Sunday, April 30, 2023
Walking from Fuentarroble de Salvatierra to Morille
21.6 kilometers

First, a bit of an apology for not posting the last few days. There has been very weak or non-existent internet access, and very poor phone reception in some of the recent locations. In Morille, there was good internet at the bar in town, but no internet in the albergue, and phone reception at the albergue was so weak I could not use my phone for an internet connection. In Salamanca the next two nights (we took a rest day in Salamanca), the accommodation was good and in the old historic city close to the cathedral, but included no internet, and inside the building, the phone reception was also too poor to use for internet access for my tablet. Tonight we are in El Cuba de Tierra del Vino, and again there is no internet, but I am able to use my phone for access by my tablet to get one post published.

Second, I’ll just show a few photos with minimal text to try to get caught up a bit. I am hopeful that the photos will tell much of the story of the walk each day. After the walk, I am typically very tired, and need to get the daily pilgrim routine completed: lunch (including that after walk Coca-Cola), shower, wash clothes, hang clothes to dry, shop for food for tomorrow, dinner, sleep.

Back to the walk from Fuenterroble de Salvatierra to Morille. This is a 31-32 kilometer walk. Javier is having some issues with a foot and suggested that we take a taxi 10 kilometers and walk the last 21. Tom and I agreed because a 31-32 kilometer walk in what is expected to be a very warm day will be difficult. Javier called the taxi, it came, and away we went.

Here are Tom and Javier after getting out of the taxi about to start walking to Morille today.

Nearby was a way marker telling us we were on the Camino path.

We are gladly in natural settings, away from highways and noise, enjoying the quiet.

A little further on I took a photo of Tom walking towards me with Javier in the distant background.

Later, because I stop occasionally to take photos, Tom was ahead of me on this long road to Morille. Javier was probably behind me also taking photos – Javier is a very good photographer and I am always happy to get a few of his photos to include here (and I always credit him).

Today we walked through large expansive wheat fields flowing gently in the late morning breeze.

After a very good coffee con leche stop in a small village, I think Pedrosillo de los Aires, the road changed to a small paved country road, with almost no traffic. I think we only saw one car.

And soon we were back in the expansive wheat fields, flowing peacefully in the light breezes.

And then we were along a very long stone wall separating the fields from the country road.

And just about lunchtime, we entered Morille, a small town, almost a large village. Morille is something of a distant suburb of or weekend getaway town from Salamanca.

Morille was not my favorite place. We went to the bar/cafe to check in and pay for the albergue, then dropped our backpacks off and returned to the bar for lunch. There was only one bar/cafe in town, and no grocery store (called a “supermercado” in Spain). Lunch was pretty good, and the wifi internet access was reasonable at the bar. Back at the albergue, there was no wifi internet, and the mobile phone service was so weak I could not use my phone as a “hot spot” to give my tablet internet access. And, the albergue itself was pretty bleak – basic, decent beds, a place to sleep for one night, then leave and forget.

Today was a good day walking in beautiful natural settings to Morille. Tomorrow we walk to Salamanca, a very historic city with a population of about 192,000. After being in small villages for so many days, it will be a little overwhelming to be in the energy of a true city with many people, traffic, traffic lights, and tourists. Our plan is to take a rest day in Salamanca as this marks the halfway point of our pilgrimage walk from Seville to Santiago de Compostela. That does not mean just rest – it will be a break from our “pilgrim routine” and seeing historic and important sights as a tourist. It will be a rest from the routine, and a chance to recharge.

Next: Morille to Salamanca