Our son James is a keen and accomplished mountain climber. Today I remembered the three rules of mountaineering:
"It's always further than it looks, It's always taller than it looks and it's always harder than it looks"
These rules could well have been applied to our trek today. It all started badly. Last night we had a full complement of seven people filling our small albergue in Escalona. At 8:00pm the temperature in the sun was 42C degrees and 31C in the shade. The albergue was like an oven and it was impossible to sleep. I reckon that Ana Maria and I had about 3.5 to 4 hours sleep!
We therefore set off feeling pretty tired. The first five Kms by road to Paredes de Los Vidrios where we had hoped to find a bar open for breakfast. No such luck. Breakfast in the village square of a banana, a few "paciencias" ( lovely chocolate filled biscuits) made by Mari Mar, and water!
The next stage was a beautiful but very hard walk up the mountain side always climbing, over large rocky paths, with stunning scenery. This went on for some nine kilometres by which time we were pretty exhausted. We stopped several times to tend to our blisters which were suffering from the harsh conditions underfoot. Once out of the mountain paths we then had to endure a climb of some 8 kilometres up a secondary Tarmac road which took us nearly two and a half hours. Every time you thought you had reached the top, another climb beckoned round the next bend in the road. Had it gone on for much longer I don't think I could have made it to the top!
We arrived at 11:10am, a total journey time of 5 hours and 15 minutes, which given the conditions was pretty good going, at least for us!
This evening we decided to reject the offer of free accommodation in the local Polideportivo and opted instead for a very nice but inexpensive Hostal, complete with swimming pool. Unfortunately we don't have swimsuits so we've had to forgo the pleasure of a dip! Tonight we met up with our Belgian friend, William, who is staying at the Polideportivo, for a couple of beers!
Cadalso de Los Vidrios has an interesting past having been one of the major manufacturers of fine crystal in Europe. Sadly no more! We understand that examples of their wares can be found in the Monastery of El Escorial and in the British Museum in London.
It's just gone 8:00pm and we are off to bed to see what adventure awaits tomorrow. Just before we go, "por favor, dos cervezas más, y media racion de queso y jamon"
Friday, 5 June 2015
Thursday, 4 June 2015
DÍA 24 NOVES A ESCALONA
Nos levantamos temprano y a las 5.45 estábamos en la casa de Felipe y Maria del Mar que insistieron en darnos el desayuno! A las 6.30 salimos para Escalona con Felipe que insistió en acompañarnos. Así fue que tuvimos un guía experto toda esta etapa; no tuvimos que preocuparnos en estudiar el camino ni buscar las flechas. En Quismondo, mitad de camino, paramos para tomar un café y luego seguimos a Escalona. Una etapa sin dificultad hasta la entrada al pueblo donde hay que pasar un puente sin arcén y con mucho trafico, bastante peligroso! Luego hubo que subir muchos escalones para finalmente llegar al pueblo mismo con un gran castillo y hermosas vistas al río Alberche desde lo alto. Felipe nos ayudó a encontrar el albergue y conseguir la llave de la Guardia Civil. De camino al albergue, a casi un kilómetro de distancia, nos encontramos con una pareja de franceses (haciendo el camino de Levante) y un belga. Tomamos en turno darnos una ducha y luego fuimos nuevamente al centro a esperar a la señora de Felipe que venia a recogerlo. Los invitamos a almorzar y se unió el belga al grupo. Comimos muy bien y en buena compañía. Nuestros nuevos amigos de Novés son muy simpáticos e insistieron en darnos fruta, masitas y pasas para el camino; también una pulsera con motivo de Santiago como recuerdo, hecha por la hija! Los recordaremos con cariño.
Hoy por la tarde hizo mucho calor, a las 8 pm todavía 31C! Mañana también saldremos temprano para Cadalso de los Vidrios para tratar de evitar el calor excesivo de la tarde. Por suerte una etapa no muy larga.
Hoy por la tarde hizo mucho calor, a las 8 pm todavía 31C! Mañana también saldremos temprano para Cadalso de los Vidrios para tratar de evitar el calor excesivo de la tarde. Por suerte una etapa no muy larga.
DAY 24 - NOVÉS TO ESCALONA - 20KM
This morning at 06:00 we were having breakfast with our new-found friend Felipe and MariMar in their house. Felipe insisted on coming with us to Escalona and we set off just after 06:30. Felipe talked non-stop all the way, eager to share his thoughts about the Camino, his village and life in General.
We stopped approximately half-way through in the village of Guismondo, to have a coffee and then continued on our way. Before we knew it we were looking at the wonderful sight of the castle of Escalona and the beautiful if rather steep entrance to the town. The Police brought the keys to the town's albergue, where we settled in to have a shower etc. Later, MariMar came to join us and we had lunch with them and also with another fellow walker from Belgium, William. Several other "pilgrims have joined our Albergue tonight and it looks as if we have full house for the first time on this route of Camino del Sureste.
Tomorrow we have around 20 Kms again when we wend our way towards Cadalso de Los Vidrios. Avila, our next rest stop, is getting that little bit closer!
