Day 26: El Cubo del Vino to Villanueva de Campeán

The best laid plans... You know the rest. Well today was supposed to be a day of 32km all the way up Zamora. However it was not to be. Yesterday, my Google articles feed had told me there was suspected Coronavirus in Montamarta, the next village stop after Zamora. Today, while I was on the road, that was not only confirmed but also that the main person infected had died. RIP. That made me decide immediately that I could not go as far as Montamarta, so it meant shortening this leg by two days. The other thing was the weather. Today was even hotter than yesterday. Already yesterday I had got somewhat burnt on my arms and neck and forehead. Today, even at 9am as I set out the sun was powerful and burning. The third consideration was that Simon had had to pull out today because of blisters and went ahead to Zamora by bus. 

So, as I was walking today all of these considerations were bring mulled over in my head. Today's walk was, however, very pleasant. Leaving El Cubo del Vino, past the church, the Camino follows a track next to the defunct Plasencia-Zamora railway line. The countryside round about was green and undulating and distinctly similar to England. After a while leaving the old railway line, the pathway passed through farm land to right and left, and little by little small vineyards appeared. The sandy path led me, in 14km, to the village of Villanueva de Campeán. This was to be the end of the journey today. Over a light lunch of omelette and salad with the TV in the corner telling of the latest increase in infections in Spain, and the cancellation of the Fallas in Valencia, I decided to cut the day short, because of the heat, and the leg short, because of the coronavirus situation. There are always more chances to pick up on lost time. So I got a lift into Zamora and planned the return home.

So that's it for this leg. I managed 125km in six days and am within sight of the end of the Via de la Plata part of the Camino. I think it's wise to sit out the rest of the coronavirus crisis back home. So my plan is to return in the autumn to take up this Camino again. 

Day 25: Calzada del Valdunciel to El Cubo del Vino

Not every day can be exciting, and today's walk was certainly not. The Spanish mobile phone app which I use states it rather well when it says that the route is 'somewhat monotonous'. Most of the way follows the by now unique A66 motorway and our old friend the N630. 

After Mass and breakfast, leaving Calzada, saying farewell to our friendly hospitalero Oscar, we immediately took the bridge over the stream and in to the Via de la Plata. After my experiences with streams along the way, I was rather glad that the stepping stones, which are on show next to the stream, have been replaced by a bridge. Some of the stepping stones were obviously taken from original Roman mileposts, because of their shape. 

The pathway today was mostly gravel and pressed earth,  mostly flat but undulating especially towards the end. The weather was sunny and quite warm, with the temperature rising above 20 degrees. 

There were very few features on the way. A little chapel was about the only thing. I managed to contain my excitement over passing into a new province - Zamora - having walked the length of Salamanca. It is also a new diocese. It makes this the fifth province (Seville, Badajoz, Cáceres, Salamanca, Zamora) and sixth diocese (Seville, Mérida-Badajoz, Coria-Cáceres, Plasencia, Salamanca, Zamora) to walk in.

The end of today's walk is the village of El Cubo de la Tierra del Vino, to give it its full name. Literally it means "the bucket of the land of wine". While this may sound like an invitation to a lack of sobriety, one has to understand the origin of the name. Cubo probably originally referred to a tower. And the land of wine to the fact that historically this was a place of wine production. A bout of phylloxera in the nineteenth century wiped out the vines and they have never returned. The town also might be the Roman town of Sabaria. The welcome was warm as we arrived at the Albergue, greeted by hospitaleros Berto and Loli. I have heard how great a cook Loli is, so look forward to dinner tonight.

Day 24: Salamanca to Calzada de Valdunciel

Having a shorter day interspersed among the other days is a great advantage and helps recuperation. So today was the third shortest day so far of the Camino, at 16.8km. So the day started slowly. There was no rush to make headway. 

And so, after a very good night's rest, a 'breakfast of kings', consisting of cured Iberic ham on toast and a strong coffee, we mooched around the town a little seeing some of the key sights: the Cathedral, the Pontifical University where I studied for two years, and the Plaza Mayor once again. Then bag packing, buying a stick (I've felt the need for something to help with streams and hills), and concelebrating Mass at the Church of San Juan de Sahagún, before starting off once again on the Camino. 

