Camino Mozarabe Day 20: Santa Amalia to San Pedro de Merida.

Day 20: Santa Amalia to San Pedro de Merida. 18km.

It was on tar nearly all day.

What a change from yesterday, well I suppose with the clocks moving forward it was the first day of Summer Time. It was a cloudless blue sky once again, no wind and it was warm. We started off expecting the worst but had only gone about a kilometre when off came the rain jackets and the socks from my hands. When we stopped after 2 hours for coffee we took off our waterproof trousers, so we were back to shorts. Towards the end of the day's section we were starting to sweat but we didn't think it quite warm enough to remove our fleeces.

The first half of the walk, 9km, to Torrefresnada was along the hard shoulder of the N430. Yesterday when we arrived here we thought this was a busy highway but now it was quiet; maybe it being Sunday. It was another case of a long long straight road and at the end of it we could see the white houses of Torrefresnada. The worst thing about walking along a road is the distance markers, I keep searching for them and counting down the kilometres. The N430 joined with the A5 Merida - Madrid motorway at Torrefresnada but the arrows ( there were a few of them along the road) guided us onto a Camino Agricola, farm road, into the town. It was still tarred. Just as we reached the edge of town there was a gravel area with benches and palm trees in front of the church. We stopped here to make a cup of coffee and the church bells began to peel, calling the faithful to mass.

We continued on this farm road that ran along the edge of town never really entering it and was now beside the motorway. As we left Torrefresnada it changed to a gravel track but the warm sun and dry weather had firmed up the ground and it was all right to walk on. It only lasted as gravel for about a kilometre then it was tar all the way to San Pedro. It was parallel with the motorway, crossing from one side to the other a couple of times. The waymarking was now normal with all wrong turnings indicated with a cross, it was also a GR trail so we had the red and white flashes to help as well. Along one side of the highway it was moorland with bushes as the ground rose to a ridge of small hills; on the other it was a fruit farm with different varieties of fruit trees growing in lines into the distance. Some were like the small trees we saw yesterday that Moira thought they might be a miniature variety of apple. It was now very pleasant walking after the cold and wet last few days. The countryside was beautiful as it stretched before us, lush and green from the recent rain. In the distance the flat plains were broken by some high mountains but we wouldn't be climbing these, tomorrow was our last day and it was flat from San Pedro into Merida.

Soon we saw the motorway exit signs to San Perdo. We went under the motorway and followed the slip road into San Pedro. It was a bit of a climb and it was a typical sleepy Spanish town. After asking directions we found ourselves in a large motorway type service area but well away from the highway, with a petrol station, lots of restaurants and our bed for the night, Hostal Juan Porro. It wasn't long before we were in our room, a bit expensive at E45, and watching the Malaysian Grand Prix on the TV; Hamilton won!

We went down for a late lunch at 3pm and this time there were others in the dining room. We had a nice paella to start full of different types of shell fish. Next we ordered a fish dish but didn't know what  to expect, the fish was fine but they overdid the tomato dressing. After iced cream to finish it was back to our room for a shower and to relax for the rest of the day listening to the radio on the iPad; the WiFi was very good.

In the evening I couldn't get to sleep at my usual time of 9pm forgetting that it was now Summer Time. It was 'actually' only 8pm and it was still light outside. I checked the reception for YouTube on the computer and it was first class so for an hour I watched some old TV comedies while Moira read her Kindle.

Camino Mozarabe Day 19: Don Benito to Santa Amalia.

Day 19: Don Benito to Santa Amalia. 16km.

It rained all day today.

We had a choice of routes, one going directly from Medellin to San Pedro de Merida via Yelbes and the crossing of the Rio Bordalo. Although this was a shorter route Cicerone seemed to indicate that the river could only be forded in the dry season of July and August. We chose the longer option, 7km longer, which was through the town of Santa Amalia where we intended to spend the night.

