Merry Christmas!

To wish you all a Very Merry Christmas! Thanks for your support during my pilgrimage! Yours Davy

Just in case you are interested here are scans of my Compostela and Credencial, well the bit that fitted into an A4 scanner.

Santiago Plus

Just to really annoy me the weather improved and stayed dry once the pilgrimage was finished! Above the clouds, where I am now on my way to London-Upon-Thames, the sun is shining! Some concluding details: Once the weary pilgrim gets into Santiago they go to the pilgrim office where they present their credencials, complete with stamps, to prove their journey. They are questioned about whether they really walked all the way. However, if you turn up stinking, covered in mud and look as though you have spent 5 weeks outside, the questioning is not too rigourous! It would be possible to cheat but only yourself. All being well you are then presented with your Compostela with your name written in Latin. You are asked for your country of origin and from where you started. This information is used during the Pilgrim Mass, held every day at 1200, and your details are read to the congregation. There is also an incredible incense swinger. The usual incense containers are about the size of a coffee pot but the one in the cathedral in Santiago is about the size of a British pillar box for street collections of mail. It is suspended on thick ropes, controlled by several men, which also swing it violently through the air. It almost hits the very high ceiling before swinging earthwards again, bellowing a thick cloud of incense smoke as it goes. It is said that it is so large and moved so thoroughly above the crowd because of the combined stink of many pilgrims! It just happened to be a major religious festival on the day of my mass and so the details were read by the archbishop and the Virgin Mary was much in evidence. The prayers were also very female centred. Spain is ashamed to be the European country with the worst record of domestic violence against women. One woman is beaten to death every 48 hours. This year the governent, itself over 50% female, is running lots of campaigns against what they are calling Gender Violence. So it was good to see the church, once/arguably still, a major offender in the supression of women, at least mentioning the issue. I will try and scan both the credencial and compostela and attach them to the blog. Biggles is just aiming for a hole in the gloom where hopefully London is waiting so I have to stop. The clarity is not great but here are some shots of London as we landed. It is a bit unpredictable how photos are ordered but I think they will be a. My Ex-Boss's House, Buckingham Palace. b. St Paul's Cathedral. c The London Eye. d. Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.

SANTIAGO

If I ever think it is worth it I will mention how very very grim the weather was yesterday. It was the lead story on all the Spanish news channels. However, at 1345 local time today, after a journey of 5 weeks, approximately 2.5 million steps and 1000+ kilometres I arrived in Santiago de Compostela and was awarded my Compostela Certificate. I would just like to say thanks to all the people who sent messages of support. I will write more but this is enough for now. The motto of the RAF REGIMENT is Latin "Per Ardua" or "Through Adversity" it is used to sign off. So, Per Ardua, Davy

VERY VERY FECKIN WET

Being Irish you might think I would be used to rain, maybe even like it a little? Well you'd be wrong! I live in Southern Spain because I hate rain. I've been hot (+54C Saudi) and I've been cold (-17C Canada) and I prefer hot anytime! Cold and wet, however, is the ultimate low. It has rained all day today. To give you some idea of how much; Imagine the power of rain that can wash the colour out of cheap chocolate in the pocket of a supposedly waterproof garment! That's what we are talking about. Water running in and out of your clothes like a river. Everything saturated and 40km to walk. Well I did it and was very pleased to get to the hostal and a hot shower. The hostal is leaking too but        not in the sleeping areas, yet! The nearby river is chocolate brown and has swamped the village laundry. I hope it does not join us in the night! The rain is continuing to beat down, if anything even harder. Global warming can't come soon enough! I have noticed that I can no longer lift my feet. If I had stayed in the country I may not have noticed but coming through the town of Lalin I realised that I couldn't walk off the pavement without turning sideways and stepping down. I had done so a few times before I realised. I imagine it is just general fatigue. There was also a moment of severe temptation today when I stopped for a coffee. The lady seeing my miserable state put a bottle of cognac beside my cup and told me to put a shot in the coffee. I told her that I was not drinking alcohol during the pilgrimage and she said that she understood. Then she took the top off the bottle, told me to put a shot in the coffee and went into another room so that she didn't risk seeing it happen! What would you have done?

