Camino Via de la Plata - Guillena to Castiblanco de Los Arroyos, Day 2

Wow, a night in a room by myself and air conditioned led to a long, deep sleep after three nights in a row of only a couple of hours each night has helped get me back on track. The alarm went off at 6:00 and together with the other 4 people staying here we made a quick breakfast, packed and were ready to go by 6:30. It seems to be a bit cooler today but that can change.

It was already light enough when we left to see the signs and the yellow arrows and soon we were out of town and in the country. The path was very nice, through olive groves and past some cows, steadily going uphill but not very steep. Today we spent most of the day in the Sierra Norte Nature Park and climbed about 1,000 ft but a steady climb with a lots of trees to offer shade much of the time. Sometimes we crossed cattle grids and sometimes we had to open and close gates on the trail.

This is (once was) an orange plantation

Sabine and Reinhard on the way

There were standing at the fence, but by the time I had my camera out they decided they didn't want to look at the camera.

As we continued the vegetation changed to include oak trees, cork trees wild olives, at least that is what the guide book says. I don't know what a cork tree looks like but there a lot of one type I did not recognize so here is a picture of it. If some expert knows better, feel free to tell me what it really is.

Mostly the trail was sandy but in the steeper sections it had washed badly and there were deep ruts, many of them as much as 2 ft deep. It must be quite difficult in the rainy season. Even now there were often only very narrow flatter places to walk and these were usually under some low hanging olive trees where walking underneath with a backpack was not easy and I had to be careful not to get pushed into a dep rut. Olive branches are tough and very springy so I am not sure why offering one is a sign of peace - anyway I digress.

On the path we caught up with Graziano, from Italy whom I had met yesterday. I was with the 2 Germans (Sabine and Reinhard from Berlin and Koblenz) and the Canadian (Linda from Quebec but speaks perfect English) who showed up at the Albergue after me. Graziano had been the only pilgrim at the other Albergue in town so between 2 Albergues we were just 5 peregrinos in town last night.

It was such a change from yesterday that even the climb was not a real challenge and it is noticeably cooler here than it was in Seville. The last stretch of the day was along the side of a rather busy road with ther cars and trucks passing at 60 mph. There was really no room to walk next to the road so we had to be very careful when we heard traffic coming not to fall into the ditch.

Soon after we entered the town we came to the Albergue. It was soon after 11:00 when Graziano and I arrived, with the others arriving about 30 mins later. The Albergue does not open until 12:00 so went across the street for a café con leche while we waited in the shade.

Graziano told me he has walked several Caminos already. He retired at 57 (we should have lived in Italy if you can get a pension at 57) and is now 61. He has a daughter but is separated from his wife. He lives in Trento, in the north of Italy. A very friendly person.

The Albergue opened and all 5 of us registered. Here the price is "donativo" (donation please) where the guideline in €5.00. Of course there is plenty of room since they have 28 beds so were able to spread out again - what a luxury. I showered and washed the few things I had but it was not much since the señora yesterday had washed and dried everything on the washing line yesterday. However when I put the clothes on this morning they were stiff and probably still had soap in them so I washed them again today and hung them out in the sun. With a nice breeze and low humidity they will be dry in no time.

How many of you still do your washing this way?

I also hung my sleeping bag out to air. Last year the weather was generally bad and it was not possible. By the end of the Camino after more than 30 days of use it was more than ready for the washing machine (TMI).

Reinhard suggested we go for lunch between 2 and 3. I forgot he is German and I was not ready at 2:01 when he said he about to leave and set off. I had some washing which was already dry to put away and by the time I was a ready he had disappeared. I found him further down the street since the restaurant he had proposed was closed, so we went to another one, further away. The lunch was good, just 3 of us since the others were not hungry yet.

Linch was, as usual, the pilgrim menu with 3 courses plus drink. I chose soup, venison stew and flan plus beer and bread. All for €8.00. It was fine (no picture of the soup since it was watery soup with croutons.). There are Sabine and Reinhard. Graziano and Linda didn't want to go yet.

When we returned to the Albergue more peregrinos had arrived on bikes. Three from Italy and two from Germany. Of course they cover much more distance per day than we do on foot. So now 10 of the 28 beds are filled.

No wifi at the Albergue, the café we were at earlier or at the lunch place so yesterday's blog and Viber call to Christa will have to wait.

Took a siesta (nap) after lunch and then went to find the "supermarket" which is a one room shop that sells everything. Got some bottled water for my camelback since the tap water tastes bad even if they claim it is agua potable, and some Aquarious (Gatorade) to add some electrolytes. The hot air is so dry that it does feel as if I am sweating but when I drink 2 liters of water and don't need to p...., it must be going somewhere!. Anyway I feel good except for a few aches and pains that will get better each day as we walk.

