Hay-bale Jenga -- harder than you might think:
Little town we walked through had some repair work underway using time-proven techniques: good 'ol mud and straw sun-baked bricks:
Close up of bricks:
Next part of the walk was along a beautiful canal that provides precious water for irrigation. It has a natural look with cat tails and reeds growing along the side. It's raised above ground level with a dyke holding it up and a nice wide gravel path alongside for walking.
The dyke feeds these smaller water channels -- concrete sloughs:
Gate controlling water, serving double duty as a Camino way marker:
The sun was unrelenting and the temp approaching 30, so we took off our hats and popped up our reflective coated umbrellas and enjoyed shade (head, shoulders, back) and any available breeze. These umbrellas are really great in the hot sun (and rain, of course). We do get some strange looks, but I hope people see the advantages. Of the hundreds of people we've met on the Camino, we've only seen two others with umbrellas.
Little hobbit home in the hill:
Quite a number of Camino-inspired artworks along the Way:
And here's Neal, a Camino-inspired artist, who took a pic of us posing beneath our umbrellas, writing down info about us in his notebook. He paints realistic portraits. [Update from a few months later. We ran into Neal a few more times, including in Madrid, just outside the Prada -- one of Spain's most famous art museums. And, we were delighted to learn that he posted a picture of a portrait he painted of us, click here. ]
Arriving at our destination, having gone as far as we wanted to in the heat, we were shocked to see a sign "Cerrado" (closed) posted on the door of the municipal albergue. Only one other albergue in town and we were very grateful they had a bed. Being non-municipal, they take reservations and most beds were pre-booked, and we recognized almost no one. Those who reserve a bed and those who don't seem to move in different circles. Nice people though and as an extra treat, no one got up till 7 am this morning! How civilized! I guess when you have a room pre-booked, no need to rush out super early.
Ironically, in this heat, we wouldn't have minded being awoken early to get some kms in before it got too hot.
We met a great group at the albergue and learned there was a free guitar concert in the church tonight, at 7. Same time as dinner. So our new Dutch friend Fred ( who has lived in Spain for 5 years with his Spanish wife) persuaded the restaurant to serve our little group (10 or 12 of us) at 6, so we could attend the concert. Meal was great, concert outstanding, Guitarist was Luis Kevin Ortiz from Mexico.
Advertisement for tonight's free guitar concert. Every second Sunday.
Pre-concert dinner crowd. Tom (England), Liz (US), Ross (Oz), George (Can), Mar and Fred (Spain), Dieter (Germany):
Concert was excellent. Luis Kevin Ortiz, from Mexico:
People milling about after the concert relishing the last rays of the sun.
Local men were sitting here before the concert, and still there after. A pretty common scene in Spain:
Our albergue in the twilight, just before we went to bed:
No comments:
Post a Comment