As today's walk was quite short we had thought about relaxing this morning and leaving a bit later, but after the terrible night and we had given up trying to sleep it was a quick breakfast and off at the usual time. I dosed myself with a Voltarin anti-inflammatory suppository that I have found deals quickly with my sore back. It wasn't feeling too bad this morning but I wasn't taking any chances.

 It must have been raining all night as there were large puddles everywhere as we made our way out of the town. It was still coming down quite heavily, happily we had come out prepared in our wet weather gear. Moira in her wanderings looking for me had spotted the Camino Mozarabe signs to the exit from the town (though not the ones going back to find me) so we began following these. We reached a t-junction and there was no indication on what way to turn. A road sign for traffic said to the right was to Villanueva de la Serena. I consulted the map, in Cicerone and that town was behind us. We turned left. At another junction the road signs showed Medellin to the right, that was where we were going so headed that way and eventually picked up a yellow arrow.

Once out of town we were on the EX206, it was as straight as a die to a pointed hill about 8km away. This was another hill with a fortress castle on top and below was the town of Medellin. We were on this road, not very busy, until we crossed the bridge over the railway. On the other side there was a Camino sign on a muddy gravel track that pointed back the way. We took this track and in turned at the railway line and ran parallel with them track.  It wasn't very nice, full of potholes filled with the rain, muddy and slippery and it seemed to be going in the wrong direction. We came to a junction of paths and there were three choices, none of them had even a yellow dot of paint to help us decide. In the end we turned round and headed back to the road, at least we knew that was heading for Medellin. 

After about a kilometre on the hard shoulder of the EX206 more arrows appeared directing us to a path running parallel with the road. Even though the road wasn't busy we thought it would be safer on the path. Unfortunately it was hard going, it was very soft mud in places and lots of puddles to try and dodge; it wasn't helping my back which had been fine so far. At the first opportunity we went back to the road and walk on the tar until we reached Medellin. We could have gone into the town to pick up the route but when I consulted the Cicerone map I found that the marked route came out the other side of Medellin and joined the EX206, so the decision was to continue on the road. It turned out quite well as the road ran round the foot of the hill with the castle on top; we were rewarded with great views of all aspects of the castle which appeared to have been well preserved.

The road bent round in a large viaduct as it crossed the Rio Guandiana and we could see through the trees an old bridge where the road and Camino left the town. Where they joined we picked up the signs and arrows and once again tried the official route. It followed the line of the road but it was mud and puddles again. Eventually the track reached a minor tarred road, this was the route to Yelbes and the river crossing, we turned the other way and back to the EX206. There was an arrow on the highway for this alternative route, but only this one at the start. We didn't see another waymark until we reached Santa Amalia. It was a pleasant enough walk and flat going, my back was feeling fine now. The fields here had small trees in full leaf, row after row; at first from a distance I thought they were vines but closer I found they were small trees. We couldn't figure out what they were.

The rain had continued relentlessly all morning and it was a relief to find that our bed for the night at the Hostal Caribe was on the outskirts of the small town. It was near the junction of the EX206 with the busier N430 and Santa Amalia was on this highway. Here the registration system was old fashioned, a pen and paper, and much faster. We were soon in our cosy little room and I had the cooker going for a cup of coffee. We hadn't had a break this morning because of the rain and walking on the road there hadn't been any bars or cafés to stop at. There were also good WiFi that didn't require a password, so I got the radio on right away.

We went down for lunch at 1:30pm and we were the only ones in the dining room. One of the tables had 'reserved' posted on it, maybe they expected a big crowd to arrive; in the time we were there nobody else arrived. The meal was much better than last night. We had the 'menu del dia'; to start we both had different types of soup, my choice was the normal chicken noodle but Moira ended up with a sort of thick vegetable. For the main course we both had steak and chips, very nice; and to finish Moira had her usual iced cream while I tried the rice pudding. We had the house vino tinto to drink and all for a total of E16.

It was a lie down when we got back to the room and we listened to the radio and read the newspaper for the rest of the afternoon. late afternoon Moira went out into the town to get money from a bank machine and reported back that the sun was shining. Hopefully it will be nice tomorrow.

