Day 21: Calzada de Béjar to Fuenterroble de Salvatierra

Yesterday was my travelling day, and some journey it was too: a fourteen hour journey for to door, from my presbytery to the Albergue Alba Soraya in Calzada de Béjar. I'm grateful that all the connections worked: two trains and a bus, a plane, two coaches and a lift from Béjar. The lovely couple who run the hostel, Maxi and Manuela, ensured that I arrived in time for dinner. Already at the Albergue were other pilgrims who'd arrived for the night after a day of walking. Two from France, one from Germany, one from Switzerland, and one from Sweden. 

After a good night's sleep in one of the private rooms in the hostel - I don't do dormitories! - and a bit of breakfast I was ready to start day 21. I'm doing these three days of catching up to where I would have liked to have ended last time, had tiredness and a big blister not intervened. As it was not really part of the original plan, I'm doing these three days alone. That really changed the aspect of today. It was more like retreat than pilgrimage. 

Leaving Calzada there was a sign on one of the houses giving the km from Seville, which I think is accurate, and the km to Santiago, which is a little out. It is probably counting the km on the full Via de la Plata and then the French Way, rather than the Sanabrian Way. Anyway, it means I should pass the half way point on Sunday. One other thing I spotted was a rough and ready inscription above the door of one of the houses saying "Viva la fé Católica 1727". Looking at the state of The Church in most of these villages, it sounds like a cry from the past.

The Camino out of Calzada follows the Roman Calzada, or pavement road. Not much of the pavement remains though the straightness of the path gives a clue to its Roman origin. So too so the mileposts counting the distances between Mérida and Astorga. It's good that the two thousand year old infrastructure still exists and works. Thankfully the largest of the streams benefited from some new infrastructure: a bridge. The smaller streams were unbridged fords and required a bit of stone hopping. Fortunately, no wet socks this time!

The way today is either flat or a gentle uphill, rising 200 metres, or 600 feet, over the course of the day. The day's itinerary was nicely split up by two intermediate villages. After 8.5km there was Valverde, another 3.5km and I arrived in Valdelacasa. Both of these villages suffer the usual state of small villages in rural Spain: there was hardly anyone about. The village looked dead or dying. The bar in the first village was unappealing with just a couple of die-hard blokes, so just a coffee there. The bar in the second village was worthy enough for a bit of lunch. It is a day of abstinence, so just a small cheese bocadillo and a glass of water, followed by two strong coffees was good enough. Here in this bar I caught up with some of my new Camino pals too.

The last stage from Valdelacasa to Fuenterroble was much like the rest of the day and a further 8.5km, so it was 20.5km or 13 miles in total. That feels like a short day these days!

The village of Fuenterroble de Salvatierra, near Guijuelo, the ham capital of Salamanca province, seems to have a bit more about it. This village has mythical status for Camino pilgrims walking the Via de la Plata. It has a parish Albergue which is the model of Camino hospitality, founded and run by the Parish Priest, Fr Blas. It is donation only, and serves a community dinner. However, it is dorm only, so I booked at one of the very clean and warm Casas Rurales at the entrance to the village. There aren't many people around at this time of year so I have the house to myself. That helps for me to be able to use the main room for Mass. The Bar José, in the centre of the village, served me a good Lenten dinner of salad, fish and yogurt.

While I was going out to get dinner, I received a photo of the front and back pages of the Biddulph Chronicle, with the report on my Camino, written by the talented young reporter, James Connolly. Go out and buy one!

Part 4 of the Camino coming at the end of this week

Yes, I'm going out to Spain again this week to pick up again where I left off: Calzada de Béjar. It wasn't where I hoped to end the last section, but one day of tiredness making a short day desirable, and then a large blister making two further days impossible, mean I'm three days behind target. So I'm going out for eight rather than five days this time. I will be walking on my own for three days, from Calzada de Béjar to Salamanca. Then I'll be joined by Simon Deaville from Biddulph parish for the next five days from Salamanca to Granja via Zamora.

So far I've done about 440km. That's not yet half way. I will pass the half way mark, DV, on Sunday somewhere between San Pedro Rozados and Salamanca. The eight days I aim to do will cover the next 186km (about 115 miles). Granja is not quite two thirds of the way to Santiago - but we're getting there.

The plan will then be to rest from the Camino over the spring and summer and return in the autumn in two parts: a week at the end of September to start the Camino Sanabrés, from Granja de Moreruela to Puebla de Sanabria (which gives its name to this Camino) and then a second block of eleven days at the end of October to do the final section from Puebla de Sanabria to Santiago via Ourense. The latter part - five days from Ourense to Santiago - I'll be joined by a group of, at the moment, 14 other men including John Shuff (Jack's dad).

Please keep following the blog, and do feel free to leave a comment.

Day 20: Aldeanueva del Camino to Calzada de Béjar

In planning this section of the Camino I had thought of making it to Salamanca. In the end, it wasn't to be. Tiredness on the section from Cáceres was the first thing to intervene. Next, the size and tenderness of a blister such started to develop on Sunday had meant that today I've decided to end this third section of the Camino. After all, it's a pilgrimage and not a race nor an endurance test.

Today we began in Aldeanueva del Camino with Mass and a good breakfast of chocolate and churros. Andy Connell sent me a message to let me know that it was the feast of St Julian the Hospitaller, patron Saint of, among other things, pilgrims. After breakfast, we set out to leave the town passing over a bridge with a very lively stream which runs through the town down to the River Ambroz. 