Sent from my iPod, only 2 steps ahead of the cops!

MATANZA

The Spanish have a different attitude to killing pigs. We don't show a pig the knife before we kill it because we don't want to stress it out. This is not some humanitarian thing it is just that the adrenaline toughens the meat. I will always remember the SAS lad who showed us how to kill animals stroking the sheep to calm it before cutting it's throat from ear to ear. As it's last breaths rattled out of the hole he said wistfully "You know sentries make exactly the same noise as that" nobody thought he was joking. The Spanish system is to burn the adrenaline out of the animal by dragging it about with a hook until exhausted. Then it is stuck and the first dish of Fried Blood will be being eaten before the carcass is still. The 2 pigs in the photos have been dead for a while. The white one has been fully bled, singed, shaved and scraped with a piece of granite. The other is being singed with a blowtorch to help remove the hair. These pigs will be used for a whole year starting with Christmas. Some bits will be air dried, some smoked and I imagine nowadays frozen as well. The whole family is involved in the task and it has quite a festive atmosphere. Just like most Spanish families they have relatives learning English or working in Ireland and were happy to talk while they worked and have their pictures taken.


Sent from my iPod, only 2 steps ahead of the cops!

OURENSE

What a very beautiful city! Definitely one to come back to! The alberge had heating! The first in days so humours were high. Sadly Ourense is built on several hills so this morning meant climbing out of the valley. My chest, I mean the structure (not the lungs which are fine) failed me on the ascent. I suppose 900km with 16kg pulling you into a bad shape for at least 8 hours a day takes it's toll and I had to stop. It wasn't far off a 1:2 ascent but I was shocked that I couldn't trot up it as I normally would. Brian and Sandra of Pueblo Ingles both rang me and gave mean excuse/time to get my ribcage back into squareThanks guys! I think I have aggravated an old collar bone break. I remember that the bone was completely snapped, still rode the big Harley home, and it healed badly with one piece on top of the other so there is a large bump. I also remember having to pass a shooting test, or lose a great job, very soon afterwards and the thumping the rifle gave it probably didn't help either. I was just grateful it was 5.56mm ammo and not 7.62mm which would have rebroken it! Anyway, it is only days to do now, even though 2 of them are pretty big days. Mañana is 40km and so will be an early start and a late finish with a poor weather forecast. The forecast for the next day is not much better, nor is it much shorter but if all runs to time then the last day will be short ish at about 20km and who cares on the last day!

Sent from my iPod, only 2 steps ahead of the cops!

LAST 100KM

What with all the weather excitement I forgot that I have only got 100km left to do. This morning inwill leave Ourense and, hopefully in 4 ish days I should be in Santiago de Compostela.

LACK OF PHOTOS

Sorry for the lack of photos but the only computer I found needed administrator access to upload anything. Also when it is snowing, raining or blowing a hooley the camera doesn't come out much! However, there are some photos to post of snow and yesterday a roadside matanza(winter killing of pigs)

Cold, Wet and Very Miserable!

Well I have spent today walking in the rain. The general temperature is higher, that's why it wasn't snow I suppose! Having been drenched, lower body only, thanks to Akubra Hat and Lightweight Gortex, I am now in another wonderful Galician hostal, showered and getting a hot tea inside me. The Galician hostals are purpose built and are essentially sports pavilions with kitchens and dormatories included. There is nobody else here and I wonder if the 2 pilgrims from Mallorca/Majorca have stopped at the intermediate option about 14km ago. I was very very wet as I arrived near that village but the sky was bright in the West and so on the basis of "Fight the hazard, not the threat" I decided to keep moving and keep warm. I also swore that I heard a voice in my head, Scott Millington's I think, saying "Go on Davy just knock the f@@@ers in" it could have been anyone of that quality of Rockape, as Kev Mackenzie would have said "Of the Ilk" It is a rare day when I don't think of the RAF Regiment, the things I learned and the quality of the non-politicals there. In any case the torrential rain had left me soaked to the skin and I have gone back to sandals as boots are even more problematic in the wet. Undersized gloves on snugly and your hands are dry, one of the only parts of your body. You need to pee, everything is totally wet and freezing cold. Do you just let go and enjoy the brief warmth, it's sterile after all, or do you get your hands and the inside of your gloves wet as well? Good question isn't it. What would you do? Anyway I am now safe in the hostal but it started raining again heavily about 2 minutes after I arrived, an hour ago, and hasn't stopped yet! I had some chocolate but it is gone so I hope it eases off enough to get out and buy some food. I have also discovered that there is no heating here so it's going to be a cold one!

