This is our latest Spanish phrase. With the need for earlier starts and breakfast, we were casting around last evening for a bar/cafe that might be open in the morning.
We managed to find one for this morning (not in the photo) but our cunning plan was foiled in that the bread for our tostadas had not yet been delivered!! Alas, we had to settle for a coffee and half (each) of the slightly squashed banana we were carrying from yesterday.
We were out before dawn and it has to be said that there’s something special about walking out of a town at this time (once you get out of bed and packed!). All is quiet save for the occasional cock crow and the sound of our sticks and feet clipping along the cobbles. There is a general sense of peace and possibility. It’s a wonderful time of the day.
It wasn’t long before we were out in the country and surprise, surprise, we found ourselves walking through olive groves.
Here comes the sun 🎶
Birdsong was a feature of this stage throughout (and especially in the scattered clumps of eucalyptus along the way). We don’t know what species is most common, but it is a sparrow or swallow like bird with a very lovely song, prompting this haiku.
How to speak of birds
singing, without cliché? Sweet,
pierce, light, trill, tell, praise!
During the second half of the stage we more or less tracked beside the Rio Guadajoz, which is really just a creek in Australian terms. The birdsong reached a crescendo along this stretch of riverside trees. Sarah read yesterday that in many parts of Europe, weirs and dams (some old and out of use) are being removed to restore the natural flow and health of the rivers. We don’t think that’s the case here, but it was good to hear sounds of life by the river on the way into this town ‘del Rio’.
The final few kilometres was along an asphalt road, hot and hard on our feet. We arrived four hours after we set out (11am), which meant we were in our municipal albergue (the first since Granada) before the full heat of the day in this week of heatwave. So far again it looks as though we may be the only ones here.
Later we hope to find a good bar in the cooling evening!! Meanwhile, washed and showered, there is some catching up of sleep to be done!!
Buen Camino
Neil and Sarah 👣🧡
Tomorrow’s phrase: ¿Tienes aceitunas?
I've just caught up with your travels and am loving all the pictures!
ReplyDeleteSiesta are the best! Loving your blog, gracias! And your illumining photos. Sticks! 'Up sticks', you said in Granada and mentioned them here. What sort? Trekking, Nordic, or? (My Nordic poles accompany my daily walks* in cooler autumn sun. *By comparison? 'Short', repetitive local, <5km riparian zone needing ~regen after floods' serious mud and cutaways) Buen camino. Carol
ReplyDeleteHaha! Your new phrase brought back lots of memories from my 2014 Camino on the Via de La Plata. Yes, I had to learn that phase well because the few peregrinos around at the time (German and French) were always up at about 4:30 to beat the crazy heat. Out into the cooler dark and usually finished the stage by the heat of the noon day sun. Finding a place for breakfast was usually impossible and rarely was there a place for morning coffee. Good memories! My German friends John and Cordu who walked the route you are crossing some years back on their way to Santiago recently told me that you would find endless miles of olive trees. They said the trees were burned into their memories. Neil, when you reach the Plata you should see some beautiful cork trees to help change the scenery. Walk on peregrinos and enjoy!❤️Geoff
ReplyDeleteTienes aceitunas? Of course we do, they go brilliantly with squashed banana
ReplyDeleteWalking out pre dawn in that most beautiful quiet and light!! What a joyous substitute for bread… not as nutritious but certainly sustaining… At least, I hope, until you found a bar and tapas for lunch?! Joining you on your early morning and witnessing the light change from afar is almost as good as being there… and without the exhaustion! Good deal for us I reckon?! 😉🥰👣love, Deb
ReplyDeleteMiles and miles of olive trees, to the edge of the sky … KAS
ReplyDelete