Today we have a short stage ahead of us from San Fernando to Chiclana de la Frontera where the next campsite is located. So we can take it easy this morning, which is a luxury since we have slept in a hotel by lack of a campsite, in the pretty town with the largest town house in Spain (well, every town has its first ;-)). It's a bit past ten o'clock when we walk along the tram line, that runs along a wide, beautifully paved old street. It's Sunday morning and the cafés are quite full according to good Spanish custom. We walk out of the centre towards the old bridge over the Caño de Sancti-Petri: the Puente Zuazo. This is an old 15th-century bridge with some abandoned houses next to it. Because of its strategic location between old towns, a bridge like this one has a rich history, including being looted by the British and halting Napoleon's advance. The bridge is now retired as motorised traffic crosses a new, adjacent bridge: only walkers and cyclists still use it. At the other side, we walk along a dirt road with a railway on our left, next to it a major road and businesses, shops and the familiar fast-food chains.
To our right is a large wetland like we've seen many times in recent days: a large inlet from the ocean with canals and lots of swampy land. Above us, seagulls, storks and flamingos are circling. The sun is shining, but there is a bit of veil cloud. A unique phenomenon emerges in the sky. The sun with a large circle around it. It's a halo, created when sunlight shines through a cloud of ice crystals at just the right distance. Perfectly round and brilliantly bright. Wow! We walk towards the south-east, so we watch it slowly rise and disappear. As soon as the halo has completely disappeared, we leave of the nature reserve. By now we have walked about 6 kilometers, and it's another 7 to the campsite. These kilometers we walk entirely through Chiclana de la Frontera. On the map, this town doesn't look significant, and we had never heard of it before, but like more towns we visited in our previous stages, this one is unexpectedly big. A long big street with a tram line, lots of shops, business premises and beautiful parks and bridges. It is a big city and we cross it from north to south on our way to the campsite. Nice, for the first time this trip we can pitch our tent in grass instead of sand! Tomorrow we have another long hiking day ahead of us, so we take it easy this afternoon.
