Sunday, April 16, 2023
Walking from Fuente de Cantos to Zafra
26.2 kilometers, 37,700 steps

The end of the walk today marked one complete week on the Via de la Plata route of the Camino de Santiago collection of pilgrimage routes leading to Santiago de Compostela. This was a day that started in a beautiful cool spring morning and ended with pain in my right foot and a dense fog of frustration in my mood. The walk itself was a little longer at just over 26 kilometers, and the day started cool. As day emerged, it became nothing short of a beautiful day walking through farmland green with growing crops.

Here we (Leonard, Jim, Baudouin, and Tom) are leaving Fuente de Cantos in the last darkness of early morning. Javier took this photo.

Just down the road, Javier took this photo from behind us with the yellow arrow on the right showing that we are on the Camino route.

When we got out of the town and into the farm fields, it was still dark, and a nice crescent moon was watching over us:

The sun rose and as we were out of town and into lush green farm fields, the landscape was very stunning in the early morning light just after sunrise.

The morning was beautiful, and I am very grateful to be walking in this stunning scenery. The expansive green fields lift the mood and at times I almost felt giddy in spite of a slightly growing pain at the ball of my right foot.

To my left was this field that from a distance seems to be poppys or something similar. Quite stunning.

Leonard and I tend to walk a little slower than Tom and Javier so we are behind them some distance. When Tom focuses on learning Spanish from Javier, his pace slows and we pass them. I took this photo of Leonard slightly ahead of me in the early morning.

Then I had Leonard take this photo of me still in my jacket – it is still very cool with occasional breezes.

We passed a vinyard in the early stages of growing this early spring:

Coming down a small hill, I saw Tom and Javier ahead of, seemingly deep in conversation.

We came to a small town to have a break. There was a beautiful stone church there that was closed. Almost nothing was open being that it is Sunday. We continued on to the next town to stop and eat what we had in our backpacks. For me it was a banana, a leftover roll (bread), and an apple.

Tom got this photo of Leonard and me on a bench in the town square resting before eating a late morning snack.

We soon got back on the road and into the expansive farm fields. Along the way we sometimes got a glimpse of red wildflowers that almost appeared to be poppies.

As the road continued to the right, we passed over a series of railroad tracks. These tracks were quite well-maintained and obviously in frequent use with new concrete ties, newly laid ballast, and continuous welded rail. The shine on the top of the rails indicates frequent use. I could not see an indicator on the side of the rail showing the weight of the rail; my guess is that this is 135 pound rail (135 pounds per yeard) indicating heavy freight mainline usage. These are not passenger tracks – all passenger trains in Spain use on electrified rail lines with an overhead power source. Here is a photo Javier took of he and Tom at the first railroad crossing.

And here is a photo Sharon took of her at the second rail crossing. she is all covered up to prevent sunburn.

After crossing the tracks and getting to the outskirts of Zafra, my right foot was hurting more than it had. I feared that the skin covering the large blister had torn away, leaving raw skin against my sock. This also meant a much longer healing time. I am fristrated and struggling with my emotions. I want to like this journey, but today it is very difficult as every step is painful. I want to get to a pharmacy and get more of the tape and some gauze pads. Being that it is Sunday, everything will likely be closed.

We made it to the central part of Zafra where the albergue in which we would be staying is located in an old restored convent. This photo is of us walking towards the Parador close to our albergue. The Paradors in Spain are a network of 97 state-run hotels (96 in Spain & 1 in Portugal). They are properties consisting of restored Castles, Monasteries, Convents, Fortresses, Manor Houses, Palaces as well as some modern properties. There are a few paradors along Camino routes, including Leon, Santiago de Compostela, and here in Zafra. We will not be staying in the parador. It would be nice to try one day, though.

We passed a pharmacy that was open and indicated “open 24 hours” so I was hopeful I could get what I needed. And, after checking in to the albergue, getting settled, having a shawer and a chance of clothes, I found that the pain was not the skin having torn off the blister, rather it was a new blister I think I can take care of by wrapping better. Good news. My mood may actually recover.

And I did get to the pharmacy and get the supplies I needed…there is hope.

Next: Zafra to Villafranca de los Barros