suzmaruk travels: March 2012

Tuesday, 27 March 2012

to Sevilla

Via de la Plata

Tuesday 27 March 2012

Heading for the Start.

I had to complete my 100th consecutive day of running before getting ready to make for Sevilla and the beginning of the Via de la Plata. I ran quite well all though there was still an annoying wind blowing. It was alright when I had it helping me, I could fairly sprint along but it was like running on the spot when I was hitting it head on. I'm hoping that this wind is only local around Conil, and we are not going to be bothered with it on our walk. I was out for an hour and was satisfied with that for my final part of the sequence, I'm glad that it is over.

When I got back it was breakfast then packing up the 'van, Moira had done most of it over the last few days, it was only the satellite dish and bikes to get stored inside. I moved the motorhome up to the storage area on the site and it was on to our backs with the rucksacks and we were off for the bus.

The wind was still strong as we made our way along the lane from the back gate of the campsite and we could feel that it was going to take a few days before we become accustomed to our packs. Luckily we had only a 40 minute walk to the bus stop to slowly break us in. We were about half an hour early for the bus, better safe than sorry, and had time for a coffee in a nearby cafe. The bus arrived on time and it was now definitely the start of our latest adventure.

It took two and a half hours to get to Sevilla. From Conil it took detours from the highway into Chicana, Puerto Real, Puerto Santa Marie, and Jerez before sticking to the toll road the rest of the route into Sevilla. The wind seemed to have dropped as we made our way north, the trees weren't bending in the gale force gusts. It was also getting warmer and when we reached Sevilla we were still wearing our fleeces, we were sweltering as we walked the couple of kilometres to the hostel where we were staying.

The hostel, Triana Backpackers, in a quiet back lane near the river. It was very nice and we were in a six bedded dorm where we managed to get two bottom bunks, we don't like climbing at our time of life. The

first thing that had to be done was get our bunks made up, we didn't have to use our sleeping bags, all the bedding was supplied, then it was a nice cup of tea. There was a kitchen in the hostel and this means that we don't have to eat out tonight, Moira brought a little food with her and we are going to have pasta for dinner.

When we finished out tea we decided to head out and explore some of the city. There was a map and a guide leaflet in reception and we used this for a tour of the city centre. It took us to where we start the Camino in the morning and the road was marked by the familiar shell symbol. From there we crossed the river and had a delightful walk along the river bank. There were lots of people all along the river side picnicking and sunbathing, it was really hot now and the cold strong wind had disappeared. Sevilla seems to be a sporting and keep fit city going by the numbers of people cycling and running while on the river there were canoeists paddling, some were very serious by the speed they were sprinting over water. The river was crossed by four bridges on the section of our walk, a few modern, with one in particular that resembled the millennium bridge on Newcastle.

Our route left the river after the Barqueta Bridge and made for the Alameda de Hercules, an area originally marshland that was reclaimed in the 16th century, the lagoon was drained and the place became a promenade. The square is decorated with two big sculptures of Hercules and Julius Caesar. From there we made our way down Velazquez Street, a pedestrian walkway along the most important commercial street in Sevilla and one of the most expensive streets in Spain. At the end of this thoroughfare we reached the cathedral and the outside was most impressive with its large pointed tower and magnificently carve doors and archways. We had a stroll inside but it was quite small and not particularly interesting. Outside I managed to get a few good photos of the building and also incorporated one of the many old fashioned horse and carriages that take tourist round the attractions.

After the cathedral we head down to the river again and along the esplanade to the bridge crossing that led us back to the hostel. It was a lovely walk through a beautiful city and if this is a foretaste of what's to come it is going to be a grand trip.

Sunday, 25 March 2012

Via de la Plata

VIA DE LA PLATA

The ‘Camino Francés’ or the French route of the pilgrimage the Camino de Santiago – the Way of St. James is the most popular route and one that we did a few years ago. There are many different starting points for a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and now we are planning to tackle the one through the centre of Spain, the Via de la Plata. It begins either at Grenada or Sevilla, and as we are closer to the later where are camped in Conil that is where we are heading. The route to Astorga where it joins the French route was waymarked in 1991 with the familiar yellow arrows by Andres Munoz Garde, who made the route attractive in recent times. It has become more and more popular as hostel accommodation or albergues have been set up in church halls, sports centres and schools. The distance is about 1000 km and we plan to average 20 km each day, so the journey will take 50 days or a little more if we have rest days.

We have arranged to store our motorhome at the campsite in Conil for two months while we walk. It should be safe there as they have a secure area for caravans and motorhomes, and a number of people are using the facility. We will take the bus from Conil to Sevilla where we will spend the night before setting off on our pilgrimage the following morning. The first thing that has to be done when getting to the start is to obtain our passport or credentials from the Cathedral. This is a card that gets stamped at each overnight stop; this is then proof of our journey when we reach Santiago and qualify for a Certificate and also atonement for all our sins!

I am taking our iPad with me and the plan is to give a daily account of our journey on this blog, depending on the availability of Wi-Fi connections at some of the villages where we make our overnight stops.

Since before Christmas when we arrived in Portugal we have had only two days when it rained, the rest of the time it has been blue skies and glorious sunshine. Our hope now is that it can continue for another couple of months and we don’t have to battle in the rain.