I had a late shower today and then it was time for bed. After all the noise of last night this hotel was very peaceful and we both had a very good night' s sleep. The clocks go forward tonight, so in theory we will later starting our walk in the morning.

Camino Mozarabe Day 18: Campanario to Don Benito.

Day 18: Campanario to Don Benito. 24km.

We didn't hear any cuckoos today but saw two poppies that were a deep crimson rather than red.

We were both awake early this morning at 5:30am. I made the tea and we had it in bed while Moira read her Kindle and I updated my blog. We got up at the usual time had breakfast and packed, we were on the  Camino at 8am. The restaurant where we had lunch yesterday was at the junction of the major road through the town and the road leading to the railway station. We were soon past the last houses of the town and the road to the station and albergue which was signposted and the fork to the right was a gravel road, the Camino.

On the outskirts of town there were a few fields of grape vines, the first we had seen in the region. Through the day there were some olive groves and holm oaks in the meadows but they were getting fewer and fewer. The landscape was nearly all fields of grain, the winter planting very well advanced and again an emerald green colour.

The route today was an interesting one, made pleasant by visiting a couple of villages on the way. The first, Magacela, was perched on top of a pointed hill that we had seen from a distance yesterday across the flat plain. At first I thought the white features on the hill were rocks, then because it had been so cold maybe snow, but no they were houses and they stretched to near the top to where the ruins of a castle stood. It was a long more or less straight track from Campanario and we could see it far ahead of us. I didn't think we were going to have to climb it as I couldn't remember anything about a climb in the guide book or on the profiles of the route we had seen. But we did, and it was a very steep and gruelling couple of kilometres. As it had started to rain shortly after we started we were going to look for a bar in the village for coffee but when we reached the first of the houses at the foot of the hill there was a lovely little park with benches and the rain had temporarily gone off. It was fortunate that we did stop as there wasn't a shop or bar on the whole route through Magacela. It had been a former Arab settlement and the mosque had been converted into a Christian chapel. The castle on top was 16th century but was now just a pile of stone. Magacela had been designated as a place of Historical Interest but there didn't seem to be any attempt to attract tourists or provide facilities. Where the road reached its highest point, just below the castle there was a flat tiled area with benches, a most wonderful viewpoint. We had a 180* outlook over the ground we had covered this morning and probably yesterday as well. From the strategic position of the castle above they would have a 360* panorama and be able to see any enemy armies approaching from a long distance. After the tough climb we expected to drop sharply but it went down gradually and not as far as we had come up, so even the road coming round the perimeter of the hill had a rise in height.

After a few kilometres on gravel we met a couple of sheep in front of us. Somehow they had got through the fencing isolating their grazing fields. Each time we approached they ran further down the path, stopped and looked at their friends in the field but not knowing how to join them. We tried to keep into the side so they could get back down the path behind us but sheep being silly they keep running away from us. When the path met a tar road they ran up to the right, our route was to the left. That was her last we saw of them, hopefully they got back with their mates safely. It was down this tarred road into the next village of the day La Haba, just a small place and we stopped at the first bar we came to for a beer. The beer you get is in a tiny bottle but they supply you with some tapas, we had a plate of chips and croquettes with a sausage meat filling. I also had our credentials stamped there, the woman at the flat last night didn't have a 'sello'. 

