Sunburnt feet and olives

Last night I was too pooped to write up the blog, but for the record - Zafra is a dear little town with a couple of pretty squares, a nice medieval centre, a couple of interesting Mudejar churches (none open) and the Convent of Santa Clara. Where I purchased some delicious pastries from the nuns for my contribution to the shared pilgrims dinner in the albergué. And arranged for some prayers to be said. It can’t hurt!

I am now in Villafranca de los Barros - having showered and washed my clothes like a good pilgrim, I have my feet up. It was not a long walk today, only 19km, but it felt longer. I left late, stopped at a bar (cafe) and lingered, so I finished up walking in the midday heat. And my feet are sunburnt - I really need to stop and apply sunscreen more often.

As the stages on the Via de la Plata are reasonably set, we meet the same people each night, and everyone has become friends. A nice varied group with 3 Australians, some French, Belgium, English,German and Catalonian s they emphasis NOT Spanish!). We often have a pilgrims dinner with wine at night, with everyone contributing something.Read more