In Real de la Jara

I just had the most beautiful 16 km (10 mile) walk that you could imagine. It was sort of like "old McDonald" land. From the time I left Almaden till I got here, I saw two farmers, about 25 chickens, maybe 100 goats (and babies) and hundreds and hundreds of pigs. The walk went from farm to farm, you had to open and close gates to go through the land, and it was very pastoral. The evidence of humongous spring rains is everywhere -- some of the ruts or gulleys are two or three feet deep, lots of erosion everywhere. But luckily, it's all gone now, there were only a couple of spots where I had to walk carefully across streams on rocks. The scenery is beautiful and very calm.

I've read about crowding on the Camino Frances and even here on the Via de la Plata. Well, here there are goups (one group of 14 French cyclists, a group of 6 Germans who sometimes walk, sometimes cycle, and have a huge van to carry their bikes and set up a folding picnic table for their meals), but in the four days I've been walking, I have crossed paths with only a couple of other walkers. I would enjoy some company, but as they say in Spanish, mejor sola que mal acompanada. And I realized how nice it was to have my eyes catch on a white blob on the ground, and then look to see that it was NOT toilet paper, but just fallen petals from the jara bushes.


There's a 14th century castle up on the top of the town, beautiful views all over the place. Tomorrow I will walk another short day, about 22 km, but then I'll get started on some longer walks.

I'm staying in a pension tonight -- I went to the albergue and learned that it didn't open till 4 pm. This pension is something else -- the woman's house looks like the inside of my backpack. There is stuff crammed everywhere, none of it belongs where it's stuffed, and I'm in a room with piles and piles of junk, a bathroom with cold showers, and a washing machine that doesn't work. But it's 10 euros a night so I can't complain.

Tomorrow there's no albergue either, and I have a reservation in another pension. But the day after that, I'll get back into the pilgrim swing of things!

Love to you all, L.