My back had been sore yesterday but not unbearable. Today it was sore before we stopped at the bar in La Haba, the rest, the beer and a couple of pain killers helped. It was then just 6km to the end and I thought I would be all right but it gradually became unbearable. I struggled on until we entered Don Benito and thought I would be fine but I came to a grinding halt with the pain. We were close to a park with benches and Moira suggested that I take a seat while she went to the town centre and booked us into the hostal. Once registered she then intended to come back and help me with my rucksack. She put me on a bench and told me not to move. Unfortunately it started to rain quite heavily so I had to move, not far just across the street to a doorway next to a cafe. They had their chairs stacked nearby and I took one to sit on while sheltered in the doorway. Everything would have been fine, the hostal was only about 10 minutes away and Moira should have been back in about half an hour. But, she got lost and couldn't find the way back to where I was. She asked people even went to the police station but nobody knew anything about the Camino route or where I could possibly be. In the meantime I was pacing up and down the pavement hopefully trying to catch sight of Moira coming up the road. It was nearly two hours after leaving me that she appeared with an ambulance. She had gone to the emergency services and they came out with her to help find me, they must have thought that I was injured or something. They wanted to put me in the ambulance but I had my rucksack on and was walking along the road to the hostal under my own steam. Obviously there words and a bit of shouting, mostly by me at Moira but I soon calmed down, Moira had been just as upset and anxious about the situation as me.

When we arrived at the Hostal Galicia in the town centre the first thing I did was get water on the cooker for coffee. I left Moira to make it while I had a shower. The water was lovely and hot, it got some warmth into my body it had been cold and wet standing waiting in the middle of nowhere. After I was dried I lay on the bed with my cup of coffee and relaxed, I was recovering slowly. There was a decent WiFi signal and we were able to listen to the radio before going down for dinner.

WARNING. Anybody reading this and planning to do this Camimo, when you reach Don Benito avoid the Hostal Galicia. They don't start dinners until 8:30pm and when we arrived at that time we got a surly reception. We were the only people in the restaurant but still it took them an age to get round to even set our table never mind show us a menu. The food was very poor, we had salad which was average but the main course a croquette that had an inedible filling of I don't know what. When we got to bed we managed to sleep until 1am then doors began to be slammed non-stop. Then it sounded like furniture was being moved downstairs. I went down to the restaurant and they were cleaning up with no concern to the noise they were making. I complained and just got blank stares. Their noise stopped but the slamming of doors continued nearly all night and the walls are so thin we could hear the people in the next room talking, and they seemed to be talking all night. We did not have a good night at all and were still very tired in the morning.

Camino Mozarabe Day 17: Castuera to Campanario.

Day 17: Castuera to Campanario. 20km.

We heard lots of cuckoos today.

The impression I got from reading Cicerone was that Campanario was just a little place, it described as being a small town with shops, bars and banks but no official accommodation. In fact it was a large place. As usual on entering in was through an industrial area then the outskirts until we came to a plaza with the church, shops, a bars and two banks. We were then making our way expectantly out of town and towards the railway station 2 km away where the albergue was situated. This wasn't the case, whereas the area we had gone through was deserted and dead like most of the Spanish towns we now entered a bustling high street with lots of busy shops and people and traffic. As we made our way along this street I spotted the Guardia Civil offices and remembered that the guide book said that the woman in the house opposite had rooms for peregrinos. It was supposed to be No 55 and when I looked it was 55. As we were looking at the house a woman asked if we were searching for 'habitation' and rang the bell of the house. A woman appeared eventually and apologised for the delay in coming but she had been busy painting as we could see, she was splattered with it. The rooms were above and she had five of them, all with two or three beds, it was E30, so we decided to stay here rather than going another 2km to the albergue. 

Our walk had been very good. We left at our normal time of 8am after managing to get the Internet in our room for the newspaper download and to listen to the news on the radio. We followed Cicerone through the town to a roundabout at its end where it said there was a plane in the middle as a monument, it must have been removed as we didn't see it. At the main road it said Campanario 17km, then arrows that directed us to a gravel track where a sign said Campanario 20km. The track was smooth and flat, the weather this morning was perfect, the wind of yesterday gone and blue skies overhead. It was now a pleasure to be walking and we seemed to be making excellent time. Soon we reached a river, Rio Guadalefra, beside a large metal railway bridge, that we had to paddle. Shortly after this we reached the old railway station that Cicerone said was an albergue but the bloggers said was now closed. There was a notice saying albergue but no sign no life. The annoying thing was that the guide book had this station, Quintane de le Serena, at only 6km from Castuera; we had been walking briskly for 90 minutes by this time and I was sure we had further.

