28/4/13 Caceres ➡ Emblase de Alcantara 33.3km

28/4/13 Caceres ➡ Emblase de Alcantara 33.3km

Wow what a day. 

We knew it would be big, but OMG !

Started early with churros and on the road by 7.10 as we had the big 33km.

Beautiful scenery today but we again had the wonderful head wind pushing us back.

I can't even begin to explain how hard it is to walk into that knowing you have such a long stretch. 

It is the worst x infinity !!!!!! 

Today went on and on and on.

The last 6km before the Albergue would never end. 2 bridges and endless road.

Alright already I've had enough !

The end was finally insight and down a dirt path to a pretty snazzy newish Albergue. Shower excellent, bed wonderful, only 3 in our room tonight, yippee.

My feet are really sore but no blisters, Cristy is the same. 

We have aches and pains but that's to be expected, but we are so happy.

WE MADE IT !

Now sitting in the sun, it's 7.51pm sipping on a Tempranillo, bliss.

Dinner then bed !

27/4/13 Aldea del Cano ➡ Caceres 23km

27/4/13 Aldea del Cano ➡ Caceres 23km

The alarm was not a welcome sound this morning.

We were on the road by 7am and it had rained last night, thank goodness. 

We heard the thunder, but with ear plugs in, not the rain.

The terrain today was good. Towards the end a bit steep and rocky.

We actually had to walk straight across an airfield this morning, so I took a photo right in the middle of it. The warning about  danger was on the opposite side, so too bad if a plan was coming into land !

What got us today was the wind. It had a bit of a bite to it and it just didn't stop blowing. Unfortunately for us it was coming straight for us and you had to struggle all day against it. 

I was so slow, the others had taken off and I am trudging my way up hill against the wind.

At one stage I was just laughing as it was relentless. I am sure the people driving by in their cars wondered what asylum I had been let out of !! 

I remember saying out loud, " enough already" I know I asked for a breeze the other stinking hot day, but really, this was enough to knock over a less robust, well built pilgrim.

We have arrived in Caceres and we are not staying at the Albergue, thank goodness, as it is  right at the beginning of the new town. We are staying just outside the old town so not as far to walk and also on the route out of town tomorrow. 

Now for the old town. It is amazing. It is a Unesco world heritage site and it is a amazing! 

I will let the photos speak for themselves. But it is worth a look on the Internet as well.

We have a pretty big distance to cover tomorrow so hopefully the wind will be behind us pushing us along instead of pushing us back.

On the airfield 

26/4/13 Alcuescar ➡ Aldea del Cano 16.5km

26/4/13 Alcuescar ➡ Aldea del Cano 16.5km 

After staying in the monastery last night and fearing that I was going to roll off the very small uncomfortable top bunk, we decided on a short leg today and we are breaking up the big distances.

The monastery was donativo last night and run by 2 gorgeous Spanish men. 

We were locked in from 1430-1630 and then again from 2100- 0700.

You had the choice of staying in the town between 2 & 4 but as everything is closed it was more sensible to of course have a siesta.

The monastery is on the grounds of a hospital for homeless and old men with no money and they are cared for there. We went to the chapel in the hospital and had a beautiful pilgrims blessing by the priest. Very special.

Dinner I think was compressed ham something quite like spam that was fried.

Let me just say that I did have food nightmares last night and I did not take a photo to post.

The salad and lentil Sopa though was great.

Great terrain today and pretty scenery.

We are staying in a Casa rural which is a very old beautifully converted house.

Dinner will be served here as well so a little luxury.

We are here with the Americans and Canadians.

Enjoy the pictures.

25/4/13 Aljucen ➡ Alcuescar 22km

25/4/13 Aljucen ➡ Alcuescar 22km

After an early night and a great sleep, up to start the day with some stretches.

I think this really helped as my hip was feeling much better after yesterday's horrible walk.

Back in the Camino spirit, really enjoyed the walk today.

The Cornalvo's Natural Park was beautiful.

The terrain today was hard packed gravel and much easier to walk on than the hard pavement that we walked on yesterday.

The scenery was quite beautiful with all the flowers out.

It's funny how many things go thru my head to write down, then when I come to write my mind goes blank.

I have been doing a lot of reflecting about the people we have met so far and really missing our old amigos. The new crowd is quite different as they are predominantly Canadian and American, one French, one Spanish and beautiful Silvio from Italy who walked on today.

Each person brings something to the mix but I guess those pilgrims you start out with make the biggest impact.

I have to say I just don't think I have laughed so much in such a long time, as did our first week of the Camino. So many funny things were said and done, that if I tried to translate them onto paper it would just not work. I guess you had to be there.

That's the beauty of memory and I guess I really don't need to write it down here.

But for you all reading this post it probably is a little dry and boring. 

Thank goodness for photos ! 

24/4/13 Merida ➡ Aljucen 16.4km

24/4/13 Merida ➡ Aljucen 16.4km

That was such a hard slog.

One of the easiest days to walk but boy was it hard.

Just didn't feel the Camino love today and struggled with the walking.

It was great to have a day off but now I feel like I should have just kept going!

You never know what's right so as tomorrow is a new day we shall see.

Very different terrain today, with not many markers so you needed to be on alert and watch the road.

We arrived into the town around 12.30 I think and found the Albergue on the top of a hill.

10 € + 8€ for dinner ! 

You beauty, no walking into town.

Hot shower and a  rest, what more does a pilgrim need.

Pretty little town, so different from the bustling big city of Merida.

Our hospitaleria Anna provides dinner so we had it al fresco tonight. 

Sopa, pasta, postre  and  vino tinto. All very yummy

Woollie made a surprise visit and had lots of photos with our new pilgrims.

We also had an after dinner drink made from acorns.

Anna then took us to the church which was beautiful. It was an old fort for the soldiers that then became a church. 

Early night tonight, 9.30 pm, I'm becoming a weary pilgrim.

A rest day finally in Merida = sightseeing

23/4/13 Merida 

Lazy start to the day as we packed up from the Albergue to move to the Hostal.

Quick cafe and tostada and we were on our way.

We had a lovely day doing chores in the morning, washing, shopping, farmacia and then seeing the sights of Merida.

The pictures posted are all the important Roman sights. 

We unfortunately missed seeing the crypts/catacombs  by 5mins! 

Enjoy the pictures.