TO A GUDIÑA

After a good fabada and a warm nights sleep it was off to the
mountains again. The day was grim beyond belief although it was
slightly warmer. I think that I walked in some form of cloud all day.
Sometimes it was raining, sometimes snowing but at all times there was
a fine mist penetrating everywhere. Soon everything was sodden but at
least the cold didn't get down to the bone. Lots of climbing to keep
warm too! in fact since the visibility didn't make it over 30m all day
I stayed on or close to the Tarmac all day. That pushed the distance
up to 40km

Some pictures of a snowy Galicia!

YES IT IS ICE IN THE FACE FUNGUS!

From Lubian (Place of the wolves)

Woke to screaming wind blowing a feckin hooley! It was hard to see if snow was falling but the ground was covered. The albergue was on 2 floors, 2 cyclists from Ibiza downstairs and me and the 2 guys from Mallorca upstairs. I tried to look outside and couldn't get the window closed again so it was out at speed wearing all my clothes. There were 2 mountain passes to climb and although the wind was blowing ice my body was quickly hot so I had to stop and strip off. Several times I disturbed Roe Deer (Corzo in Spanish) foraging in the snow and surprised that anyone would be foolish enough to be walking. Once I got to the top of the second pass at about 1250m I had climbed through the weather and it was cold but sunny. Irish people can do anything as long as the sun is shining. I noticed that I had lost a motorway and a national road then I realised they had been in a tunnel through the mountains but I wanted them for orientation. When I saw the motorway my heart leapt! the sign said Galicia, province of Ourense! Nothing bad can happen to me now. My friend Manolo told me years ago that there is a Celtic Goddess with big boobs who will always look after me. The big boobs were details of Manolo's but probably important ones, so I have never forgotten them. So now I am in Galicia, birthplace of the Irish people and somewhere in all that snow I crossed the invisible line that leaves me only 200km to go!

Walking in snow

The day started promisingly enough with a clear sky and a weak sun. By 1000 however the first sleet started to fall. I noticed on the overhead signs that lorries were being forbidden from overtaking on the parellel motorway between km96 to km124 because of snow. Broadly my journey today will be km86 to km114 so I suppose I will see some of it. Presently I am on a coffee stop and the snow is swirling outside but is not yet too bad. I have about 20km left to go and I will do all of it on the tarmac. I may even put my boots on instead of my sandals! There are snow covered mountains in every direction now and everything looks very beautiful when the sun appears. I hope it does that a bit more frequently as I do not want to walk the rest of the camino on roads in the snow.

TABARA

Leaving Zamora I met Beatriz by complete accident and headed off into the countryside. The Camino was, once again, following pointless detours even going East at one stage. I was getting fed up with not going North or West with my ideal being to do both at the same time! Anyway, as I came to another non-sensical sign pointing East I jumped ship and followed my compass. I soon came to a road junction and saw 2 names of places I need to get to. Unfortunately at 230 and 89km they were a little distant! Hoping that there would be somewhere in between I started walking along the side of the road. About 5km later a car pulled up in front of me on the verge with it's hazard lights on and a woman jumped out and ran up to me. It was as if I was her long lost brother! She tried to give me food and talked without pause about her own pilgrimages. If I was a lone female I would not approach me on a street on a sunny day much less an unkempt pilgrim close to nightfall! She wasn't sure how far it was to my destination but felt it was more than 10 km, it was actually 22km! Almost completely dark and starting to rain I thought I saw some lights in a valley in front. 30 mins later I was at a crossroads with a bar. I asked if there was accommodation and didn't get a clear reply. I hoped that meant some black market b&b! I have encountered it before, whole hotels supposedly closed to avoid tax while doing great business through the backdoor. It was one of those, so 12€ later I am in an en-suite room as the rain really started to hammer down outside. A good omen for my new direction I hope!

