Today was a day of visiting villages. The first village on the way was Calzadilla de Tera, which was sizeable enough, but with very little to recommend it. What I mean is: it has no bar! It has three churches, however. The old church, which is falling down; the new church, which is ugly; and the little chapel or hermitage, which is obviously the most loved. I sat in the square for a while, before moving on to the next village which was very near: Olleros de Tera. This is a village for the most relaxed people as nothing seems to open before 12 noon. I waited for the bar to open and was rewarded with a warm welcome and a very nice plate of grilled sweetbreads which the lady of the house cooked with evident expertise.
The bar owner came out to the road afterwards to ensure I was set on the right road to take up the Camino again. By this time the sun had become quite powerful as I set out along the way which was marked by a very old sign. Not far along the path is the shrine church of Our Lady of Agavanzal. Right by the church was an elderly gentleman on a bike who greeted me. I had been trying to cover up against the sun, but he was of the opinion that it was quite cold. Nonetheless, he was very warm with his greeting and wanted to know how far I would walk today. He told me he had come to the shrine to pray for peace in the world. It is wonderful to meet such saints in day to day life.
The conflicting messages of the various painted yellow arrows as I approached the reservoir of Our Lady of Agavanzal offered the danger of ignoring the danger signs and following a shorter way through the woods or the long and circuitous route following a formerly tarmacked road. I took the safe option which eventually brought me down to the dam of the reservoir. Crossing the dam gave great views not only of the reservoir but also looking downstream beyond the hydroelectric station. The path then followed the edge of the reservoir. I could not help but have a suit down at the edge of the water. It was so tempting to take off my boots and dip my feet in the beautifully clear and chill water, but fear of blisters stopped me.
As I sat there, the clouds appeared and bright an end to be warmth of the sun. In fact, by the time I reached the next village, Villar de Farfón, it was quite chilly. In that village, the small hostel is run by a travelling evangelical missionary family. I stopped off for a cold drink, and soon realised how cold I had become.
I now only had six kilometres to walk to the next village, and the end of today's section. The path became a rocky sandy pathway firstly through dehesa and then through woodland. As the path rose up in height, I looked out over acre upon acre of similar mature woodland. Coming from a country where it is difficult to find such expanses of unpopulated and unspoilt landscape, I realised how not only Spain but also something seemingly so small as Zamora province is actually vast.
It was becoming evening when I finally arrived in Rionegro del Puente. True to its name it has a bridge. In fact, two. And also true to its name it has a river which is black not only in name but also, looking from above, in nature, as you might see from the photo. Tonight I am staying in the pilgrims' hostel as it is the only place to stay in this village. I joined up with my new Norwegian friend again and later we were joined by another pilgrim from Hungary. I feel like the tourist compared to a guy who does 50km days. But we each follow the Camino in our own way, and God finds his way to us in the midst of the Way.
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