Chozas de Abajo

Today was one of our best walks. Everything just seemed to be right. A lovely cold, crisp morning. The sun rises directly behind us so the lighting in the early morning is stunning. The beginning of the walk was dead straight - not even a hint of a curve for 6.5km!
While we have walked through beautiful farmlands, today was really the first time we saw “farming” activity. There were actually people in the fields, tractors ploughing, spraying, planting. The irrigation systems were also full with strong running water.
The towns were different to the others - there were strong signs of life, people living and working in the area. The farms also seemed different. Smaller and not so “perfect”. It seemed like there might be privately owned and operated whereas the others looked more business like. The towns also had thriving agricultural service businesses. There was just no doubting this was an agricultural centre.
We walked past a large cheese factory, fertiliser sellers and countless equipment suppliers and mechanics.
It was all so uplifting after seeing towns that had basically died due to mechanisation.
We’ve shown pictures of the irrigation before but today it all came to life so we show more. In fact, todays pictures are mostly farming and irrigation!
The non farming highlight was “Puente de Orbigo” (The bridge over the river Orbigo). It is a bridge and a long raised road into Hospital de Orbigo which was a lovely town and we were really tempted to stop here but had a reservation in the next village, Villares de Orbigo. We seem to be the only pilgrims in town as there is a major “horse” event in town tomorrow - a gymkhana we think. So, a very quiet evening!Read more