We continued at our nice fast pace for another hour and had a stop for a cup of coffee. The weather was really lovely today, a bit chilly in the shade but with no wind it was a big difference. The landscape now seemed better when we could look around not having to bend into a gale. The winter corn was well on here and had a vivid green colour growing among the holm oaks. The large meadows with the oaks made a beautiful picture.

When we got going again after our break we seemed to make good time as we reached a bridge crossing the railway earlier than we expected. Cicerone said from this bridge to Campanario was only 3km. I don't know how they do their measuring and distance estimation but they get it wrong, it took us an hour to reach the town. It had now become quite hilly and we expected to see a conglomeration of houses as we crested each rise and turned every bend, but it was the usual long slog.

After settling into our room and dumping our rucksacks we went out to find a place to eat. There was a bar opposite but they only did sandwiches. We didn't know which way to go so I asked three women  'restaurante'? They had a discussion amongst themselves then a man passing joined in, it seems to be turning into an argument when one of the women indicated to follow her. We did and it was only a short distance down the road and on the left. We had the 'menu del dia'; after a green bean and ham dish which we both had and was very nice   we waited in anticipation for the next course. We weren't sure what we had ordered, one dish turned out to be pork and chips, the other a mixed seafood. Moira wasn't having the seafood, there were octopus in it; so that was mine and I found it very nice. Moira had iced cream again and I had a cream tart. We asked for vino tinto to drink but he came with a carafe of what looked like rose, it was all right. As soon as we finished the carafe he immediately replaced it with a full one.

After all the food and wine it was time for a lie down in the room. Moira went for a shower first but the water was cold. So no showers again, we hadn't had one last night, if we don't get one tomorrow we will start to smell. At least we got some washing done in the cold water and hung out on a line in the sun to dry. It had become bitterly cold outside when the sun went down. We didn't move from our room but spent the rest of the day reading and I managed one of the crosswords from the 'Telegraph'. It was early to sleep tonight after a sandwich and a beer.

Camino Mozarabe Day 16: Monterrubio de la Serena to Castuera

Day 16: Monterrubio de la Serena to Castuera. 18km.

We heard our second cuckoo today.

It was bitterly cold all day, the wind or gale at times into our faces was from the north probably all the way from the Arctic. It was the sort of day when the Irish would say: 'If it twere to rain it would snow'. Luckily there was no chance of rain or snow, it was a beautiful cloudless blue sky. Only a short distance from leaving the town I had to stop and put on my rain jacket, Moira already had hers on; I even had the hood up to protect my ears from the wind.

The first arrow of the day was just outside the hostal, and it was exactly 8 am when we made our way through the bar, full of early morning coffee drinkers, to pick it up. Once out of town the directions took us from the main road on to a very minor, practically traffic free tarred road for 15km, where at some shacks and farm labourer's cottages it changed to a gravel track. This small community didn't deserve a tarred road for some reason. The gravel track went for about 3km to join the main EX104 road into Castuera. There were no problems with navigation it was a straight road all the way but we were kept on track with an over abundance of arrows, plaques and even GR route flashes.

Initially we were back among endless olive groves. The area is noted for olive oil which probably explained the museum yesterday where we had our credentials stamped. One benefit of the trees was that they created a type of wind break and it now wasn't so uncomfortable. That didn't last, the olive groves weren't endless and as the road bent to the left to run parallel with a range of high hills we were back to meadows of holm oak. The wind was now coming straight in our faces and there was no shelter from it by the trees, it was freezing and also a battle walking into it. There were still plenty of sheep about their wooly coats keeping them warm. Moira commented that this region was famous for it hams the feed of acorns from the holm oaks giving it a distinctive flavour but we haven't seen a lot of pigs.

There was a town up near the top of the range of hills ahead of us initially, Benquerencia de la Serena. We thought that was was our destination but I couldn't remember seeing such a climb on the profile of the route we saw on the information board at the olive oil museum. It wasn't where we were going and we didn't have that climb but Castuera was just below the escarpment at the end of the range of hills nestled in a little hump. So there was a steady ascent which got steeper when we reached the gravel road section.