ROSE HIP REMEDIES

In honour of my mother, who takes the processed type, and of my Pueblo Ingles compañera, Sabela, whose family makes an old country medicine from them, I have been eating wild Rose Hips. They are one of the many things competing for the title of "Most vitamin C" and are guaranteed to ward off everything from Swine Flu to flat feet.

Dishonest Diversion

Today, for the first time on a Camino I encountered some deliberate obliteration of the signs, normally arrows, pointing the way. I followed them and missed the village of Bercianos De Valverde and the authentic Camino to Santa Croya de Tera. It is alleged that the staff of Bar La Moña in Villanueva de las Peras are responsible, attempting to attract pilgrims to their business. The arrows certainly point there and various people, in 3 villages, have them at the top of the suspicious list! Doubtless St James will roast their souls when the time is right!

300 TO GO

Fortunately it is now time to look at my pilgrimage in a different and hopefully happier way. I broke the 500km point just after Salamanca. The 600km barrier went the day before yesterday! Since I am now on a different route, which is not much walked, the only distance guide is now in descending order. The good news, according to it is that sometime tomorrow I will "only" have 300km to go! The statue of Santiago, dressed as a pilgrim, is one of the oldest surviving monuments.

RED KITES AND CROWS

I am aware there hasn't been a good wildlife call since the Fox. 2 main reasons. First, the large cities of Salamanca and Zamora have dominated the route. Secondly, the route in between is low crop, open and very windy! However, nature, never responsible for my entertainment, came out top today. I tried to photograph the scene, best efforts shown but it was all moving too fast! At least 7 Red Kites were flying wild patterns over 2 sections of woodland while some crows were making unhappy noises from underneath. I found it hard to understand what was happening and thought perhaps it was a mating display among the Kites. They were mirroring in pairs but were also engaging talons and plunging earthward locked together. As I got closer I saw one section of wood being divebombed by the Kites while the Crows appeared distressed. It is amazing how a big bird like the Red Kite can turn so sharply especially under the woodland canopy! It also really shows off their colours, particularly the white. I came off track to walk through the area to see if they had downed a Crow but there was nothing on the ground except lots of ejected shotgun cartridges.

ACHES ETC

The aches and pains continue with the exception of my feet which are now hardened to the point where I hardly need footwear. The soles are solid enough to stick a pin into them without me noticing and the upper feet look "glazed" where the sandals touch them. I haven't used boots in over a week. However, my shoulders are currently the weakest point and are extremely painful, in fact for the first few km I have to hold the weight of the sack with my hands behind me. My sternum also feels like it is going to part company. Just as painful but more amusing are my ankles which despite me taking my weight off them at night continue wanting to walk and sometimes do without me asking them to! My inner thighs are in tatters and look like the crispy skin on a fried chicken. All difficult and painful but no show-stoppers, I hope! Yes, I know... Tighten the f&£? Up! See I said it before you all did!

SANTA MARTA DE TERA TO MOMBUEY

Well it was good to get into Santa Marta crossing the River Tera, from which everything in the area gets its name. The albergue was a multiple-purpose hall which is clearly also the voting station come election day. It was very large with some beds in the corner and great showers. Unfortunately, it had no heating. I checked the temperature on my watch to see 10DegC inside. Not much warmer than the outside but a quick hot water fill of an old coke bottle meant a warm night in both sleeping bags. The morning came bright and cold and I warmed up by pushing on. Unfortunately the Camino started behaving badly and then it turned South and crossed the Rio Tera again! So, I abandoned it for the road which has been running in consistently the correct direction for days. The Spanish mark all their roads every 10m, 100m, km and in units of 10km so you always know where you are and how you are progressing. In 2 days I will have been walking for a month and I was happy to see that I am still managing a 5.5kmph/3.42mph pace. Another number of significance is 900m above sea level or just under 3000ft. Not that high but it has been thought provoking today to see the road maintenance crews out testing the snow ploughs and gritters.

