Hello! We're back! Days 22, 23 and 24

Our thanks to all of you who have been trying to get in touch.  We're both well and there is no crisis!  We have been climbing up into the mountains going from Andalucia into Extremadura and have now reached about 2000 feet.  The network connections have been so poor as to make accessing the internet virtually impossible.  Today 10th of May we have reached Fuente de Cantos.  We are staying at an Albergue which is by far the best we have seen so far.  There are even sheets on the beds!  And better still, they have a cable connection to the internet and we have been able to link up to that!  In order to try to keep some order to this blog we will first report on the two days we missed and then finalise with our walk today.

Day 22 -Almaden de la Plata - El Real de la Jara

We left Almaden de la Plata this morning at 0800 and reached El Real de la Jara thre and a half hours later.  Today we decided to do a short day as the next town is another 15 miles away or so, and it would make for a very long day.

As we did yesterday, we walked mainly through the Parque Natural Sierra Norte, through fantastic woodland, farms and meadows.  In part we walked along the long-distance route GR-48 (I still haven’t found out where this goes!). 

Along this route we found a Roman Milestone which has been erected in memory of Jose Luis Salvador, who founded the friends of the Camino Via de la Plata in Seville.  It is engraved with the words “your steady steps have left footprints that will guide many others who will follow”.  We feel privileged to be among those.

The village of El Real de la Jara is small, with a castle that is currently being renovated but with not much else to commend it save for peace and quiet, which in itself is a valuable asset.

Although I am writing this blog today Saturday, I have been unable to engage with any networks to access the internet so the blog will go out a day late.  This affected my weekly interview with Brooklands FM and we will try again tomorrow.

Day 23 - El Real de la Jara - Monesterio

In El Real de la Jara we stayed in a pilgrim’s hostel which was very much like a typical refuge used by mountaineers.  There we found Sverre, who is Norwegian, used to live on a barge on the River Thames for 10 years, and now lives near Inverness in Scotland!  He had booked into the Albergue for 3 days to try and overcome problems with blisters.  We wish him well in trying to reach that level of inner peace that he seeks.

As we were having coffee this morning we realised that one of our fellow  pilgrims, Mercedes, had left her staff behind so we decided to take it along with us as we knew it had sentimental value for her.  Shortly afterwards we met her walking back looking for it.  She warned us that there was a small river down the road that was overflowing and we might get our feet wet.  She was right!  On the other side of the river we met two German pilgrims who had camped there all night.  When I mentioned that they had picked a lovely quite spot they told me they had not slept very well because of the noise made by countless frogs!

At 12.30 local time we linked up with Brooklands FM Radio and did our weekly live interview.  Tomorrow we have another one with BBC Surrey.

Our path today continued to climb up the mountain paths taking us from approximately 1200 feet to 2000 feet by the time we reached Monesterio, our destination for the day.  

We have now left Andalucia and have entered Extremadura.  It rained heavily once and we had some slight showers during the day but also some sunshine, so it was not unpleasant.  Along the way we met some Dutch friends who are walking the camino and this evening we had drinks with our Swedish fellow travellers, Johan and Karin (hope I spelt that right).  Nothing beats a cool glass of dry sherry after a long day’s walk!

I forgot to mention that along the way we met a local farmer who was gathering wild asparagus.  He had collected a really good bunch!

This evening also we went to the local church of San Isidro, where we had a nice chat with the local priest Miguel.  He is a keen walker himself and is opening an albergue in the town later this year.  He has asked us to come for a week and act as Hospitaleros (sort of warden for the albergue).  We may take him up on that maybe next year!  In the church they had prepared a statue of San Isidro, patron of farmers, which would be pulled to a nearby “Romeria” on 15^th May, the feast day of San Isidro.

Although this blog has been written today I have been unable to publish it due to lack of network connections.  Will try again tomorrow.

Day 24  Monesterio - Fuente de Cantos

As we left Monesterio we once\again saw our German friends who were camping by a stream.  This time the frogs had behaved and they had slept well!  About an hour after we started walking the heavens opened up and we had unrelenting rain for two and a half hours.  In the middle of this downpour we got a planned call from BBC Surrey with whom we did a live interview.  This became a bit difficult and somewhat farcical because some of the time I was hiding under Ana Maria's poncho to keep the rain from the mobile phone.  When they asked to speak to her, we just had to give up and get wet!

The rain caused a lot of problems underfoot which became extremely muddy and slippery in places.  In addition streams which had earlier been passable became quite difficult to pass.  We were trying desperately not to get our feet wet.  Unfortunately at one crossing I lost my footing and in order to stop myself falling I steadied myself with my left foot leaving it a good six inches under water.  We then had to continue like that for another couple of miles until the sun came out, at which point I was able to attempt to dry my feet.  After a change of socks life became almost enjoyable again!

The first few miles of our walk we came across a lot of dry stone walls, which is a particular feature of this part of the camino. After a few miles this gave way to large open fields of wheat and other cereals.  All in all the scenery was once again breathtaking.  After around five hours we had our first glimpse of our destination for the day, Fuente de Cantos.  An hour later we were marching into the town to the tune of "I'm singing in the rain" with slightly different lyrics "I'm sinking in the mud, I'm sinking in the mud, what a glorious feeling, I'm happy again, I'm sinking in the mud..................!"

