Late starts are becoming a habit. Today it was nearly 8.30am when I set off to cover the eleven miles to Zefra under an overcast sky. The cool weather made for fast walking, mostly along a hardened mud track winding through a patchwork of green and brown; small fields of vine and crops, arable and olives. The frustrations of the first week seem far behind me now that I find myself daily in countryside. My body has slipped into that easy and timeless rhythm of walking and, like slipping on some old and well fitting clothing, there is a sense of rediscovering a lost comfort. Walking is an activity that anchors you into the landscape through which you travel; its sounds and smells and sights keep pace with your senses as you count the miles off in hours rather than minutes. It is something you will never capture when watching the same journey through a car window in a world that has been bulldozed and tarmaced for speed.
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| Sunrise, Calzadilla |
After two hours I caught my albergue colleagues who had set off earlier and we walked together until the tiny village of Puebla de Sancho Perez, only two miles from Zafra, where I stopped for coffee. Not long after I was in Zafra itself. I had opted for a short walk today because I had heard good things about the town and I wanted time to explore it. I was not to be disappointed. Zafra old town is a web of narrow, white and car-free streets, cramming in a dominant red-stone church. I followed my nose and the shade, came across two linked and cafe lined plazas where I stopped for lunch, and then headed back to today's albergue, an interesting turreted building. It was once an art school and it tells; the walls are covered in an eclectic mix of paintings and decoration while our bunks are in what was the well lit studio with it’s windowed turret overlooking the street below.
I am now sitting at a bar enjoying an (alcohol free) beer while trying to decide on dinner from its simple menu. Football is playing out on the television on the wall above and the occasional cheer and gasp from others in this busy place suggests it is an important match. My focus however is on deciding a plan for the next couple of days.
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| Albergue, Zafra |
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| Zafra Plaza |
Sounds great and that you are enjoying the trail now, as opposed to the industrial route behind you. Not sure about your 'beer' choice, a cold Estrella Galicia is my preference, although you can probably only get Estrella Damm at the moment, totally different companies, the Galicia, in my view being superior. Salud!
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