Tomorrow's route to the next town where we could stay would be more than 30 km with the first 16 along a highway. With the high temperatures,four of us decided to take a taxi for this section and join the Camino again where it then enters the El Berrocal Forest Park, "one of the most magnificent walking areas in the whole way". Graziano will walk the whole way which he expects will take about 9 hours.

Tomorrow is William's 4th birthday and I wish him a wonderful day and many many more. HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILLIAM.

 

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Camino Via de la Plata - Seville to Guillena Day 1

The night was as bad as the first night. People talking at the tops of their voices outside our window until 2am, people coming and going in the room with plenty of door slamming. Also it is hot in the room and even a sheet is too much. All this had even me challenged to get much sleep. I had set my alarm for 6:00 but a girl across the room had set hers for 5:45 and couldn't find how to turn it off! It made my early start easy and I finished my packing, brushed my teeth and went to see there was coffee and toast yet since breakfast is normally from 7:00 am. I was in luck and was ready to leave by 6:30 am.

It was still dark but I knew the way to join the Camino in the city and by reading my guidebook under street lamps and following the Camino arrows I made my way out of the city.

The way was well marked and it first went through an area that was farmland at one time but now has abandoned buildings and scrubland along a canal. It was all rather depressing. I was also aware that about a year ago a pilgrim was robbed at the point of a knife in this area so I had taken precautions not to have all my money in one place and to split credit/debit cards into more than one place. Nothing unforeseen happened and soon it was daylight with sun coming over the horizon. It promises to be another 99°F day.

I had over 2 liters of water with me today but that adds a lot of weight to my backpack. I hoped it would be enough. The container will hold up to 3 liters but this adds more than 6lbs, at least until you drink it. After about 45 minutes I caught up another peregrino. He is from Italy and started a week earlier in Cadiz. We walked together for a while and then he stopped for something but since the heat was building I kept going. I didn't want to wait for the sun to get higher if possible.

The days distance to Guillena is about 22km but feels like much more due to the heat. I kept a steady routine of drinking but I decided moving slowly and steadily was the best plan.

Soon after Seville we came to the little town of Santiponce. There are some extensive roman ruins there which my book told me are worth a visit. The emporors Trojan and Hadrian were born there, but it is closed on Mondays. We walked right through the town where the street was lined with orange trees with quite a lot of fruit on them. I suppose they are Seville (bitter) oranges but none were low enough to pick and sample.

It wasn't long before the Italian caught up with me again and then overtook me. We spent some time walking along the side of a busy road with no shoulder so had to constantly watch for traffic and breath the dust. By now the sun was well up in the sky and there was no shade. Finally we left the road and started down a long farm road. There was wheat, barley and sunflowers in very large fields. The wheat and barley looked ready for harvest but the sunflowers were not quite out yet. This road seemed to take forever. Dead straight with ups an downs and not a tree in sight. I had heard from others that there are streams to cross that sometimes are too deep and necessitate a detour, but I saw no water even though I crossed several channels that might have been full until a few weeks ago.

At one point there also olive trees. Is this called an olive orchard or an olive grove - help please!

Finally I arrived in Guillena, a small sleepy town of less than 8,000 inhabitants whose main business is farming. There are two Albergues, a municipal one and a private one. I chose the private one which the book said was nicer. It is small with only 13 beds in 3 rooms. I checked in, got my stamp, paid my €12 which includes breakfast and clothes washed and was shown to a room with 5 beds. I chose the single (not bunk), took a shower and sat down to recover in the cool air conditioned house. What luxury! I then went and found a supermarket to get some sports drinks (called Aquarius) which seems to be the Spanish equivalent of Gatorade but without color, and a couple of bananas. I had some leg cramps last night which can be relieved by whatever is in bananas and since I haven't eaten fruit or salad since I arrived in Spain I bought 2 bananas and ate one as soon as I got back to the Albergue, and the other one later.

I was still the only one here and the señora told me she was going to lunch since it was now 1:15 and she didn't expect any more peregrinos. She also told me where I can get a 3 course meal for €6. I decided to try it later since she said the place "Hogarth Del Pensionista" is open from 9:00 am to 10:00pm. When the weather is hot they always arrive early. I was now in charge! Fortunately no one showed up while i was alone but she came back from lunch with 3 more people who just need to meet at the door and who she assigned to a different room so I still have a room to myself unless more show up (unlikely). One from Quebec, one from Koblenz, and the other from Berlin. So now my German gets used as well

Soon I was ready for lunch, the others were still resting so I went for my €6 meal. It started with salad, then grilled pork, and finally crime caramel along with 3 beers. All was good and I didn't need any more. While I was there Sabine (Berlin) showed up for lunch and after she finished the other two as well. We sat on the terrace and although it was hot there was a breeze and no humidity.Back to the Albergue to start the blog. I also called Christa and we had a nice chat.