Zamora in the mist

Zamora was quiet and magical in the mist/freezing fog last night. Well the next day dawned bright and clear with the temperature around 3C but that is no problem when it is not raining. I am still walking in sandals but that may have to change when I get into the mountains. The modern version of the Camino is being illogical again. Cut and broken by 2000 years of construction and fencing in. I suppose it is remarkable that it is there at all.

FOX AMONG THE WINDMILLS

No it is not the title of a great new folk ballad. But the story of how I met a fox among these windmills. I still don't know if the detour was pointless but I am glad I took it. The advantage was that it included a village, with a hostal, some 4km before my final destination, just in case the weather changed for the worse or anything unexpected happened. The disadvantage was that it meant climbing over a steep and very high hill. So high in fact that it was the site of about 40 wind-turbines. Anyway, where there's a hill there's a way! In training we were allowed to walk down hills but we always had to run up them. I don't know if it was the extremely strong wind blowing towards me, or the loud machine noise of the blades and turbines but a fox almost walked into my legs! It was a magnificent Dog Fox with all the colours of Red, Black and White clear and rich. I would have had time to photograph him but simply didn't believe that he would have kept coming towards me. He was within 2m before he reacted and then he was off at speed, in a zig zag, with those apparently "too short for their body" legs that foxes have. A feature of living in tunnels I suppose. Spanish has a much easier way to indicate gender, and fox is the Spanish word we all know, it is Zorro with the female being Zorra. English complicates the issue by calling the male a Dog Fox and the female a Vixen. Yes, Spanish people you have my sympathy when you learn a language as crazy as English. This was the second time I have met a fox at such close quarters and the first time it was a Vixen. We both came round a corner, on a track, by a river, in Andalucia. It was almost dark, I was late and she was heavily pregnant, in fact I think she was so pregnant that she was about to deliver and was looking for a safe place to do so. She looked at me, eyes full of distress and disbelief that I could be there at all. I assessed the situation and thought the best thing would be to pretend that she was not there at all, so I looked one way, she caught on and looked the other. We passed within a metre of each other, no hurry, no panic and to the best of my knowledge, neither of us looked back.

TO ZAMORA

I arrived in Zamora to meet with Beatriz, who was a Spanish participant at Pueblo Ingles with me when she inspected ships for a living. Now she works in the much more useful Zamora Tourist Information! She set up some interviews for me to be used to promote Zamora in next years pilgrimage. My apologies to those of you who received a text arranging the interview with Beatriz and her cameraman Diego, I think my phone sent it to everyone I had been in contact with recently! We are doing a little more filming today and I think it will be possible to put the YouTube links in the blog. The reason why 2010 will be a special year is that it will be an Año Jacobeo. This is when the Feast Day of Santiago, 25 July, falls on a Sunday. This happens every 5, 6 or 11 years and was introduced sometime in history to promote falling pilgrim numbers. The incentive being that during a normal year, 50% of a pilgrims sins are forgiven, whereas there is 100% forgiveness for pilgrims during an Año Jacobeo! The practical outcome of this, more generous, level of forgiveness is that pilgrim numbers grow by 500%! I doubt if my participation will have any benefit to the attraction of additional tourists, however, I was glad to help. I also managed to get my clothes washed by a machine! After 3 weeks of being washed by hand they needed it! Also my first day of rest in 3 weeks walking is appreciated. It will remain to be seen how difficult it will be to motivate my body tomorrow morning now that it remembers what rest feels like!

THE SKY EARLY THIS MORNING

Salamanca

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Salamanca, capital city of the Province and home to one of the older universities of Europe. Widely believed, by foreigners, to have the Best Plaza Mayor in Spain and to be where the best Spanish is spoken. Ask any 5 Spanish people those questions and you should probably expect 5 different answers! A large city of this size was also useful for me to buy an additional sleeping bag and a charge cable, for my ipod, to allow me to continue writing this blog.

