all was good in my world.

 
  The scenery was beautiful, the way had a nice steady rise in elevation (which I prefer to flat), my body felt stronger, and my pack rode better.  I had lightened it's load by snacking on 2 granola bars, drained some water and ate the apple. Note to self: Apples are heavy! Cake is lighter, and,  dare I say, tastier?

snack break

I checked out the municipal albergue but it was a bit frightening so I followed a tip from my Camino web forum and got a room with the tiny Señora Salvadora who rents out bedrooms in her huge warren of a house for the same price I paid to listen to snoring all last night!

Albergue: squished bunks and very basic amenities

I returned to the albergue to chat to my two Scottish friends and brought back 8 more pilgrims to the Señora! It's very very busy on the Camino, perhaps because it is Easter Holy Week (Semana Santa) next week, but it makes me nervous about finding a bed further down the road. But for tonight I will just worry about the weather....

Thanks, Allison

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On My Way

Day One: Sevilla to Guillena (22.8kms)

I had hoped for an early start this morning but it was still pitch black at 7am!! What a shock from the Desert where the sun pokes its head over the horizon well before 6am. I puttered around the hostel's common room, saying hello to all the other pilgrims who are all keeping to themselves (anyone up at 7am has to be a pilgrim!). It looks like I'll get to practice my high school French and non-existent German as so far there's Jim & Moira from Scotland, Jean & Mary + 2 other femmes from France, a little German man with a friendly face and a humongous backpack, and the 2 ladies from my room whose nationality is so far a mystery as we've only communicated in sign language but whose plastic water bottles have me guessing Polish. So 10 pilgrims from just one hostel, it might be a busy Camino after all!
 

The first 10kms out of Seville were a lousy slog on sidewalks through the industrial icky litter-strewn suburbs. Luckily it was a sunny day and the cool breeze carried the pleasant scent of the many blossoming orange trees that lined the way.  It was easy enough to sort of block out the view and attend to one's other senses as the miles clicked along.

I was stopped by the police just outside the town of Camas, about 5kms from Seville.  I saw them pull over in front of me and they waited till I approached before getting out of the car = uh oh!  It turned out, however, that one of officers had walked part of the Camino Frances last May and just wanted to have a little chat with a fellow pilgrim! So now I'm practicing my travelers Spanish as well!

After 10kms I reached Italica (picture above), the site of extensive but well-worn roman ruins dating to 200 BC.  There were some pretty mosaics, a large amphitheater and tons of rambunctious school kids.  A nice little interlude from walking.  Then it was another 10 kms of arrow-straight dirt road to Guillena.  

 As much as I hiked this winter I was still a pooped puppy arriving at the albergue. All my training hadn't quite prepared me for the pounding on the pavement with 20lbs. on my back (forewarned Sallie & Michele!).  I dropped my pack off and hightailed it to a bar where I started my recuperation with a huge 3-course lunch. My feet and tummy are both happy now.

Thanks, Allison

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Sevilla!!

It was a super easy trip to get here: a quick change of planes in Atlanta, a comfy if sleepless flight to Madrid, then I hopped on the bus to the train station for a fast 2.5 hour ride to Sevilla, one short taxi ride, and Voila! Triana Backpacker Hostel, aka where the pilgrims stay in town before starting the Via de la Plata route to Santiago.

I managed to nap the whole train ride south so I felt refreshed enough to spend the afternoon wandering around town. Seville is a pretty town but I had been there before and didn't really feel like revisiting old sights so I decided to cut short my stay in town and start my Camino a day early (tomorrow!).

And so I go.......

Here I Go Again

My bag is packed, the car is loaded and the house is empty! I'm on my way!!

Not a typical preparation for a Camino, I know, but then it's been a bit of an atypical winter. Mom and I moved into a new house November 1st, lived in it for the winter, then moved out so we could do renovations over the summer. The timing worked out perfectly as I was once again bitten by the Camino bug and had booked back in January to do another walk in Spain. My departure date is tomorrow and demo starts April 1st!

This time I'm starting in Seville and walking 1000 kilometers north to Santiago de Compostela. Did I put enough zeros there? There should be three!! One thousand clicks!!! I've given myself 6 weeks to do it, which, on further investigation, might be just enough(!). 

And so, after a winter of planning, 2 weeks of packing (and packing, and packing), one and a half days of moving and 3 hours of driving, I'm now in Los Angeles for the night awaiting my morning flight to Spain.

Buen Camino!! Allison