Last night wandering around Monterrubio de la Serena we saw a poster for an organised walk, along today's route. With the number of markers and signs, some looking fresh and new, we suspected that the way marking must have been upgraded for the walk. It seemed quite good value, you got breakfast, a bocadillo and a lift back to 

Monterrubio de la Serena at the end , all for E6.

When we reached the main road at the end of the gravel track we were in Castuera but it was still the usual long trek into the centre. You never know where you are in these towns, there are no shops until you reach the actual centre and no indication how far to go or if you are heading in the right direction. We assumed that the hostal we were looking for, Los Naranjos was in the centre but stopped and asked, to make sure, as soon as we saw another person. It was up on the main road and we just enquired it time, the direction was to the right and at the top of that street, quite a climb up a hill. Now sheltered by the buildings from the cold wind the sun was beating down and we were sweltering in the heat and had to stop to take off our rain jackets half way up the hill.

It wasn't a hostal, it was Hotel N and a '2 Star' at that. It looked posh not what we are used to, but we had enough of the wind for one day and would have to just spend our money recklessly. It was a surprise when it was E40 and the room though just a little bigger than normal was beautifully tiled. Another thing that probably made it classy was the booking in; at a pub type hostel that get a key immediately, show you to the room and register later. Here it was passports examined and endless details fed into a computer before we were issued with an electronic key card. What made it not so posh was the water wasn't very hot and the WiFi was all right in the dining room and bar but very poor in the rooms.

We had lunch in the dining room and it was quite nice. We both had the same; soup to warm us up followed by chicken and chips. For dessert it was iced cream and also the obligatory bottle of vino tinto. Once connected to the WiFi in the dining room it continued working in the room for a while afterwards. We were able to listen to some comedy on the BBC radio catch-up service in the afternoon. When Moira tried to get I touch with Suzy on Face Time the Internet packed in, we had to go to the bar to finish the call.

At 5pm we went into town to the tourist info office. We wanted them to phone an albergue in Campanario where we go tomorrow, it's the only accommodation there. The bloggers stayed there and we want to know if it is still open. It wasn't very far to the town centre and there were signposts pointing to the tourist info office but it was closed, permanently by the looks of it. We found a supermarket and did some shopping and headed back to the hotel, it was very cold again.

At the hotel Moira tried phoning the albergue in Campanario but the replies were in Spanish and she couldn't make herself understood. We tried down in the bar for somebody who spoke English and the barman did a little, little enough to comprehend what we wanted. He phoned the albergue and said it was still operating and they had plenty of rooms available. We were happy now that we had our accommodation settled for another night.

Back in our room I had the Internet radio working again and we listened to the BBC again until it was time to get to sleep. We just had a snack of bread and cheese for supper along with  strawberries and yoghurt we bought at the supermarket. 

Camino Mozarabe Day 15: Hinojosa del Duque to Monterrubio de la Serena.

Day 15: Hinojosa del Duque to Monterrubio de la Serena. 31km.

It was a long walk today so we didn't hang about once we got up. The breakfast was soon over, the packing done and on the road at 7:30am. We knew the route through town after all our wanderings around yesterday searching for a supermarket and were soon out in the countryside. It was cold and we were well wrapped up but the sky was clear when we started out and it promised to be a warm day. It didn't turn out that way, some light clouds stopped the sun getting through and once clear of the town and in open country there was a strong bitterly cold wind blowing. Moira wore everything, I managed without putting on my rain jacket but did wear socks on my hands all day.

As we left Hinojosa we could see a range of quite high hills ahead in the distance but the route then turned more to the north and it was flat as far as the eye could see. It looked very flat but this was an illusion, we had quite a few ups and downs which tended to make the walk more interesting. It was through farming country much like yesterday, crops being grown among the holm oaks, lots of sheep grazing and at one farm we saw chickens, turkeys and little black piglets running around the yard.