Fuenterobles de Salvatierra

The albergue in Fuenterobles has a highly variable reputation regarding cleanliness, mouse droppings, cold water and eccentric hospitaleros. Well so far I have had no problems. The building is granite and wood and very traditional for the area. The sleeping accomodation is cleanish and I have had a hot shower. There is a wood burner in the dorm which I would like to light this evening as it will definitely be cold. I think it is just a rural area and the standards reflect this.The local bar where I am writing this has a bacon slicer on the end of the bar and, by contrast, a 40" plasma TV at the other. It is also only cleanish. The people however, are friendly and trying their best!

THANK YOU!

Just a chance to say, thank you, to all of you who have sent me messages of encouragement and advice about bird identification. All much appreciated. Also the late night phone calls, about 5, to my mobile phone, which I suspect originated from the clubhouse of the Mad Dog Motorcycle Club. Thanks for the slurred and incomprehensible messages. Especially the one from the lady, allegedly wearing only a bikini and offering things that would tempt any pilgrim! I am not sure the others in the dorm enjoyed the experience but it made me smile!

To Calzada de Bejar

Well another big day, maybe not in distance at 20km but definitely in geopolitical terms. I have walked out of the Autonomous Community of Extramadura, Province of Caceres, and into the Autonomous Community of Castille y Leon, Province of Salamanca. Everyone, I imagine, will understand Provinces but the Autonomous Communities are harder to explain. I suppose it would be similar to walking out of England into Wales. They have parliments and some self determination but are subordinate to the National Government in all the important issues. It strikes me as jobs for the boys, in a multi-level, 3 dimensional mess, in which no politician can ever be held responsible for anything, because no continious audit trail could possibly exist! Enough of politics! On to the weather! Yesterday, despite the rain, hit 23C in the afternoon and today Spanish TV reported that this has been the warmest November for 30 years. All this among early snow and severe flooding in the Canary Islands.

It is strange how borders mark such change in landscape and people. One side of the mountain pass, La Puerta de Bejar, was flatlands with green Acorn Oaks while immediately over the other side it is rolling hills/mountains covered with Chesnuts which are changing colour.















Tonight sees me in a village that looks Alpine and is only 30km fromLa Alberca where I often work. I had thought of going over to see Peter there but I doubt if my alcohol free state (2.5 weeks now) would have survived! I rang him and he assured me that it would not!

Aches and pains

Isn't it strange how each sore part of the body clamours for attention. Initially, well for the most part of 2 weeks it was my tendons, then my heels, then my feet. There was, overlapping these ailiments, a significant and painful situation which I cannot really write about. Let's just say that I have possibly been buying more talcum powder than anyone else in Spain! Presently it is my shoulders that hurt the most with the broken blood vessels in the photo. I cannot really rest them without taking my pack off but I alternate where I am taking the load between shoulders, waist and chest.

Carcoboso to Aldeaneuva del Camino

Woke to the pittter patter of rain around 0515 but initially it didn't sound too bad. Then the thunder started and then very heavy rain! I stayed in bed in the hostal of mad, no, let's be kind, eccentric Elena and set 1000 as the Go/No Go point. Being Irish, rain is not a mystery to me and frankly if I never saw it again that would be great with me! By 0815 I was prepped but the sky was looking ominous despite a sliver of grey as opposed to black, in the North. I checked my mountain watch for compass direction... good, pressure check... rising ... all measurable signs good... so 0900 brekkie with Eccentric Elena then hit the trail, which was very wet. Amazingly I had a shadow by 1005 and in the afternoon it was 23C! The indirect nature of the Camino direction is hacking me off now. First leg was South East then East then North such that by 1 hour only a very large hill had been circumnavigated. A very long 40ish km day with highlight of the Caparra arch.

On the left the representation of the Caparra Arch used to indicate the Camino in Extramadura. The real thing is incredible and is really the only thing above ground in an entire Roman City. Somewhere in all this history I had walked 400Km!