The route out of town was typically prosaic, compared to the poetry of architecture and culture at the heart of the city. Passing the bullring, we were soon out of town, following the main Zamora road for the best part of the first section of today's walk, as far as Aldeaseca de la Armuña. Being a Monday, neither of the bars were open, but the little supermarket shop was, so buying a drink was no problem, and sitting outside the shop in the warmth of the sun was no hardship. 

The next section was following wide farm track to the village of Castellanos de Villiquera. The village could be seen from afar but took my daily twenty decades of the Rosary to arrive at. I had prepared myself for the disappointment of another closed bar, but it was not to be so. Indeed, the Bar Capricho was more than adequate to provide a pincho of tortilla española, some chorizo, water and coffee. The clientele were entirely male and there was not one customer who didn't have an alcoholic drink. I'm not talking wine or beer. Maybe that's what it takes to live in some of these villages!

The last part of the journey was a gentle hour-long wander to the village of Calzada del Valdunciel. It's a tidy village with a very interesting church. We are staying at the Casa del Molinero, the Miller's house, renovated and owned by the very engaging and helpful Óscar. I'm also very grateful to Óscar's mother for doing my washing this evening too! There are lots of kind people on the Camino! Finally dinner at the restaurant attached to a truck stop just out of the village saw us share a dining room with a dozen or so truckers. As the owner said on our arrival: truckers and pilgrims are our people.

Day 23: San Pedro de Rozados to Salamanca

After yesterday's long day I had a slow start today. It was nice to have a leisurely breakfast before heading out on the road for a 24km walk. No sooner was I out of the hotel than I was on the way out of the village on the Camino track.

The first stop was at only 4km in the village of Morille. What's better than one breakfast? Two breakfasts! The Bar Martin provided the great ambience necessary. A log fire, complete with dog basking in front, and some truly rustic tapas, like braised cockerel combs were on offer. I went for a rather tame pincho of the Spanish Tortilla. A very pleasant stop in the way.

From Morille the first sight of Salamanca in the distance could be had. The rest of the day's stage divides in two equal parts of just under 10. The first part of the way was mainly through dehesa, enclosed farm land with trees. I was grateful of one of the oak trees which provided shelter in a brief 10 minute shower. Underfoot, it wasn't easy because of those small sharp stones on the pressed earth tracks. Eventually the pathway led to a farmhouse and the beginning of a wide and easy roadway. This led to the village of Miranda de Azán, which I had calculated was the halfway point on the journey. It was worth doing something I never do: a selfie next to the village signage. It feels good to be on the second half of the Camino. So much so, I had a hot pork sandwich...

The pathway into Salamanca was more of the same: a wide earth pathway, which narrowed as it began to ascend a typically Castilian flat-topped hill. Atop this hill is the pilgrim cross, where many pilgrims had deposited tokens of their visit. As the sign says on the cross, it is a materially poor cross, but full of sentiment, near to this half way point and with a great view of Salamanca, still 6km ahead. 

Like the entrance to all major towns, the outskirts are horrible. After walking over the rough ground between the motorway and the town, I entered the unattractive areas south of the River, passing the dominating HQ of the Civil Guard. It was however a reunion with an old friend: the N630!

The entrance to the city proper is over the Roman bridge, reminiscent of the bridge at the entrance to Mérida. Like Mérida, it's a long bridge for a small River, this time the Tormes. After the bridge the pathway climbs up to the Cathedral, first part the old Cathedral, then the imposing new Cathedral, joined to it. Part the Casa de Conchas, the Pontifical University and the medieval church of St Martin at the entrance to the famous Plaza Mayor. Here I met up with Simon who is joining me for the next five days.

After a late evening Mass at the eleventh century circular Templar church of St Mark, a good dinner overlooking the Plaza Mayor, where the Town Hall was lit in the colours of the Spanish flag, was the last thing I could manage before a good night's sleep.

Day 22: Fuenterroble de Salvatierra to San Pedro de Rozados

It's very annoying when things don't go to plan and so today I got annoyed with myself, for a moment of lack of attention led to a longer day than it should have been. More about that later though. 

The day started well enough. As I was packing to leave the guest house, the owner came across to say farewell. Now, I had worked out a plan for the day to go a little off piste, as the official route of today's walk is long (28km) and with nowhere to stop in between. There is an alternate route which goes in parallel to the main route but bypasses the large hill, the Pico de la Dueña, and provides two villages to stop of at for sustenance. This route, as described, does not lead to San Pedro Rozados. However, I saw a way on the map to get easily from the second village to San Pedro, where I aimed to stay. My mistake was to share this information with the guesthouse owner. He, wrongly, asserted that this would take me a long way out of the way. He sowed enough doubts in my mind that I decided to go by the route that included the hill.