We stopped approximately half-way through in the village of Guismondo, to have a coffee and then continued on our way. Before we knew it we were looking at the wonderful sight of the castle of Escalona and the beautiful if rather steep entrance to the town. The Police brought the keys to the town's albergue, where we settled in to have a shower etc. Later, MariMar came to join us and we had lunch with them and also with another fellow walker from Belgium, William. Several other "pilgrims have joined our Albergue tonight and it looks as if we have full house for the first time on this route of Camino del Sureste.
Tomorrow we have around 20 Kms again when we wend our way towards Cadalso de Los Vidrios. Avila, our next rest stop, is getting that little bit closer!
Wednesday, 3 June 2015
DÍA 23 - TOLEDO A NOVES
Una pequeña maratón hoy! Salimos de Toledo a las 6.00 y llegamos a Noves a las 17.00. Un total de 39 kms! Un par de Guardias Civiles nos indicaron al camino a seguir a las afueras de Toledo.
Mayormente caminamos por carretera, por vía de servicio, cruzamos el río Guadarrama, y luego por un camino rural en bastante mal estado que se hizo larguísimo. Ahí también tuvimos que pasar entre un rebaño de ovejas por un camino muy estrecho! Almorzamos en Huecas y continuamos por mejor camino los últimos 8 kms para llegar a Noves. Hoy nos quedamos en un albergue parroquial, ubicado en un centro de distribución de alimentos para necesitados. Don Eladio, el párroco, está a cargo. Tenemos una habitación con dos camas y no mucho lugar para más. Por lo menos nos pudimos dar una buena ducha!
Felipe, un amigo de los peregrinos nos dió la bienvenida a Novés (estaba pintando la verja de entrada a su casa) y su señora nos dió unas ricas masitas de coco! Gente muy amable. Mañana la etapa es más corta...
Mayormente caminamos por carretera, por vía de servicio, cruzamos el río Guadarrama, y luego por un camino rural en bastante mal estado que se hizo larguísimo. Ahí también tuvimos que pasar entre un rebaño de ovejas por un camino muy estrecho! Almorzamos en Huecas y continuamos por mejor camino los últimos 8 kms para llegar a Noves. Hoy nos quedamos en un albergue parroquial, ubicado en un centro de distribución de alimentos para necesitados. Don Eladio, el párroco, está a cargo. Tenemos una habitación con dos camas y no mucho lugar para más. Por lo menos nos pudimos dar una buena ducha!
Felipe, un amigo de los peregrinos nos dió la bienvenida a Novés (estaba pintando la verja de entrada a su casa) y su señora nos dió unas ricas masitas de coco! Gente muy amable. Mañana la etapa es más corta...
DAY 23 - TOLEDO TO NOVÉS - 39KM
Today we left at 06:00 feeling refreshed after our rest in Toledo. We managed to get some breakfast on the outskirts of town and were on our way by 06:45. At one point we were unsure as to which way to go and a couple of friendly members of the Guardia Civil came to show us the way!
Our plan today was to spend the night in Rielves, about 25 kms away. Most of the route was either on the roads or on paths by the side of roads. As we neared Rielves we realised we were feeling good enough to try the next town, Novés another 14 Kms further on. In between was the village of Huecas. We headed for that in the hope it would have a bar where we could stock up with more water (it was very hot) and maybe have a bite to eat. This was the worst part of the day. We followed a "Camino rural" which was terribly overgrown and almost impassable at times. This slowed us down considerably but in the end we arrived in Huescas, having drunk our last drop of water! We found an excellent bar where we had a most enjoyable lunch and headed off again. By this time the temperature was beginning to rise to mid thirties and we suffered again as there was not much shade anywhere. Eventually we arrived in Novés at 5:00pm, 11 hours later!
It is not often that we are tempted to try in the region of a 40 km hike. Today we did and I'm delighted to say we succeeded. Our arrival was warmly welcomed by a member of the local Amigos del Camino, Felipe and the local priest, both of whom were very impressed that we had managed such a long trip. We were offered ice cold water and some local delicacies made by Felipe's wife. The priest then took us to the local "albergue" in a Caritas shelter. It's a bit basic but has beds and a shower, which is all we need. I am sure we will sleep soundly tonight as we are both extremely tired!
Tomorrow is a shorter day. I sincerely hope we don't get the urge to repeat today's exercise and do a double whammy again! At the moment we are sitting in a bar drinking beer and sorting out the route for tomorrow.
"Dos cervezas más, por favour"!
Our plan today was to spend the night in Rielves, about 25 kms away. Most of the route was either on the roads or on paths by the side of roads. As we neared Rielves we realised we were feeling good enough to try the next town, Novés another 14 Kms further on. In between was the village of Huecas. We headed for that in the hope it would have a bar where we could stock up with more water (it was very hot) and maybe have a bite to eat. This was the worst part of the day. We followed a "Camino rural" which was terribly overgrown and almost impassable at times. This slowed us down considerably but in the end we arrived in Huescas, having drunk our last drop of water! We found an excellent bar where we had a most enjoyable lunch and headed off again. By this time the temperature was beginning to rise to mid thirties and we suffered again as there was not much shade anywhere. Eventually we arrived in Novés at 5:00pm, 11 hours later!
