We can't wait to get out and about again this morning. Especially after auberges/hostals/casa rurals where, after being outside all day, you sit in a small room with just few and sometimes no daylight at all. This takes some getting used to and for us it's a disadvantage of hiking through Spain, where there are few campsites on the route and they are usually too far away from the cities. Our ideal would be camping in the countryside, and to sleep in a centrally located hotel in the larger cities. But, no complaints, we are so grateful every day to be able to walk through this beautiful country. Just as this morning! The sun has just risen as we leave the village, giving the landscape an orange glow. The green grass, poppies and purple flowers turn orange in this light. We walk along a paved road for a bit and then turn into a wide path. At the beginning of the path is an old Roman column (probably a replica, as it still looks very new), one of the Roman 'milestones'. Each post indicated in Roman miles how far you were, or are now, on the Via de la Plata. But it's hard to really get a feel for it, because the Roman mile was about 1478 meters. That mile consisted of a thousand passes, and each pass consisted of two steps.
But to get a sense of it anyway; we have a pedometer. If we walked a kilometer, we made about 1,300 steps. So those Romans made slightly shorter steps than us, but they probably were a bit smaller than us. The old road here still runs flat between the stacked stone walls and later through the fields. It's a long straight path and some distance ahead and behind us we see some fellow hikers walking and several people cycling, as we are also on the Euro Velo 1 cycle route here. Looking at the altitude profile of the stage, yesterday where we wrote that we were looking into one big plain, we apparently did overlook a mountain: a little further on, the route goes over a sizeable peak. In about 12 kilometers, we have already slowly climbed 100 meters and arrive at the foot of the mountain. In 2.5 kilometers, we climb some 175 meters. Not very steep, but we still need to step up a bit. The landscape is more forested, and it's easy to see that clouds in the form of fog are more common here. Large clumps of moss hang from the branches of the trees. Between the trees we can see further and further into the Spanish plateau. The floral displays also change here on the mountain. In addition to fields of purple lavender, the 'lavendula Stoechas' with its two cute purple crests, we see large red/pink flowers on the ground between the woods, that most closely resemble a wild peony. Many butterflies flutter around us and numerous caterpillars hang from the oak trees on long threads in front of us, we have to be careful not to bump into them. Not the oak processionary caterpillar fortunately, but we are still careful with the critters. On the crest of the mountain are large windmills. They spin hard in the wind, making such a whooshing sound that we can hardly hear each other. The view on top, however, is magnificent. There is a large cross here with a monument of a pilgrim, who, judging by the drawing, set off on his journey a bit lighter than we did. He just carries a stick and a knapsack with him, and at this point was already halfway between Seville and Santiago de Compostella on the Via de la Plata. Still 478 kilometers to go for this pilgrim, but we will leave the trail at Zamora and turn right the other way.
From the highest point we descend quickly, because at 11.00 we have an appointment at a small paved road for a special break. Malou's new shoes have finally arrived at the campsite near Plasencia where my parents are still camping, and we are so happy that they are willing to drive all this way (we've hiked about 100 kilometers by now) to bring us the shoes, and even provide us with coffee and cake! Super graçias, mum and dad! We have a lovely cosy break, in the middle of a green field of flowers. We still have so much to chat about, but we need to move on. We say goodbye, this time until some time after summer, and we each continue our way along the same road. Us heading north, them heading south....
We spend the second half of the stage following this road for about 16 kilometers. Large parts we can walk on an unpaved path next to the road, parts we walk on asphalt. It's a long road, but varied enough. It's really noticeable that we are a lot higher on this other side of the mountains than a stage ago. We have ended up right in the middle of spring again. The strip through which the road and path pass, is full of brilliant purple and white flowers, more often navel high among the grass. Right next to the path, we even see small, yellow flowering daffodils again. On a large stone, we see a big emerald lizard sunbathing. It stays put for a long time as we approach, giving us enough time to take a good look at it. What a magnificent animal! In the meadows next to the road, cows and pigs stand together in the field. The cows under the oak trees, the pigs, how could it be otherwise, strolling and rolling in the muddy puddles of water. Although the temperature here at about 1,000 meters is not that high, the sun is shining hard, making it quite warm and the pool of water looks tempting.... But we still have a long way to go so we subdue ourselves, keeping up the pace. By 5.30bpm we see the village where our campsite should be. Once there, it takes a while to find it, as it's not really recognisable as a campsite. We are the only guests, but we can camp there. Today's stage was a long one at 32 kilometers, but it went super. Probably partly due to our new shoes! ;-)
