Villafranca de Los Barros sights

Hello, everyone. 

We had a pleasant stroll around Villafrance and toured the Ethnographic Museum on the square. (It doesn't open until 7 pm after siedta.) They had a fascinating set of exhibits on prehistoric remnants in Extremadura. They also had several antique sewing machines, some hand-crank and some treadle models. They should really get new belts for the ones that have none.

A prehistoric tomb that was found near Almendralejo. (Diorama)

Embroidery worked by hand on a frame, by a lady of Villafranca de Los Barros. There was a short video, too, with an actress talking about needlework. She talked very well, but was clearly unfamiliar with a hand needle and floss. ;-)

The museum also had a fascinating exibit--probably temporary--of Lego Lord of the Rings dioramas.

The Battle of Helm's Deep, rendered in Legos and displayed on  flat surface. There were many dioramas, including the Black Gates of Mordor and the Ents going to war.

Today we walked 27 km to Torremejia. The weather was clear with a light cool breeze the whole day, very comfortable for walking.

Zafra, and then on to Villafranca de Los Barros

Hello, everyone. 

Yesterday we were tired and went to bed without making a post. We had walked to Zafra, and walked around looking at things, and after supper we just crawled into bed.

One of the beautiful chapel Altar pieces in Nuestra Sonora de la Candelaria in Zafra.

We stayed at the albergue in the former Franciscan convent. The hospitalera was very friendly and helpful with directions to things in the city.

Today we left the albergue at about 7 in the morning and headed on down the road through Los Santos de Maimona, passed about a half million of grape vines, olive trees, and almond trees, and arrived at Villafranca dexlos Barrose around 1:30 pm. En route we both saw a hoopoe sitting on a fence;as soon as he saw me reaching for my camera he took off.

Tapita we were served along with our manzanilla (chamomile tea) and soda.The pork sausage bits were very tasty! 

Fuente de Cantos

Hello, everyone.  

Today we took a wrong turn and walked about 5cextra kilometers. It happened when we crossed the line between Monasterio and Fuente de Cantos. There were large flocks of arrows, most pointing to the right along a road. There were also these spiffy granite cubes that had arrows and a graphic sculpture of the Arch of Caparra and their arrows pointed straight ahead into a pasture. Whoops.

In the end we found ourselves walking along a (newly asphalted) road for about 9 kilometers into Fuente de Cantos, our stop for the night. Strava tallied our walk as about 26 km, about 5 extra kilometers,  and we learned from locals that if we had followed the spray painted yellow arrows we would have had only the scheduled 21 km to do, and skipped that last hot stretch. 

Apparently the powers that be have been investing in marking a new, different walk that is said to stick more to the old Roman road, but adds mileage and also has some really long stages.

One of the granite cubes of the new version of the walk. It was explained to us that the new version is Via de la Plata, and the old version remains Camino de Santiago. 

Today, while we saw a lot of cattle and sheep--actually, cows and some calves and sheep--we didn't see pigs. We also left behind the beautiful Dehesa that reminds us so much of the Texas Hill Country.

Staying at a shared apartment in the beautiful Zaguan de la Plata in downtown Fuente de Cantos. 

Monasterio, and a little more about yesterday

Hello, everyone. 

Yesterday it was impossible to post from my phone as the wifi at our sleeping place was not working. 

We walked up to the restored medieval castle, viewed the town of El Real de la Jara, washed a lot of clothes by hand at the patio of our sleeping place, ate and went to bed.

Today we headed out at 0715 en route to Monasterio.

The famous pigs of the Dehesa, running to (maybe) their breakfast. There must have been more than 50 of them.

Complejo Leo, Spain's answer to Buc-cees! Excellent coffee, 2 restroom areas in the self-serve cafeteria, also anything a Spanish person might want for breakfast. Y'all should have seen all of the buses pulling in. There is also a 3 star hotel and a more formal restaurant. 

It rained off and on from when we left there until we reached Monasterio. We're staying in the municipal albergue Las Moreras tonight.

El Real de la Jara: 4th day's walking

Hello, everyone.

Today we left the very comfortable Casa Concha at 8 in the morning. Other pilgrims staying in Almaden de la Plata were planning to walk (run?) straight through to Monasterio today. I wish for them an enjoyable 35 kilometers of walking. (They seem to be doing this more for the athletic element than for the cultural, spiritual, or religious elements.) 

We walked the very beautiful 14 kilometers into El Real de la Jara, where we found a nice hotel room and, at the outer edge of the town, found a very pretty bar with a friendly owner. He clued us in to the after-siesta opening time around here: 1900 hours. (7 pm for those who don't use the 24 hour clock)

We have visited the medieval castle here and it was really neat. It has been restored so we were able to walk the circuit of the walls and read the explanatory signs.

Tomorrow we are planning to walk the 22 kilometers into Monasterio.

(Sorry for the lack of photos today, we couldn't make the wifi work and had forgotten to take photos with the Spain phone, which I am using to post today.)

3rd Day's walking

Hello, everyone. 

Last night we stayed at the municipal albergue in Guillena. The showers were warm, there is a kitchen and a dining area, also a rooftop clothesline setup. This is next to a pair of wash tubs. Of course you will have brought your own soap! (I got a small bottle of dish soap, it's doing nicely for all of my needs.) 

After a good night's sleep, we woke up, pack up up our stuff, and elected to take a taxi for the first 17 kilometers of the 28 kilometer day. We just aren't up to grade for a 28 km day that ends with some steep hill climbing yet.

The drive to the Finca de Berrocal was lovely, very reminiscent of roads in the Texas Hill Country. Lots of turns and ups and downs. When we were dropped off we walked over a number of gentle hills, culminating with the moderate climb up Cerro de Calvario.

The we descended into Almaden de la Plata, a lovely village. We stayed at Casa Concha here. 

Artwork in the restaurant. 

Not every church has color coordinated roof tiles and storks.

The sign board at Cerro del Calvario.

The afternoon in Almaden was quite warm, until it worked up a little rain storm and the temperature dropped. 

The first day's walking

Hello, everyone.  We started out early today and walked into the cloudy, rainy morning.  We actually put on our rain ponchos. Just as we did so,  the rain stopped. We walked almost the whole way with clouds overhead. 

This is one of the first Camino marks, near the Cathedral of Seville.