Friday, 23 March 2012

Algarve Sunshine 2

We left Albufeira on Sunday and drove all the way into Spain, and then to La Rosaleda campsite in Conil where we stayed before Christmas. We are camping here for a week, while preparing for our 1000 km hike on the Via de la Plata to Santiago de Compostella. The last five weeks on the Algarve was almost continuous blue skies and warm sunny days, interrupted by on only one day when it rained for an hour or two. I have been running, cycling, working out at the local gym, and together we have had some lovely long walks. We should be nice and fit for our marathon trek over the next two months.

I began running in the mornings when we arrived at Camping Albufeira mid-December and I have gone out every day since. When we left on Sunday I had already completed 91 consecutive days, I have arranged that we don’t head for our walk from Sevilla until next Tuesday when I will have reached 100 days. My routine has been to stay in bed with a cup of tea until the sports report finishes on Breakfast TV, I then get up and do some stretching to warm up my legs before setting off about 8 am for my run. I am usually out for an hour and when I get back stretch again before settling down for my breakfast. There are lots of quiet country lanes on the other side of the main road from the campsite, they are fairly traffic free but there is a constant problem with dogs that their owners can’t control or keep secure in their gardens. When I started back in December my pace was average but now as my fitness has improved I am now moving faster, and hills, there are plenty of them, are not a problem. I am looking forward to when I get to my 100 days target, walking about 20 km daily on the ‘Via’ will seem more like a rest cure after this regular running.

Some of the group that I cycled with when we were there three years ago had arrived in February. The two guys who led the group previously, Dennis and Graham, aren’t coming. Dennis had an accident in Spain and his car was written off, they are staying there for the winter until the insurance sort out the claim etc. The ones that have arrived are John, ‘senior’ and Sue, Ron (his wife Roz doesn’t cycle), and another John and Loraine. Another couple Ted and Irene joined the group for a few rides at the beginning of March. The rides weren’t very long, somewhere between 35 and 45 km, and it was easy more social than racing. We left the site at 10 am three days each week and generally we were back in time for lunch, but we did do a few longer outings when we took sandwiches and a drink with us for lunch. Some of this group were when younger long distance runners, John ‘senior’ and Ron have done a number of 100 milers and Irene was also a champion long distance fell runner. John said that he had wanted to run the Comrades Marathon in South Africa but couldn’t manage to fit it in. He had worked for a paint company in Grimsby that had a connection with a factory in Umbogentweni on the Natal south coast, not far from Umtentweni where we have our house, but he couldn’t organise a trip or visit there to coincide with Comrades. The three guys worked together before the factory closed, John ‘senior’ was the Works Manager, Ron a shift supervisor and young John a fitter; they have all been coming here together for a number of years.

The gym I have been going to is in the centre of Albufeira. I walk there and back mostly, it takes 40 minutes each way, but when I have been cycling in the morning I usually continue there on my bike. It is only a small gym and during the day when I normally go it isn’t busy, and there is no hold up or queues to use the equipment. On average I workout there five days each week for sometimes two hours and my muscles are becoming firm and obvious, especially my ‘six pack’. It has become a routine over the last 3 months going to the gym, I’m going to miss it while on the ‘Via’; another reason why I consider the walk a relaxing period.

During the first half of our stay here we were going on the walks organised each week by the rally on Mondays and Wednesdays. I became bored with them, they were too slow and far too many stops; I gave them up. Moira felt the same about the Monday ‘stroll’ but she continued going on a Wednesday for the much longer ones, which went to routes further afield. She also wanted to get some training done before faced with the more difficult days on the ‘Via’ that were ahead of her. We continued to go out together on a Sunday for a route selected from our Cicerone guide book. One particularly lovely hike we did was along forestry tracks above the twisting and winding Odelouca River. We were rewarded with some magnificent views of the river below and recorded these in ‘panorama’ using this facility on our new camera. Some of these photographs are in the ‘Algarve Photo Album’ on this blog. Another walk we did was from the coastal resort of Vilamoura about 25 km east of Albufeira. We took the bus there and returned by the beach. It was easy at first on flat, hard packed sand, but after an hour the rocky shoreline forced us to climb to the cliff tops to an undulating path. We were hoping to see the spring flowers that on our previous visit covered the flat cliff tops in profusion. This time, either it was still too early in the year or because of the lack of rain, there wasn’t many in bloom and it was disappointing. I did do one of the rally Wednesday walks last week with Moira, when they drove to Monchique and climbed Foia, the highest mountain in the Algarve at 902m. It wasn’t much of a climb as Monchique, where we parked, was halfway up the slope and after that it was only a gradual incline up a wide track. The summit was spoiled by numerous telecommunication masts, souvenir shops and cafes.

With all this energetic activity during the day we were too tired at nights to go out anywhere. We generally got to bed about 8 pm, after dinner and the washing up done, to lie back and watch a couple of hours of TV. The reception is very good with our large satellite dish and we can pick up most of the UK channels and radio stations. There is usually something on in the evening that is worth watching but one series that we particularly enjoyed was ‘Call the Midwife’, a drama about the 1950’s midwives working in the east end of London. At other times we are reading books from either the Kindle or the iPad, this is far more convenient than carting all the books around with us that we now have electronically. One thing we continued going to was the whist night organised by the rally steward. We weren’t able to repeat our earlier winning successes but Moira did get the booby prize a couple of times for the lowest score.

While at Camping Albufeira the internet on the site wasn’t at all reliable and I wasn’t able to keep this blog up to date. Now we are at La Rosaleda, the Wi-Fi is first class, a strong constant signal, and I can be sure that any work I begin on the computer won’t be interrupted. I am bringing everything up to date and I will be doing a daily blog of our walk on the Via de la Plata, though again it will depend on the availability of internet whether I can publish it each day. We will see!!