The way today consisted of three parts. The first part is the least inspiring and somewhat tiresome, walking at the side of the N630. While not the busiest of roads, it is hard underfoot, and one has to be aware of the speeding vehicles passing quite close. Also the detritus of years of littering makes the side of roads unpleasant, and the sites of closed defunct businesses that thrived on what was, previously, the main road North-South in this Western part of Spain, but has been supplanted in these last fifteen years by the motorway, make a sad sight. The 9.5km walk to Baños de Montemayor, the last town in Extremadura, is a gentle uphill. The town itself promises to be interesting, with lots of hotels and restaurants in this Roman thermal spa town. Whether it's not the season, or simply that the town has gone the way of so many places on this route, the place was deserted except for a few stalwart locals, and it was hard enough to hunt down the omelette and salad which we eventually found in a bar on the old main road.

The second section of this day's walk promised to be the most taxing, for we had to pass from the region of Extremadura and the province of Cáceres into the region of Castilla-León, and the province of Salamanca through the Béjar pass. While both the N630 and the motorway and their way up to the pass, the Roman pavement which the Camino follows is straight up the hill and over the top. I'm the end, it wasn't so had, and the views were the great reward. From above we could see the Baños reservoir which we had walked past but had been hidden from view. One final look back into Extremadura and we walked into a new region, province and Diocese. 

Once through the pass, and a lemonade and a packet of crisps consumed, we embarked on the third section of the way: 9km to Calzada de Béjar. Passing the Albergue and town of Puerto de Béjar on the right, we followed the Roman road down into a beautiful green valley. The motorway passed away above our heads, unable to see the beauty of the valley, reminiscent to me of the Wye valley, with steep sides and the gurgling of the River below. Descending all the way down into the bottom of the valley, we passed over the River Cuerpo de Hombre (an oddly named River, meaning 'Body of Man') by way of the Magdalene bridge. From there it was a continuous rise up to the pueblo that time forgot: Calzada de Béjar. The smoke for air and the rather run down aspect of the buildings strong the centre of the small village make you feel you have travelled through time to a different era. The welcome was exceptionally warm at the Albergue, the owners of which also owned the casa rural where we were staying. Reunited with our friends from the Camino, Ian and Jonah, we had a dinner of simple fare and good, quite serious, conversation. 

Looking at my blisters, this will be the final stop, and tomorrow it will be a bus into Salamanca, with a promise to return, on foot, next month.

Day 19: Finca de Ventaquemada to Aldeanueva del Camino

The day started away from the Camino, in the beautiful town of Plasencia. It was market day, and the smells and sights of farmhouse cheese and chorizo was certainly a pull to stay. But, after breakfast, it was back to the farmhouse at Ventaquemada to begin again. As soon as we arrived, we met two new fellow pilgrims. Jonah from California and Peter from Nijmegen had started the day at daybreak from Carcaboso, so were walking almost 40km today. 

The first part of the walk was through dehesa and farm land. After 6km we arrived at the tuned Roman city of Cáparra. Since crossing into Extremadura back on day 5, we have been following, or sometimes ignoring, or sitting on, the stone, it sometimes metal, blocks indicating the way. The top of each of these shows a yellow pathway going through an archway. This archway is the arch of Cáparra. So a photo was obligatory. The arch is the only thing which remains standing of the city, which was, in its day, a bustling market town. 

Once back on the Camino, we walked through more dehesa which had a number of streams. Sitting by one of them, we met up with our New Zealand friend Ian. Fortunately he was there to help us cross the streams, as without holding on to his walking pole I'd have gone backwards into the water. Despite having two dry weeks, there was a lot of water around and a great deal of waterlogged earth. The mountains to the right, and later on the sides, were breathtakingly beautiful, with little villages nestling in their folds.

As we approached our old friend, the N630 road, we decided to follow that way and save 1.5km of walking. The ascent of about 7km up to Aldeanueva by road was tough, especially with what turned out to be a large blister on the back of my left heel. We were joined on the road by Jane and Richard from Cumbria, whom we had first met just outside Cáceres. We finally arrived at the Luna apartment, a very comfortable place to stay. After Mass, we joined some of our fellow pilgrims for a simple 10 euro dinner. The owner of the bar-restaurant was very interested to talk about the state of the villages and their lack of life... But that's another story.

Day 18: Galisteo to Finca Ventaquemada

Today was a day of two halves. The first half was walking on the road out of Galisteo to Carcaboso. The second half was the much more pleasant walk across farm land to the end of our day's walk at the Ventaquemada. This latter is not so much a place as a house. There are no albergues or services there but it was convenient as the end of a stage of 22.8km.

This morning was quite foggy, and so, emerging from the pensión at 10.30am, it was hard to see too far. The Roman bridge below the town is just visible in the photo, but looking back to the town to see the walls was impossible. 

The first section of the walk is on minor roads which are quite quiet, but which some people used to get up a bit of speed. It is these parts of the Camino which feel the most dangerous. In just over an hour at arrived at the small village of Aldehuela del Jerte, where, being a Monday, there was no coffee to be had. So after a brief sit down, we ploughed on to Carcaboso. The countryside looked very familiar an not unlike England. On arrival at Carcaboso, having passed the church, dedicated to St James the Apostle, and the Plaza de España, with its fountain feature, we found a place for dinner lunch. After tortilla and chorizo I can do most things.

Afterwards we regained the Camino and began to walk in the sun along beautiful pathways, with long views to distant hills. After about 4km the Camino entered a series of beautifully serene dehesas, at first climbing then following the way through shaded groves of cork trees and Holm oaks. The distant mountains provided a contrast to the undulating terrain we were walking through. Passing through farms we eventually arrived at the road and the Ventaquemada. From here we were collected by taxi to go to the Roman Cathedral city of Plasencia, where we spend the overnight.