Cañaveral to Carcaboso

I started the day with 3 of the fattest churros I have ever seen. For those unsure of what churros are they are a deep fried extrusion of a bread like substance. I suppose the closest thing we have would be doughnuts but the doughnut would be classified as "Healthfood" when compared to a churro. However, I intended to, and succeeded in, walking 40km today so something to burn was essential! The route today was again not very directly North and disrupted by new road building in several places. Highlight of the day was the walled town of Galisteo where I stopped in the Pensioner's club (Well I do have a card signed by Her Majesty to prove I'm retired) and just for balance I had more deep fried food. Well it was all that was on offer. Excellent deep fried chunks of fish in a creamy sauce and deep fried potatoes Ali Oli. All very good but I bought 4 Activia yogurts on arrival at destination to try and redeem myself. I don't even like fried food but When In Rome... Talking of Rome, the route mañana will take me through the Roman city of Caparra. It has an extremely famous arch the profile of which is used as a graphic to indicate the Camino in Extramadura. I believe the city to be ruins only but I will see mañana. By the way mañana is used only because it is so much shorter than tommorrow! And when I am typing with only my thumbs on the itouch these things make a difference!

Cañaveral

I wonder if the people from this small corner of Extramadura were sent to an even worse alligator infested swamp in the Spanish Colony of Florida. Where eventually the US Military and then NASA fired rockets from. I have to say that despite having been to many places, and seeing many amazing things, that sitting on the shoreline watching Shuttle Columbia turn night into day has been the most impressive! I hope the hostal tonight is better than the squalid Cañaveral one I stayed in last night. Filthy with no hot water and a very high chlorine content in the water. The shower was like washing in freezing cold bleach. Fortunately I knew what to do "Citadel" When you don't have enough weapons, men, heat, money whatever to dominate the full space then reduce it to a Citadel. Like the government advice to the vulnerable to only heat one room. So I cleaned enough space to lie down and found a broken heater which could still be used. These heaters, typical in Spain, would be against the law anywhere else! They are circular and fit underneath a table, in a hole cut in the base. They strike me as the best way of starting a fire known to man! Anyway a warm and comfortable night, leaving the next morning touching nothing on the way out!

Casar de Caceres

A very nice little town where I stayed on the main square. Even more importantly it was 300km!

PHOTO OF CACERES IN THE RAIN

INLAND ARTICLE

Just because I am out on the road doesn't excuse me from my monthly column in INland magazine. The magazine is aimed at foreigners who live in Andalucia, mostly the Province of Malaga, who would rather not have anything to do with the Costa Del Sol, other than essential shopping expeditions to buy Marmite and Branston Pickle. Anyway here is my Christmas article:

WALKSPAIN DECEMBER 09

Why is it that we always find something when we aren't looking for it? As you may remember I am on pilgrimage at the moment, having already walked, some 230Km, from Sevilla to Merida, sadly only about a quarter of the way to my final destination of Santiago de Compstela. You can read more about the pilgrimage, and see some photos of the passing countryside, at my blog which is at rutadeplata09.blogspot.com Tonight I am lodged in a tiny village, in Extramadura, called Aljucén. The pilgrim's hostal here is not provided by the municipality but is a private business. These are vital, as it would not be possible to walk the camino without these privately run albergues. There is normally a trusting, and charming, method of getting the key for these places. Something like: Speak to the bar staff in Bar Sergio, or Manuela in number 22 has a key, or look under the blue flowerpots, or if all else fails give the Policia Local a ring and they will let you in! It was during one of these key searches that I found myself looking for a lady called Noeme and knocked on some large, iron studded, wooden doors set in a portal of local granite. It was when she invited me in that I discovered that, not only was the large house, complete with courtyard garden, being lovingly restored in a traditional style but that it contained a Roman Spa! She offers Roman Spa breaks, with optional massage, in this traditional village setting just North of Merida, the former Roman capital of Spain, and possibly in possession of more Roman buildings than Rome itself! Her website is www.aqualibera.com and she has an attractive studio apartment so that guests stay on site and mere paces away from the hot pools. The main focus of course is the Roman bath, in the photo, which is as authentic as modern hygiene regulations allow. Given it's isolated setting why not combine a wonderful historic visit to Merida, and it’s Christmas shopping, with some traditional Roman bathing and massage. Go on, you deserve it, there is even a discount if you come dressed as a Roman, and it is so nice that, despite it's totally anonymous possibilities, that you might even want to bring your own wife! Happy Christmas!