Delicious olives served withe beer.

Sorry, I forgot take a picture of the flan.

The day was a hard one even though we only walked 22km but I think the heat and the last 3 weeks without much training along with an extra 4lbs in my pack all have played a part. Tomorrow looks to be easier and is slightly shorter. Perhaps we will also find some shade. We are all optimistic and decided we would plan to leave at 6:30.

Now the Hostaliera has left and we will not see her again but she gave instruction for making coffee and showed where the bread, butter and jam is to make our own breakfast. We were told to shut the door behind us.

 

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Camino Via de la Plata - Seville

Woke after a very interrupted night, had breakfast at the hostel (included) and at about 9:30 set out for the cathedral. I arrived about 9:50 and asked when there was a mass. They said 10:00 - perfect. There was a choir chanting psalms but soon the priest(s) came in, I counted 7 of them with not more than 100 people in the congregation. I could be wrong since this the 3rd largest cathedral in Europe so even a lot of people don't look like much. The mass was very nice with all the prayers and chanting (Gloria, Creed etc.) in Latin and the readings and prayers in Spanish. I was better with the Latin since I studied it for several years at school and we were given books with the music for the chants.

 

Here are some pictures from in the cathedral it is huge but the middle has a closed area with the choir and organ so it is very difficult to get a good picture. The layout is similar to Léon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the high altar but I don't think it ever used these days. Our service used an altar at the front the choir stalls.

After the mass I looked for somewhere to get a sello (stamp) in my pilgrim credential (passport) which allows me to stay in pilgrim Albergues (hostels). It took a while but eventually I found the right place and now I am ready to go!

 

 

 

 

 

No way to get far enough away for a good picture

 

I left the cathedral area I next went to visit the Hospital de la Caridad, a place, founded in the 16th century for the poor and sick. It was founded by Miguel Mañura who has since been nominated as a saint for his good charitable work. It was interesting and the buildings were nice. I think it is still used for the same purpose since I saw some people in wheelchairs and with missing limbs through a gate which was closed to visitors. Basically we were allowed to visit the church and two of the courtyards. Here are some pictures. One of the arches is remains of a structure built in 1252.

 

 

 

 

By now it was getting hot and I had forgotten my hat so I stayed in the shade as I headed back to the hostel.

 

 

On the way I took some pictures of the bull ring with crowds arriving for the afternoon bullfight (been ther done that years ago in Valencia) and of the river. I did some washing and hung it out to dry in the sun and sorted out my belongings. Since I arrived late yesterday everything was very disorganized. I also finished my blog and thought I had posted it but later realized I had not, but it should be there now.

 

 

Here is the entrance to the hostel

 

With my hat, I then went out to look for a pocket knife and a scallop shell. I was successful wither first at a Chinese shop (there are lots of them even if their Spanish is worse than mine). They also speak no English. What is the Chinese for scallop shell? I believe in Spanish it is concha but even the Spanish people here are unfamiliar with the Camino (so far). Later I will try around the cathedral.

It was now time to look for somewhere to eat. It was nearly 3:00 pm. I found a small place near the hostel and had an excellent lunch of braised beef and very greasy fries. Now I won't need dinner. I saw that the restaurants open mostly at 9:00 pm. With the current temperatures, today the thermometers were saying (37F or 99C). I need to start early and get to me destination early since the afternoons are too hot to walk. I have packed most of my backpack and included a lot of water. I don't want to run out even though I expect to find some villages on tomorrow's route where I could by some if necessary but I won't risk it.

We were down to 3 people in the room this morning but this afternoon replacements arrived so we are full again with 6 people. Today is the last day of the Seville festival and there are people in costumes all over town. I will head down there later today. I think it is about a 20 minute walk from here. It will be more comfortable this evening. With very low humidity it cools off nicely in the evening.

 

This is the street the hostel is in. Not much room but motor bikes love to drive fast through here at night right outside the open window

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of these all over the city. It is the Seville spring festival, ends. Today

I thought I had better find out what the festival is.

Basically it seems to be literally hundreds of these booths each serving drinks and tapas. There are streets and streets of them set up in an open area. I was there at about 7:00 pm and it was just starting to get underway. Most of the booths were still empty. The sun does not set until about 10:00 pm and it is very hot during the day so only tourists are out in the afternoon. Everything else shuts down. I think it is a kind of Spanish Octoberfest.

There were also dozens of these carriages taking people for rides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I stopped on the way back to the hostel for a beer but was glad to be back. Sightseeing on your own is not much fun, especially not in the heat. I got lost after walking through the Jewish quarter and my map was no help because they don't seem to like putting up the street name signs and my map only had a few street labels on it none of which were the same as the occasional street sign. I am surprised at how well I am doing with making myself understood, especially since very few people speak any English. Seville has been interesting but it is not what I came for and I am looking forward to getting away from the noise and the traffic and spending time in the country and the small towns and pueblos (villages).

