Castles --2 for 2; Dolmen --0 for 1

I left very early today because I knew it was about 38 km plus a nice little town in the middle with a castle on top. Magacela its name, also home to a fabulous dolmen.

Soon after leaving Campanario, little Magacela came into view, so for 12 kms or so I seemed to be getting no closer till I was actually there. The camino arrows did not go up to the castle so I meandered my way around till I got there. Well actually I circled it completely, having missed the turnoff from a high spot in town. No problem, I got lots of great views. The castle was open for climbing around and of course I had to walk all over. When I figured I had had about a 40 minute detour, I picked my way down and managed to get back on the camino, which was a very nice off road track through lots of fields with lots of sheep grazing. The flowers weren’t as amazing as yesterday but still very good. But I must have missed the dolmen by doing that.

The rest of the way was a combination of one very long dirt road through fields and a 7 km slog at the end, again with a castle tantalizing me by appearing so clearly so many kms away.

I talked with the usual assortment of “locals.” The woman sweeping her steps who was grateful for the very cool weather; two young guys taking a break from their work sitting on the back of a tractor and feeding tomato seedlings into a tube from which they somehow got magically planted; and a guy my age who was riding his bike and training for his departure as a bicigrino on the camino in a few weeks. He told me he was not sure he could do it because he is so old—joder, he said, he will turn 68 tomorrow. When I told him I’d be 68 in September, he seemed to take heart!

In the town of Medellín for some afternoon touring. I went up to see the Roman theater and the castle. Both definitely worth a visit. This is Herman Cortez’s birthplace and they seem to celebrate that fact. He gets a much more glowing write-up here than in Mexico City.

Not sure whether I’ll make it all the way to Mérida tomorrow, but I’m going to try!Read more