So I set off from Fuenterroble, passing the little shrine church of Christ of divine help, and began walking along the evidently Roman Via de la Plata. The original mileposts and some of the original pavement are preserved on the very straight and persistent path through the Salamanca countryside of dehesa and grazing land, the Campo charro, beautiful and tranquil, but without notable features. On the first part of the walk two or three streams provided unwanted obstacles. Each was traversed without disaster, though on one or involved my taking off my backpack and throwing it to the other side, so I could get my balance on the stepping stones. Here I saw the advantage of those who carry a stick. One thing always to remember on the Camino is to remember to look backwards. Looking back towards Fuenterroble, there was a beautiful sunlit sight of the mountains I had walked between, dusted in snow. I took a video, but I can't work out how to upload it here.

After about 10km, first I came across an open field with bulls in it. And you know what Spanish bulls can be like in temperament. Fortunately these were in the company of ladies, and the cows usually calm them down. Still, I made sure I kept my distance and moved quickly without even looking at them. I was glad to get to the next fence. Leaving that field I passed some dehesa where there was a lot of shooting going on. Hunting for food is still very popular in rural Spain. I just hoped for no stray bullets!

The path began to ascend towards the great hill. As I ascended, I got closer to the power generating windmills, which I had seen from a distance back. Somehow I got distracted during this section of the walk. I seemed to be progressing towards the hill but after a while I realised of not seen a yellow arrow indicating the Camino for some time. However, the path was straight and seemed to be going in the right direction. Then I came to a junction, and again no arrows. Here I began to doubt, and rightly so. I continued on the path which was going in the right direction, thinking there must be some way of linking up with the correct route further on. I was wrong.

Some way back, I had missed a right hand turn, and pursuing the path I had taken, I ended out on a country path where there was a dead end ahead, and a pig farm on my right. The pig farm evidently had a path through it, but it was gated with severe warnings not to enter. I consulted my route map. I should be on a parallel path not far away, but to get back on it I would have to retrace my steps about 2km. There was indicated, however, an alterative cycle route avoiding the Pico, which would get me back on the Camino on the other side of the hill. So I decided to walk that. What the map didn't reveal was that, while a  more even path, this also was steep and almost reached the height of the Pico. I could have kicked myself. To say I was annoyed with myself was an understatement. In the end I added 5km to my already long journey, making it 33km. 

The annoyance with myself made it more difficult to make progress along the straight monotonous road which constitutes the last part of the route. Again more grazing land and no signs of civilisation, except one impressive Finca, with its grandiose farm buildings looking like a cross between a church and a castle. It's called the Finca de la Calzadilla de Mendigos which translates as the Estate of the little pavement of the beggars. There's a story behind that, but not one I wanted to discover at that moment. After a rest under a tree by the side of the road, I realised I had an hour and a half still to walk, and so I motivated myself and staying stepping out out, even as the road kept rising. Talking to myself and telling myself to keep going helped. Eventually, a sign, pointing up a green lane, indicating San Pedro was only 2km following the path. So far there was no sight of the village. I walked up the lane, and at the top, by now less than 1km from it, I saw the little village of San Pedro de Rozados, the most welcome sight of the day. 

Entering into the rural hotel, the VII Carreras, the lady was so pleasant in her greeting, inviting me to a drink of lemonade and showing me to my room. The shower was most necessary today, as was the good dinner which followed (I'd not eaten since the slices of toast at breakfast and coffee, and yet my Fitbit was telling me I'd burned up almost 4000 calories, so I had some latitude!). Having walked through the land of ham and preserved sausages, I thought it fitting to start with a selection of those things before the menu of the day of soup and meat, followed by the ubiquitous flan (creme caramel). The German and Swiss companions on the way were there eating too so we shared experiences and plans for the coming days. I gave them some tips on where to go and where to eat in Salamanca. All of this made me so sleepy, my head hardly hit the pillow, as they say. Certainly there was no doing the blog before sleep, so here it is...a breakfast time blog. 

Now for Salamanca, 23.5km away. Somewhere between here and there I'll pass the half way point of my pilgrimage.