10. Granada to Pinos Puente

Last evening, we discovered the best empanadas we have ever tasted! Exhibit 1 is the salmon and cream cheese, with almond eyes. Exhibit 2, not recorded for posterity, was the goat’s cheese and caramelised onions. Definitely worth a trip to Granada!!

Thus fuelled overnight, we set out this morning through the cobbled streets of central Granada, past more huge churches and ever in search of the yellow arrows that would lead us out of town.

Walking out of any large city on a weekday morning is a complicated affair. There is the hustle and bustle of traffic and other pedestrians to negotiate, as well crossing major roads and railway lines. 

From the classy city centre we moved into the urban sprawl with its mix of apartments, shops, businesses and schools. We were impressed with this plastic recycling project in the front yard of a small school, educating the community about plastics in the ocean. Here used bottles can be placed for recycling into a big wire fish.

Gradually this urban sprawl gives way to stretches of agricultural activity. But the footprint of the city seems to impact these parts - rubbish was blown and strewn along the roadsides, the drains were full of muddy smelly effluent. Independently we were each reminded of lines from Gerard Manly Hopkins’ poem, ‘God’s Grandeur’ - 

Generations have trod, have trod, have trod; 

and all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;

and wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil 

is bare now, nor can foot feel being shod.

Just as Deb noted yesterday the complexity of the history of Granada and the Alhambra - a violent and oppressive empire producing the beauty we now admire, so there’s a contemporary complexity/ contradiction in the impact of our modern way of life on the life of the world. Walking these pilgrim routes takes you through and confronts you with it all (and with the reality of being a part of it all). 

These early agricultural stretches were punctuated by a couple of quite busy satellite towns, each asserting its identity in different ways. Here, for example, through quite dramatic street art. 

We mentioned the other day that we hadn’t seen much evidence of bull fighting, but today we’ve seen many of these posters advertising an event tomorrow, so maybe the season is just hotting up.

More tunnels and street art.

So here we are in Pinos Puente, going through our usual post-walk routine of finding accommodation, showering and washing clothes. In some cases, such as here, where there are no washing lines and nowhere to string a line, we have to be creative!! This is the time honoured underpants hanging from boots tied to the window sill method!!

This evening we are eagerly anticipating the arrival of Alba from Barcelona. Readers of the blog will know that Alba was a lifesaver for us on the Camino Primitivo when Neil needed special medical attention after his fall. She is joining us to walk for a couple of days, having travelled especially from Barcelona to Granada and then out here to meet us. And here she is!!

Tomorrow is a shortish stage but with a real kicker climb at the end. Bring it on!!

Buen Camino 

Neil and Sarah