We made sure that we awoke early enough this morning, as we were told that the front doors of the monastery were only open between 7:00 and 7:30 am. Not wanting to sign up as monks, we made sure that we were out by closing. The cafe/bar across the road provided us with the usual toast with jam, and a coffee con leche. At first the plan was to have a fairly easy day, and to only walk 15 k to a town called Aldea del Cano. Upon arriving, we found that the town was not much, and thought that we could do another 12 k to a place called Valdesalor. This would put us in a good position to approach Cáceres which is the second largest city in Extremadura. At first it was ok, but we all soon got tired in the midday heat which is very oppressive. One strange place along the way, was an abandoned airport out in the middle of nowhere. We had a break sitting in an old rusted bench near the old hangars. We arrived having endured our limit, and found the nice little municipal alberque here. Also today, I wish to introduce the pilgrim of the day. A young lady by the name of Petra, comes to us from Sofia Bulgaria, and is walking in our Camino group. Petra is a computer programmer for a software developement company there. She is a Camino veteran, having walked the Portuguese Way for her first Camino. Here are today's trail pics. Terry
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Day 15 - The Irish Are Here! This morning we left lovely Aljucen, and walked to Alcuéscar. I feel as thou I finally have my Camino legs under me now. The alberque here is in an old monastery full of monks. We registered, and were grateful for our dorm rooms. The place is closed from 2:30 to 4:30 for the monks. During this time you are either in or out, since the door is locked. Paul is currently being fitted for his monks robe. There is a mass at 7:30, followed by a communal meal provided. It should be pretty good. Our band has welcomed Berdan to our Camino fold. I first met him in the Merida alberque. He is a very cheerful guy from Dublin Ireland, and has already done many other caminos. Berdan keeps us laughing on the trail, with his Irish jokes. This was one of his best; An Irishman was going on Camino, and asked his friend what to do when faced with having to speak Spanish? His friend advised him to do the following; 1 - Speak loudly 2 - Say each syllable slowly He was told that if he did this, he would be understood. Upon arriving in Spain, the Irishman entered the first bar he came to. He had the following conversation with the bar keep there, who unknown to him was originally from Ireland as well; Irishman: I...........WOULD.........LIKE..........A..............BEER Bartender: YOU..........WANT.........A...........BEER Irishman: YES........I........WOULD..........LIKE..........A.........BEER Bartender: I.........WILL.......GET.........YOU........A.........BEER Irishman: WHERE........ARE.........YOU..........FROM Bartender: I.......AM.......FROM........DUB.....LIN......WHERE....ARE........YOU....FROM Irishman: I........AM........FROM......DUB.....LIN........TOO Bartender: IF.......WE......BOTH......ARE.....FROM.....DUB.....LIN......WHY.......ARE....WE SPEA.......KING...........SPAN........ISH On so the day went. Have a look at today's pics. Terry I left Merida this morning, because I had already spent 2 nights at the same alberque. Paul is staying 1 more day to fully recoup his knees, but is meeting me here in Aljucén where I will again spend 2 nights. The trails are improving as we head north. It was a very pleasant trail, going by a lake formed by an ancient roman dam. At first I was going to stop at Carrascalejo, but there was absolutely nothing there. The town alberque was locked up, and there was no one in the town it seemed. I continued on to Aljucen, where I am staying in a fantastic renovated farmhouse alberque. Check it out. www.alberguerioaljucen.com It is here that I met John. John was a very successful diamond merchant, working for a large European diamond corporation. He had his own limousine and driver, And a large expense account. At the top of his game, he was involved in a car accident that damaged his spine. After many operations and walking again, John's wife left him. At this point, John did what any sane man would do, and he quit everything, gave his stuff away, and bought a donkey. The donkeys name is Bo. John has a tent, a camping stove, and basic supplies that he travels with. He camps at the side of the road, in farmers fields, or stays at alberques that can accomadate Bo. He is currently travelling to the south of Spain, to prepare for winter. He says that this lifestyle has made him happier than ever. John is full of stories, especially about what happens when he walks thru a town with Bo. First I have pics from today's trail, then of John and Bo. Rest Day! Spending a rest day in beautiful Merida today. Merida has the most intact Roman ruins outside of Italy. I will let the pics speak for themselves. Back on the trail tomorrow. Terry A long day I left the hostel at Villafranca de los Barros this morning at around 6:30 am. The provided a cup of coffee, a glass of orange juice, and the usual toast and jam. My friend Paul was going to travel ahead to Merida by bus, in order to give his bad knees a break. We planned on meeting there in 2 days. The walk started off great going through the spooky dark early morning town, and locating the arrows heading out of town. I was leaving at the same time as a man named Henry who was a pastor from Switzerland. We walked through a vineyard that was so huge, that it took us about 3 hours to cross it. The rest of the way we were either in a vineyard or an olive orchard. The track was good for walking, so I made, my