Now to bed for an early night. I want to leave early tomorrow before it gets too hot. Sunrise is at about 7:00 so a 6:30 start would work. I don't want to miss Camino signs in the dark.

 

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Camino Via de la Plata - Travel to Seville

Friday May 9, the day of departure has arrived. Yesterday I said goodbye to Christa, Ben and Helen in Nashville and flew to Richmond. The evening before we had attended the Wednesday evening light supper and service at Helen's church. After the service the Pastor had called me forward for a blessing on my pilgrimage. It was very meaningful. After the blessing severalele asked me about the journey including how do I stay in touch with family and do I take photos. I told them that I try and blog each day adding pictures which I take with my iPhone and magically they go to the cloud and then arrive in my iPad. Rather like prayers which we offer to heaven and then they return in response to our prayers! The pastor thought that was very neat! The few days in Nashville were very nice and I enjoyed playing and going for walks with William.

But back to my journey. I find descriptions of plane trips and the various things that can go wrong are generally not very interesting so please bear with me in this blog. I hope that future ones will be more interesting. As I was at home this morning getting my gear together and my backpack stuffed I got a text message from the airline saying that my flight from Richmond to Washington was delayed by 90 minutes. This made my connection to London very doubtful and since it was still 5 hours before my flight was due to leave I thought that further delays or cancellation were very likely. When I called the airline I was told that it was too late to try and catch the earlier flight to Washington.

I finished my packing and then looked on line to see what other flight options there might be and I saw that the earlier flight was now also delayed for about 3 hours so I called Sarah and asked if we could go to the airport as soon as possible rather than for the 3:00pm flight. She and Caleb were there very quickly. Friday is her day off. I was able to get a seat on this flight. I think it was the last one since it was the very back row of a small plane almost sitting on the toilet because the door would not stay shut but it was only about a 35 minute flight. The flight finally left at about 1:30, 3 hours late but I was actually in Washington earlier than planned.

So now I am waiting for my flight to London. There is supposed to be wifi here but it is so slow that I can't even get my emails, let alone photos or try and post this.

Later: Flight was fine - full plane but I had a good seat and we arrived on time. I was asked to check my backpack at the gate since the bins were all full so I quickly put it in its bag and left it at the door of the plane. It was safely there on the carousel at Heathrow with the bag still in good shape. Took the bus to Gatwick and settled for a long wait with a good breakfast. Managed to get 45 mins of free wifi to send a couple of e-mails, the rest will have to wait until I am in Seville with proper wifi. Weather here is cold and a steady drizzle; very different from 90F in Richmond and a forecast 98F in Seville.

I feel rather proud of my shoes with the new laces. It will make it difficult for anyone to take them by mistake in the morning as people are in the Albergue are getting ready to leave.

 

 

 

 

I had left my backpack in the "left luggage" place since it was such a long wait until my flight but finally I was able to check it in (2 hours before departure with Ryanair). The bag should be fine for one more flight but I don't think it will be worth taking with me for the return. It is doing well considering it weighs almost nothing and only cost $1.00 at the Dollar Store. It is the perfect size for my backpack.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally time to leave and after a smooth flight we landed in Sseville at about 8:00 pm. Very nice temperatures in the 80's, low humidity. Immigration and luggage plane and then to a transport service I had booked with Ryanair to take me to the hostal. Checked in and was assigned a bunk in a room of 6 beds.

On the way from the airport the streets were full of people, many of the women wearing traditional costumes and horse drawn carriages taking people around. This is the final weekend of the "Seville Fair". After I had settled in, set up wifi and talked to Christa, went out to look for something to eat. It was 10:00 pm and the streets were still full - after all, this was a Saturday night in Spain. I found a Cervezaria with an empty table outside only about a block or so from the hostal. Ordered a beer and some food but I was not sure what I was going to get.

It turned out to be slices of pork loin with a tasty sauce and fries. Rather salty, but a second beer took care of that!

Then back to the hostal, another call to Christa and to bed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The night was not peaceful. Despite only six beds in the room there were people coming and going all night, each time with the door banging and muffled voices. There was never a time when we were all there at the same time, the first one packing and leaving at about 4:30 am and the last one arriving back for the final time at about 5:30. I got some sleep in between but not what I really needed after the night before on the plane to London. I will have to join the locals this afternoon for a siesta!

There some people sitting at the next table wearing there Spanish costumes. It felt as if we were in a scene from "Carmen" which is, after all, set in Seville.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's all for now. Will follow up later after a day exploring Seville. I plan to start my walk tomorrow.

 

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