Our major problem with today's section was that we didn't know where we were most of the time. We knew we were on the Camino as the way marking was excellent but there were no villages to pass through to get a bearing and the route didn't tie in with Cicerone. We did get an Idea when we reached a tar road with an arrow for cyclists to take the road, the walkers the footpath; the bloggers had mentioned this and said it came at 15 km and the trail crossed a railway track 2.5km later. This we found correct but then on their account they took a different route along another road to cross the Rio Zujar by a bridge and visit the Ermita de Nuestra Señora de Gracia de las Alcantarillas. We stuck with the yellow arrows and had to paddle across the river. We had two breaks today, one for a cup of coffee and a biscuit at the '15km' road, then lunch, bread and cheese and an apple after our paddle through the icy waters of the Rio Zujar. 

All the 'routes' came together again when we reached the EX211 tarred road. Cicerone which also took the Ermita way said it was 8km on the road to Monterrubio de la Serena but where we joined was 2km shorter. It was a hard slog on the tar and soon we crossed the boundary between Cordoba province in the Andalucia region and into Badajoz district in the region of Entremadura. Cicerone said it was a pleasant walk slightly uphill and the wind is usually in your face. It was slightly uphill but the wind in our faces was now a freezing gale and it was anything but pleasant. The town was nowhere to be seen just moorland and we were back among olive groves. When Monterrubio de la Serena did appear suddenly we still had the long trek through the industrial area and as usual the church spire and town centre were at the far end of the town.

Eventually we were in the town and there was a notice board with a street map. There was an albergue on the map near the large church, we had seen from a distance, in the Plaza de Espana, this square was also where the Hostal Vaticana and the Hotel Coto de la Serena were to be found. It was a long straight street into the town centre but the place was dead, even a couple of bars we passed on the way were closed. In the Plaza de Espana the hostal and the hotel were both closed and no signs of life when we rang the bell. It was the same at the door of the house we were told was the albergue, locked up and no reply to knocking or ringing the bell. We asked a woman about places to stay and told the the Hostal Vaticana opened at 5pm but nobody had any info on the hotel or albergue. There was another place to stay according to Cicerone, Pension Balsara on Calle Constitucion, but when we got there, after another trek, it looked like it was closed permanently with a 'for sale' sign showing in the window. Back at Plaza de Espana there was still no sign of life, not even a bar open to get out of the cold wind. On the way into town we had spotted a tourist info office and went back there to see if it had opened after siesta. It had but it wasn't a tourist information office but an olive oil museum which fortunately had a ' information for peregrinos' sign outside. The woman wanted to stamp our credentials first, probably to prove we were genuine peregrinos, then she phoned about the albergue. She said there would be someone to open it at 6pm another 45 minutes. Again it was back to the Plaza de Espana and this time two men were waiting outside the Hostal Vaticana bar obviously waiting for it to open. At 5:30pm a guy arrived and opened up, we were straight across enquiring about 'habitacion' and we were shown a lovely double room. I didn't bother asking the price, just glad that we had a bed for the night.

The first thing we did was to have a shower, the water was piping hot and it got some warmth back into our bodies. Moira went to a small supermarket just outside the hostal where she got milk, fruit, coffee and a couple of cans of beer. We relaxed on the bed drinking the beer and reading until 8pm when dinner was served. We both had the same, soup to start and pork fillets with chips. Moira had iced cream for sweet and I tried the cream caramel. It was all washed down with a bottle of vino tinto. It was a 'peregrino menu' so not huge helpings and cost E8 each. The room was very reasonable as well, E35.

When we got back to our room we read for an hour then settled down to sleep. After the long walk and the frustration of finding a bed for the night we were dead beat and soon fast asleep.

Camino Mozarabe Day 14: Alcaracejos to Hinojosa del Dugue.

Day 14: Alcaracejos to Hinojosa del Duque. 23km.

