Day 14 Hinojosa del Duque to
Monterrubio de la Serena
29kms
This has been our longest day yet. It was, as usual, a
fabulous walk.
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| Spencer still dreams of being a sheep herder |
It was supposed to be 34 kms but the very last part was on asphalt so we decided to hitchhike the last 5 kms. We were picked up by a
truck driver who had just walked 200 kms to the Virgin Lourdes in France in
order to ask for the recovery of his sick wife. He made it to Lourdes, minus 2
toenails, several blisters and callouses, and his wife got better.
But.. the best part was arriving at this lovely little hotel, the attendant gave us our room key and told us that pilgrims stay free. Of all
the hostels we have stayed in, this was one of the best. It had a coffee maker,
bar fridge, air conditioning, big flat screen TV, big patio, nice view of an
old church.
I couldn’t believe we could stay for free.!! He mentioned that most
pilgrims go to the nearby church. Most churches have a parish house that
pilgrims can stay in for a donation but Spencer and I prefer to pay for a
hostel so we can have a private bathroom. So…… thinking that the room was
free we thought had better patronize the hotel by eating and drinking a lot. We
both ordered big meals, had wine for lunch and then left the guy a decent tip. Tipping
is something that doesn’t happen in Spain as most of the prices include tips.
After our afternoon siesta we came down and ordered more food and drinks, only
to pay our tab and discover we were charged for the room. Oops…. We
misunderstood the guy, I don’t understand how, but something went wrong. Both Spencer and I
heard the guy say the room was free for pilgrims. In the end, we spent way more money than we should have.
Live and learn.
The other thing that surprises us both is that every little
village has some sort of cathedral. Every one of them has been very impressive.
Day 15 Monterrubio de la Serena to Castuera 19kms
I can see why many people choose not to do this camino, the distances between villages are long. On
the more popular Camino Frances, in the north of Spain, you have many villages along the way and
one can choose how long you want to walk, where you want to have coffee,
breakfast or lunch. On this camino, there is no or very little choice. Except,
for today, … we only walked 19kms and came to this wonderful little village of
Castuera. (we had a choice to go on
another 17kms or stay)
We decided to
stay because we were still tired from yesterday’s long haul but also because why
not??….we have the time. I so glad we did because we went to a little bar and
one of the old guys said he would show us a treasure. He took us to an old
palace, of which he had the key. He showed us a hiding place for those who
opposed the Dictator Franco during the
years of the Spanish Civil War, 1936 to 1939. The room had a fake door in the wall. When the door was first made, it was apparently undetectable but it has aged differently over time.
This door led to the hiding room. There the rebels did drawings on the walls
to keep themselves entertained. The drawings are still there.
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| one of the many drawings done in hiding |
This little town
has so much history, right from the Romans to the present day economic crisis.
It is also the birthplace of Pedro Valdivia, the discoverer of Chile.
I remember from my history classes that many of the Spanish conquistadors were from this area. I think it is because this harsh climate breeds tough men.
Although I must say, the weather is much cooler, today will only be 28. That
almost sounds cold. We left this morning at 6am and needed to put on a light
jacket for the first time. It was so refreshing.
We have now done almost 300 kms, that is 1/4 of our journey. Hard to believe!!
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