Last night we ate at Bar Charo which also doubles up as the cafeteria for the Old People’s Home in Fuente de Cantos, so we felt quite at home! Last night we also found out that the village was the birthplace of Zurbaran, one of Spain’s foremost painters. We saw some of his paintings in Seville a few days back.
The highlight today was fording a deep stream which required the removal of shoes and socks, sliding down a mud bank and then wading across, trying to keep one’s balance with our relatively heavy rucksacks. We both managed it in the end. Unfortunately once on the other side our feet were very muddy and it took us a while to get sorted out again! Blisters must be cleaned, new blister pads applied etc etc. A mile later we ran into another stream but this time we were able to hop across a number of rocks without getting too wet!
The paths today went through olive groves first and then mile after mile of vineyards. Along most of the way wild flowers grow in abundance including a lot of poppies. It’s funny how we associate poppies with Remembrance Day but ignore them the rest of the year. Today I got to thinking of the brave members of our armed forces serving abroad in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. On the whole they fight politician’s wars but serve loyally and with great devotion to duty to uphold freedom and democracy, many paying the ultimate price. I always think that not enough is done to thank these men and women properly.
We hope and pray that one day the politicians will find a way for all of us to live in harmony with each other. Ana Maria and I have many friends from all over the world, including Northern Ireland, both protestant and catholic, Pakistan, India, Lebanon, Israel. Many are Christians, some are Muslims. All of them share one thing; a desire to find peace and better understanding among people. Gibraltar is a shining example of how this can be achieved. I grew up in there surrounded by children of different ethnic backgrounds and religious faiths. We did not differentiate among these – we were simply friends and we still are. Perhaps the politicians will listen to the people one day!
Today we took about eight and a half hours to reach our destination, Zafra. As we entered the last mile or so leading up to the town the path led us quite bizarrely through some railway sidings and we found ourselves climbing around the different locomotives, snow ploughs etc!
Zafra has a rich cultural heritage and we had a little time to visit some of the local sights including the beautiful Santa Clara Convent, with fine examples of Zurbaran paintings, The Alcazar of the Dukes of Feria now a National Parador and the Great and Small Squares. Some of these date back to the 15th century. Today we walked just over 16 miles. Tomorrow we leave for Villafranca de los Barrios some 13 miles away. We hope the rain will stay away. Ana Maria is still having problems with her feet and rain makes it more difficult to stop and change dressings etc. Fingers crossed!
I have been following your journey and marvel at your perseverance through all that rain and mud. Hoping for dry trails ahead!
ReplyDeleteUltreya!
Tennyson (if I remember correctly) wrote a poem in which he referred to the poppies gowing in the fields near Badajoz as the blood of English soldiers fallen in the Napoleonic Wars.... funny you should be in the same area and in similar frame of mind nut then again no coincidence. On a personal note my brother Dicky was round last night to back up his fotos onto my hard drive and we were talking ref your walk. He wishes you both well as do I. :)
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