We were prepared for another cold day when we left at 8am, wrapped up in our fleeces, leggings covering our legs and socks on our hands for gloves. It turned out to be not as bad as yesterday, it was still cold but there wasn't the biting wind blowing. It didn't take long for the sun to warm everything up and allow us to remove the leggings and socks from our hands but not warm enough to take off our fleeces.

After leaving the hostal we were wandering about outside looking at our guide book and also looking lost. A Spanish gentleman without us asking directed us to the Camino, pointing up the street and signalling a right turn. This took us along a walled lane and we were soon out of the town and into the open country. The profile of today's route was flat and it was, though the trail twisted and turned a bit which made it more interesting. Waymarking was very good again and we had no problems keeping on course.

It was all farming country that we passed through and it was mixed. The fields around the holm oak trees, where yesterday they had been a mass of white daisies, were ploughed round the trees ready for spring planting. Some had winter crops already through were giving the countryside a nice green colour. Some of the holm oaks looked really old, they have short very wide trunks knotted and gnarled with age producing peculiar shapes. Another 'spring first' for us was spotting some bright red poppies growing in the hedge rows. Sheep graving among the oaks were now more plentiful and we saw lots more cows in the barns feeding. One farm we passed had a huge herd of black goats that stopped eating to gaze at us as we made our way along the track.

We went through two villages today on the route. The first one, Villanueva del Duque after an hour, was reported to be a mining communitity of old. There was an information board relating to the mining in the area and the extraction and washing of the ore but it didn't say what the material being mined was. There was a monument in the square of a miner hauling what in South Africa is called a cocopan, a metal trolley for transporting the ore. The board told us to look out for derricks used in the mining but we didn't see any.

The second village, Fuente la Lancha, is said to be one of the smallest villages in the province of Cordoba but was actually quite a large place. A notice board told us that it had been designated a village in such and such a year, I thought a village was just a village and didn't require some sort of proclamation. The houses were very pretty painted white with the door jams and lintels made of the distinctive local granite that is found close to the surface. The fence posts are also made from the granite and at times we would mistake them for one of the Camino granite plaque waymarks.

When we left the second village we were on the road only for a short while until we crossed the Rio Guadamatilla then it was into the countryside again. The track now became very sandy and we had to stop a coule of times to shake the sand out of our shoes. With the flat track and good surfaces today we mad excellent time and were comfortably walking at 5km/hr. When we reached the Ermita de la Virgen de Guiana, a lovely little chapel with a picnic area we had just 3.5km to go and it was only 12:15am. But as usual the final section to the finish is the longest and the Camino took us through an industrial estate before getting to the outskirts of the town. Then it was a long trek to the centre only to find that the Hostal El Cazador was in the other direction on the A420 main road. By the time we got into our room it was 1:30pm.

We decided to have lunch right away and shower later. When we went down to the restaurant we found that lunch didn't start until 2pm for some reason and had a beer in the bar while we waited. We both had the same,salad to start and chicken and chips to follow. To cut down on what we are eating we didn't have any bread but took it in a 'doggy bag' for breakfast. For sweet Moira had an iced cream and I ordered an orange which also went into the bag, we shared the iced cream. Back in the room we had a lie down for an hour then went into town to look for a supermarket.

We headed up to the Cathedral and the town square but there weren't any shops, the place seemed dead. It wasn't just that it was a loner than usual siesta, there just weren't any shops in the town centre. After wandering around we were forced to ask directions to a 'supermarcado'.and eventually we found one and stocked up. We retraced our steps to the Cathedral and started to make our way back to the hostal only to find that we were close to the supermarket again, we had come in a full circle. Another her sign of spring were the storks in the nests on the steeples and high towers. There were quite a lot of nests in and around the Cathedral square, there was just one stork in each of the nests at the moment all sitting looking about for the arrival of their mates.

Back in our room at the hostal we settled down on the bed to relax and read. The room was lovely and warm from the heater we left on while we went out. Later we had a snack of bread and cheese with a cup of coffee then it was time to get to sleep.