Once again our thanks to all of you who worried when we did not report for two days.  We are delighted to know that there are so many people following our blog.  More tomorrow, subject to internet access!

Day 21 Castilblanco de los Arroyos - Almaden de la Plata

Don't you just love the names of these villages!  Last night we spent the night at a youth hostel and while Ana Maria slept soundly, I could not sleep a wink and felt very tired this morning.  We left at 0545 and reached our destination exactly eight hours later, which given the sort of terrain we covered is not bad going!


Today our trek was over 20 miles and not 25 as I mistakenly reported yesterday.  In any event, it felt more like 25!  The first 10 miles or so were on open road climbing steadily to 500 metres.

The other ten miles was through the most beautiful country park, "Parque Natural Sierra Norte".  The park has a couple of granite "Roman" Milestones which were erected over the Via de la Plata to mark the millenium in 2000.  Smaller markers have been placed more recently to mark the path.  This together with the yellow arrow markers make following the path simpler.  That said three other French walkers got lost up the mountain today and arrived at our "Albergue" tonight a couple of hours late!

A very good path which deteriorated rather badly towards the end of the trek led us first downhill for several miles and then sharply uphill again to 500 metres.  This last stretch to reach the Cerro del Calvario was the steepest gradient we have ever experienced.  This coupled with the bad state of the path made it very difficult and I had to stop every twenty steps to catch my breath!  Ana Maria, who of course is MUCH younger than me sailed through it without too much trouble!

Once over the brow of the hill, a short but very steep descent led us straight into the town.

Tomorrow is slightly easier with only about 12 miles to our next town "El Real de la Jara"


DON'T FORGET THAT PHOTOGRAPHS CAN BE ENLARGED BY CLICKING ONCE ON THEM

Day 20 Guillena - Castilblanco de los Arroyos

Today has been a been a beautiful day for walking.  There has been a cool breeze with temperature of around 21C.

The paths too have been very pleasant, with beautiful views, and most of the 13 or so miles covered have been through olive groves, where the trees stretched for miles in all directions, and through orchards and cork woods.  Underfoot it has been quite hard with today's trek being graded in part with high difficulty.



There has been the odd encounter with herds of cows with one long-horned steer having a staring contest with me.  Needless to say,I moved quickly on!

Ana Maria has been in good form too enjoying the wild lavender which scented the morning air


Tonight we are spending the night at our first "Albergue" which is a bit like going camping again, cold showers etc, you get the picture!  This is not really the life for me, but it's all part of the experience, I guess!

This afternoon I had a call from BBC Surrey who are going to do a live interview next Monday at 0910 UK time.


Tomorrow we have the longest day yet - around 25 miles.  There is nowhere to stay the night in the middle so once we start we are committed.  This walk is graded "difficult" as it is mostly up steep gradients, first on tarmac surfaces and then through woods.  We look forward to tomorrow with some trepidation particularly in view of Ana Maria's problems with her feet.


Wish us luck!

Day 19 Seville - Guillena 05.05.2010

Firstly our thanks to the many who sent us emails and texts messages wishing Ana Maria good luck in overcoming her blisters!  It seems to have worked for the good news today is that Ana Maria insisted on walking to Guillena, some 14 miles and the first stage of our continuing "Camino" to Merida and beyond.

Last night, we wandered over to the Triana bridge in Seville, through which we would leave the city this morning.  We saw examples of a quaint custom where couples, on getting engaged, leave a padlock chained to the bridge railings.  No comment!

This morning we left early and the street lights were still shining in Seville as we walked over the bridge.






Our first port of call was the village of Camas and then Santiponce, the home of the famous Roman ruins of Italica.


Over the years we have visited Italica several times but we are always impressed by it, particularly its amphitheatre.  At the time this was one of the largest in the Roman Empire seating between 20,000 and 25,000 people.  Italica was the birthplace of the emperor Trajan.  His successor was Hadrian, whose wall Ana Maria and I hope to walk one day.

From Italica we continued on our way to Guillena our final destination of the day.  Once again we encountered flooding on the path.  We decided to try and go round it through some ploughed fields but ended up on the wrong side of the river, together with six fellow walkers and two guys on bicycles!


After some deliberation we elected to cross a muddy path and return through more ploughed fields until we were able to find the path again.  This set us back one hour, and although it was a bit of a hassle, we rather enjoyed the experience.  At least now we know that we are not the only ones who get lost occasionally!

The rest of the trek was uneventful and we eventually arrived in Guillena at 2.00p.m.  On the way we met a chap from Galicia who was doing this walk, The Via de la Plata, for the third time!  He showed us the way to a cheap hostal where we are sitting right now, sipping a glass of beer and finishing this blog!

Buen Camino!

Days 17-18 (3rd and 4th May 2010)

On Monday morning we went to the Post Office to collect our parcel, which was actually waiting for us, albeit that we had to wait for over 40 minutes until our number came up on the screen!