It is not often that we are tempted to try in the region of a 40 km hike. Today we did and I'm delighted to say we succeeded. Our arrival was warmly welcomed by a member of the local Amigos del Camino, Felipe and the local priest, both of whom were very impressed that we had managed such a long trip. We were offered ice cold water and some local delicacies made by Felipe's wife. The priest then took us to the local "albergue" in a Caritas shelter. It's a bit basic but has beds and a shower, which is all we need. I am sure we will sleep soundly tonight as we are both extremely tired!
Tomorrow is a shorter day. I sincerely hope we don't get the urge to repeat today's exercise and do a double whammy again! At the moment we are sitting in a bar drinking beer and sorting out the route for tomorrow.
"Dos cervezas más, por favour"!
Tuesday, 2 June 2015
DAY 22 - RESTING IN TOLEDO
We have now crossed the plains of La Mancha (over 500 Kms) but still a long way to go to Santiago and Finusterre!
Today we are stocking up on a few essentials for the few seven days. It's when you find out that in Spain everything comes in nothing smaller than a half litre bottle! We have also been visiting the superb cathedral here. The wifi signal where we are is too weak to post photos on this page although we have managed a couple on our Facebook page. You can access these by clicking on the photo in the left margin.
This morning we visited the Cathedral, which is beautiful. The rest of the day we have spent tracking down our card reader which our son James had asked Amazon to forward to us in Toledo. In order to get it here on time they sent it by courier although we were under the impression it was coming to the Central Post Office. We had to walk over 2.5 kilometres to the courier offices to collect it as we risked having to stay another day here if we left it up to them!
Tomorrow we leave for Rielves and Noves. If it's too hot (38C expected!) we will stop in Rieves, otherwise we will carry on to Noves. Here's hoping for a cool breeze!
Today we are stocking up on a few essentials for the few seven days. It's when you find out that in Spain everything comes in nothing smaller than a half litre bottle! We have also been visiting the superb cathedral here. The wifi signal where we are is too weak to post photos on this page although we have managed a couple on our Facebook page. You can access these by clicking on the photo in the left margin.
This morning we visited the Cathedral, which is beautiful. The rest of the day we have spent tracking down our card reader which our son James had asked Amazon to forward to us in Toledo. In order to get it here on time they sent it by courier although we were under the impression it was coming to the Central Post Office. We had to walk over 2.5 kilometres to the courier offices to collect it as we risked having to stay another day here if we left it up to them!
Tomorrow we leave for Rielves and Noves. If it's too hot (38C expected!) we will stop in Rieves, otherwise we will carry on to Noves. Here's hoping for a cool breeze!
Monday, 1 June 2015
DÍA 21 - ALMONACID A TOLEDO
Decidimos no volver a Almonacid y caminar hasta Toledo. El autobús sale tarde y hubiéramos tenido que empezar a caminar al mediodía a pleno sol y con calor de más de 33 grados. Hoy nos quedamos en Toledo, la ciudad de las tres culturas: cristiana, judía y musulmana.
Compramos cosas que necesitamos para seguir viaje he hicimos un poco de turismo, visitando entre otros monumentos la iglesia de Santo Tomé donde admiramos la famosa pintura de El Greco 'El Entierro del Señor de Orgaz' y la sinagoga Santa María La Blanca del siglo XII. También nos sellaron las credenciales en la Catedral Primada. Mañana recogeremos el paquete que nos ha enviado James con el reemplazo del dispositivo electrónico que nos robaron en La Gineta. Toda esta semana se celebra Corpus Christi en Toledo y la ciudad está vestida de fiesta con toldos coloridos y espectáculos al aire libre todos los días, culminando con su famosa procesión el miércoles que es cuando seguimos viaje. Nos la perderemos... Lo que más hemos notado es la gran cantidad de gente, la mayoría turistas que hay en la ciudad. Después de más de tres semanas tan solitarias ésta es una sensación muy extraña, un poco agobiante!
Compramos cosas que necesitamos para seguir viaje he hicimos un poco de turismo, visitando entre otros monumentos la iglesia de Santo Tomé donde admiramos la famosa pintura de El Greco 'El Entierro del Señor de Orgaz' y la sinagoga Santa María La Blanca del siglo XII. También nos sellaron las credenciales en la Catedral Primada. Mañana recogeremos el paquete que nos ha enviado James con el reemplazo del dispositivo electrónico que nos robaron en La Gineta. Toda esta semana se celebra Corpus Christi en Toledo y la ciudad está vestida de fiesta con toldos coloridos y espectáculos al aire libre todos los días, culminando con su famosa procesión el miércoles que es cuando seguimos viaje. Nos la perderemos... Lo que más hemos notado es la gran cantidad de gente, la mayoría turistas que hay en la ciudad. Después de más de tres semanas tan solitarias ésta es una sensación muy extraña, un poco agobiante!
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