target of Torremejía a distance of 27 kilometres by 1:00. I found a cafe/bar and had a salada mixta for lunch, and had him refill my water bottle. This town did not look very inviting, and the hostel was not much too look at. Being early, I decided that I could probably do the next 15 kilometres to Merida. I started to wonder if Paul would possibly partake in the consumption of cervezas to excess, and thereby become an embarrassment to Aussies everywhere. So for the sake of the commonwealth I decided to go for it. The trail to Merida was very stoney, and it took longer than I thought. I river in Merida at 5:30, completing a Camino record for me of 42 kilometres. Have a look at today's pics. More about Merida tomorrow. Terry Todays stage is only 15 Kms. Since the next stage is 27 Kms, it would be too much to combine them. We decided to hit the hay early, and get up at 4:00am so as to miss most of the heat. The night before, we bought some fruit and yogurt from the local mercado to have first thing in the morning. It was a bit tricky finding the yellow arrows at first, even with the head lamp. It was also kinda spooky listening to grunting pigs, sheep, and barking dogs in the dark. The sun didn't rise until 7:30. We arrived in Villafranca de los Barros at about 10:00 am, were we sat down for our second breakfast. I now have the rest of today to take it easy, and prepare for the 27 km stretch tomorrow. Just a few pics from today. Terry Sorry that this days blog is a day late, but I am at the mercy of available wifi. This morning we set out for the town of Zafra. The next on our list. Just a short 5 kilometre walk. Zafra was a beautiful town, and seemed very prosperous. Entering into the town from the hills, you could see that the land is getting greener. We stopped for a cafe con leche and a Zuma de naranja, (coffee and orange juice) in Zafra. Continuing on, we ended up in Los Santos de Maimona. With a bit of difficulty, we finally found the municipal alberque (hostel). A postman called the phone number on the gate for us, and arranged for us to pick up the key. This meant that we had to walk back to the centre of town, to the tourist information office to pick it up. We had been there earlier, but it had not been manned then. We picked up the key and went back to the alberque, and found that we had the whole place to ourselves. It is super fantastic with beautiful kitchen, laundry, showers, and beds. After setting ourselves up here, we walked into town to eat at the place recommended by the info office. What a fantastic meal we had. Upon entering the place, the locals looked at us like we were from Mars. The extremely kind and helpful owner immediately assessed the situation, and set us up on a table. From there on in it was a gastronomic event. There was a salad on special, that had some type of house specialty dressing. On describing the salad, the waiter called it ice cream instead of dressing. Non the less it was delicious. Then they brought us a fantastic piece of fish in a cheese sauce. After devouring the whole thing with the help of a jug of sangria, he insisted upon us having a sorbet made from wine! Fantastic! So hats off to the people of Los Santos de Maimona for looking after us lowly pilgrims! Have a look at the pics of today. Buen Camino Terry We stayed at a very nice hostel last night, it even had a pool! We had a very nice pilgrims supper with a young couple from Moscow. This is their first Camino. There is also a few Germans, Spainairds, and French on the trail. We had an early start on the road today, but the 20 kilometres seemed to take forever. I was drinking lots of water, but under the mid day spainish sun, I was urinating steam. There must be dog racing tracks nearby, as we seen a few people excercising their racing dogs by taking the out by bike, and even by car having the run alongside. We are now in the province of Extremadura, or as Paul says, "extreme endurance". Also a big shout out today to the good people at Fanshawe College in St Thomad. , Hope your semester is of to a good start. Here are some pics from today's long hot trail. Terry Started the day with a great desayanos (breakfast) at a place that would make anything for us. We had bacon, eggs, toast with butter and jam, coffee, and orange juice. The server looked at us strangely. When he brought the jam, he asked if we put it on our eggs or what. We said that we would butter the toast and put the jam on it. Again a strange look. Anyway he was very accomadating where most aren't. We were eager to leave town quickly, but I new I had to do something about my backpack weight. I thought I would quickly go to the post office, where you can box some stuff and send it ahead to Santiago and retrieve it there. I send 4 lbs of stuff ahead. My pack then felt great. The post office personnel were another story. No there is no return address, I live on the side of the road! The walk was then very long and hot. We went thru 3 litres of water each. Just dragged ourselves into town. As we head further north, the days should be better. Made it to Fuente de Cantos at about 5:00 o'clock. Ended up at a splendid place today. Has a pool and everything for 15.00 ! (See video) Anyway here are some trail pics from today and a vid of the hostel. Terry Today was again a very hot, dry, long trail. We did see a farmers barn on fire, and watched the fire dept. arrive . The last 8 kilometres were very hard . We dragged our carcasses into the town of Monesterio later than expected. These stages make the Camino France's look like a walk around the block! Two more days of pain, before the towns start to become closer together.
Good night! Terry |
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