During the day Ana Maria's feet were no better so late on Monday afternoon we decided that we would stay on another day to see if the situation improved.

During the day we went for a short walk to see the Cathedral, the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world and some of the surrounding sights.  Some of the highlights included visiting the Chapel of St James (Santiago) and viewing the tomb of Christopher Columbus.

Tomorrow Wednesday, all being well, we shall recommence our walk.  If Ana Maria is unable to continue then we will have to take some major decisions as to where we go from here.  Fingers crossed that all will work out for the best!

We have already worked out the route that we need to take from the Cathedral, leaving the city through the "Triana" bridge and then on to Santiponce and Guillena, where we hope to spend the night. The journey will be about 14 miles long.  Along the way we will be stopping at the Roman ruins of Italica, one of the most important in the whole of Spain.

Day 16 Dos Hermanas - Seville

Today after a fairly short journey of some four and a half hours, we reached Seville.  Walking for several kms alongside tarmac roads and then through a beautiful park just beside the La Pineda Horse Racing track and finally on tarmac roads leading into the centre of Seville. 

Temperature was cool at first but had reached 31 by the time we reached the centre.  In true Camino style we have booked ourselves into the Youth Hostel  (a first for us).  Well, Ana Maria and I can be easily mistaken for two mature teenagers!

Having settled in, we have just realised that our towels are waiting for us at the Central Post Office as we posted them forward about a week ago in an effort to lighten our load!  Naturally, today being Sunday, the Post Office is closed.  I guess we’ll have to grovel and beg reception to give us some.  Actually  I think I’ll send Ana Maria, she’s much better than me at stuff like that!

On a serious note, We had to stop several times so that Ana Maria could tend to her feet, which refuse to heal properly.  We have decided to spend the whole of tomorrow resting to see if she can continue the path on Tuesday.

Seville marks the start of the Via de la Plata which is almost exactly 1000kms long.  After that we still have another week or so walking to Finisterre and Muxia.






For now we are absolutely delighted that we have managed our first 200 miles, an achievement in itself.  Only 700 more miles to go!

                         Buen Camino

Day 15 Utrera - Dos Hermanas

As we hinted at yesterday, we had to stop in Dos Hermanas which is about 12 miles from Seville.  Ana Maria's foot has been too painful and while she has been bravely struggling on, I am concerned in case the blister gets infected.  In the end it was a joint decision to stop.

The highlight today has been the fact that for the first time we walked with two other people, Emilio and Paco.  They are both from the town of Utrera and were on the Camino training for their own projected walk sometime in the summer.  They will be walking to Santiago from Oviedo, a journey of about two weeks.  They were very excited to meet us and when learning of our trip they wanted to take us home to introduce us to their family and friends.  In the end we parted company reluctantly but not before we took a photograph of the four of us for the blog, something which they insisted we must do!

Un saludo a nuestros nuevos amigos Emilio y Paco, los dos de Utrera, que nos encontramos en el camino, y que nos hicieron el honor de caminar con nosotros por varios kilometros antes de volverse a Utrera.  Estaban entrenandose para hacer EL Camino desde Oviedo hasta Santiago este proximo verano.  Su oferta de almorzar con ellos y sus familias sonaba muy tentadora pero decidimos que deberiamos continuar camino.  Esperamos que nuestros caminos se vuelvan a cruzar. Que tengan Buen Camino! 

Once we left them we had to walk about six miles alongside a railway line, which although slightly boring was also exciting as the train drivers would sound their whistle every time a train whizzed past!  At 12.30p.m. Spanish time we stopped for our weekly interview with Brooklands FM Radio.  They are becoming firms friends and we look forward to chatting with them even if it's only once a week.  Keeps us sane!

At the end of our six miles to our horror we found that the path had been blocked off with barbed wire, a fence and large concrete blocks!  Some unscrupulous landowners have been accepting the upgrading of paths on their property to celebrate The Camino de Santiago Holy Year.  Then once the authorities have finished, the landowners seal the path so as not to allow the public through.  In other words they get the path for free but refuse to share it.  It was this problem that made us take the coastal road from Gibraltar to Cadiz as our preferred route had been blocked off!  Suffice to say that my trusty Leatherman multi-purpose tool came into its own today!  Still it was a close call as our limbs are not as agile as they used to be and it zapped our energy trying to climb over difficult barriers.  All in all it delayed our journey by over an hour.

Once we were on the outskirsts of Dos Hermanas a guy on a motorbike went past and then doubled back.  He told us that the area we were about to go into was very dangerous and we should take a different route.  Our friends Emilio and Paco had also warned us about this so we decided to take their advice.  Antonio, the guy on the bike, then went out of his way to show us an alternate route which, although some 1.5 miles longer, took us safely into the middle of town, where we are now getting ready for bed.  Our faith in humanity restored we can now face another day!  Gracias, Antonio! 

Tomorrow should see us arrive in Seville, where we will reach our 200th mile.  From Seville we will start on the proper Via de la Plata which stretches 1000kms from Seville to Santiago de Compostela.