David Johnston is an international walking guide living in the Sierra De Las Nieves Natural Park. He offers a range of walking and cultural activities from day trips to holidays. He has a website at http://www.walkspain.com/ and can be reached at 619732245.

STORKS?

Ihave had a helpful bird query from Celia in Toledo Province. She wonders if the birds I saw circling really were Storks (Sky Photo). Well I am now unsure, but their wings had the black and white stripes I would have expected to see and secondly their nests, on high structures, have been abandoned, making homes for many smaller birds, however I am basically still unsure and she has sowed the seed of doubt. However, I was delighted with her suggestion that they might have been migrating Cranes because I have been seeing 2 types of birds that I can't identify and I think she has solved half my problem. The large grey birds I have been seeing only on the ground are most probably Cranes. (Ground photo). There is another, very camera shy, bird which I keep seeing, now don't laugh but it's back section looks like an Oyster Catcher. OK I know, I know! I have not got it in profile yet but I imagine I would have seen the beak. Any help on this bird, open grass, black and white, wings forward and high, would be appreciated.

Hoopoes and Weather

Ordinary magpies, briefly, collectively called a "Murder" then back to the prettier Azure Winged Magpies. My question of the day would have to be "Who let the Hoopoes (Defininitely not my Photo) out of the box?" I have only seen 2 feathers up to now but I have seen over 20 individual birds today. Their ability to completely close their wings between flaps is lovely to watch. I have never thought why they might do this before but having a 1000Km of thinking time means that time can be given to thinking about important things like that. My guess is that the major benefit to streamlined flight, especially in scrub woodland, is the ability to escape predators by gliding through tiny windows in the foliage. Something not possible with wings extended and certainly somewhere that a predator could not follow. Talking about Predators, I was in a small village square when I became aware of the air shaking. I have heard this noise lots of times while riding my Harley in a large group of other Harleys but here? In the middle of the Spanish oak forests? My answer wasn't long coming. It was the Paramilitary Police Force, The Guardia Civil, training off-road riders. There were lots of them and the low, throaty, 4-stroke roar from something like 50 Honda 400 dirtbikes made the air viberate. The instructors were front and rear with hi-visibility tabards, while the students were wearing white tabards with a 3 digit number so their performance could be assessed. The instructors were deliberately jamming them 3 and 4 abreast into very narrow village streets to see if they could cope. There were some touches but fortunately no fallers. I walked on their tracks all day with the rumble of their engines at the edge of my hearing but I never saw them again. 50-60 bikes riden hard but, because their weight is spread, causing no track damage, in stark contrast with horses which, because they point load, destroy tracks. Somewhere today I walked out of the Province of Badajoz into the Province of Caceres and I now have walked more than 25% of the route at just over 250km so progress is being made. The feet are hardening and muscles strenghtening, let's hope I stay fit for the mountains and poor weather that I know is in front of me. Cheerily the first winter deaths in the Spanish hills happened this week with snow already down below 1000m, rainfall has been extreme with rivers flooded and bursting their banks. Finally, as a real morale breaker it has been so windy that, for the first time, more than 50% of Spain's electricity has been made by wind turbines. Snow you can avoid, rain you can use waterproofs but wind....

PILGRIM IMAGES

MERIDA

I cannot explain how important Merida is. After they moved from Cordoba, Merida was Rome's "New" (25BC) capital city in Spain. Originally named Emerita Augustus it probably has the best Roman remains almost anywhere. It's theatres, arenas and triumphal architecture are still to be found throughout, most impressively the bridge which brings you into the city. Photo in previous blog entry. It has now been closed to traffic but in 1992 I rode my Harley across it. I think, having been to Rome, last January, that there are more evident Roman remains in Merida. You cannot scrape back a square metre of soil without revealing something. Here are some general photos. Emperor Trajans Arch, Amphitheatre Entrance, Aquaduct.

Somewhere along the way of all this history I passed the 200km mark. Aches and pains abound at the moment and I hope that it is just the body getting used to it's new role. In any case the next few days are quite short, which is probably a good thing!