A real roller-coaster of a day, climbing up and down hills, up steep rocky paths and then almost running down the other side! Terrible on the feet! It was also a long hot day although from time to time there was a very peasant breeze flowing.
When we left San Bartolome we met William, our Belgian friend and were shocked to see the state of his arms, which were badly scratched. He too had been stung by the bees, had run for it, lost his way and ended up crashing through brambles etc. I should mention that he is a very tough guy, a former Belgian Commando and currently Head of the Criminal Investigation department of the Belgian Police in Brussels! Last night we also met two young Americans, Jonathan and Paul, who are also heading to Santiago.
For the first time on this journey, we saw lots of herds of cows dotting the landscape and from time to time blocking our path. In those cases I always send Ana Maria up front - she has a way with animals(!). The entrance to Avila was very, very long. We could see the town in the distance but had to walk 11 kilometres before we finally made it in! On arriving at the main square we met an Argentine troubadour who serenaded us with a selection of folk music as we sipped a beer!
After our bee attack yesterday we are glad to have the opportunity of relaxing for a whole day in Avila tomorrow. The swelling has subsided but the stings are still painful, particularly those on our head (Ana Maria) and our necks (mainly me), arms, legs etc! We realised today that in our battle with the bees I lost my sunglasses. This was a blow as they were special, lightweight, practically indestructible, transition photochromic prescription glasses which will be impossible to replace on this trip. I thought of sending Ana Maria back to look for them but she didn't want to go for some reason! I'll try to buy a pair of sunglasses tomorrow.
We are now roughly halfway on our journey. We want to thank all those who are following our daily blogs and for the many good wishes we have received. Thank you also to the many who have shown concern whenever we get into a scrape - lets hope there won't be too many more of those. Thank you. Thank you.
DAY 29 - RESTING IN AVILA
Not much to report today as we have mainly just been lazing around. That said Ana Maria went sightseeing around the magnificent walls of Avila. I came to Avila a couple of years ago but as a couple we had last been here over 40 years ago. At the time we lived in Madrid and we came with friends of ours to have a picnic underneath some trees in a field with the impressive walls of Avila as a backdrop. Today the whole area is very built up and you can barely see the walls!
While Ana Maria was sightseeing, I went hunting for a pair of sunglasses and a couple of other things we needed. I had a haircut and a shave, as Ana did not like my new bearded look!
Tomorrow we leave for Gotarrenduras ( don't you love these names!) some 26 Kms away.
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