CVdlP, Day 1, September 19, 2016

Seville to Guillena, 15 miles.

Today was my first day trekking on the Camino Via de la Plata and as always I was a little excited and a little nervous. I did really do a lot of research on this Camino and it wasn’t until yesterday that I even found a six year old guide for the Plata.
The biggest concern on the Plata are the distances between towns or villages, so the day has be planned before you start, especially in the hot weather.
I am still having trouble with jet lag and found myself tossing and turning trying to fall asleep until almost 3:00 AM, not good if I wanted to get an early start to beat the heat. I just resigned myself to starting whenever I would wake up, and that wasn’t until 8:30 AM. The room was so quiet and the window covers solid wood and it was dark.
I wanted to start at the Seville Cathedral, which is the traditional starting point of the Via de la Plata. Once I made it to the front steps I followed the first two yellow arrows that point the way of the Camino down one of the multitude of maze-like cobble streets. Within two blocks I must have missed an arrow because I was already lost.
The map in the guide book is not very detailed but I managed to make it across one of the four bridges, and then being directed back over, and across another bridge, I finally saw the yellow arrow on s light post. It’s difficult trekking the Camino by yourself as you have to stay alter for the sometimes small or hidden arrows, and if you glance at a sight you might miss an arrow.
Once across the river you actually go through an industrial area of Seville. Then you enter the town of Camas, which appears to be a suburb but of many apartments. Then after an open land area where you have to walk on the road and move over onto the narrow gravel shoulder as cars pass.
I stopped in Santiponce and had lunch at a bar (restaurant) that is so typical for most of Spain, hugging the sidewalk and making the pedestrians walk through the tables and chairs. It seems that ever corner you turn you find a little bar. I noticed an immediate difference in the service once outside the large city. Probably typical of anywhere in the world.
Just outside Santiponce there old Roman ruins of one of the most important Roman colonies founded in 206 BC. It was also one of the biggest cities in the Roman province. This is another one of those thousands of interesting sights along the Camino. Unfortunately it was so hot that I didn’t want to stop.

Once past Santiponce I saw the first real Camino de Santiago sign, not just the painted yellow arrows. It directed me off the road and onto a wide gravel road on rolling hills as far as I could see. I felt a little shot of adrenaline, excitement, seeing what hopefully be the first of many country sections of the Camino.
By about 11:00 AM it had already reached in the high eighties and I figured after one or two it would cool down like at home. Instead it reached 99 degrees by noon and stayed about the same until after four!
I was thankfully that I had the Wheelie because I anticipated the hot weather and bought three one liters of water, in addition to the two 20 oz drinking bottles I had. That much water weight would be very noticeable in a backpack, but not in the Wheelie.
Everything was dry looking, so different from the green fields on the Camino Francis in Spring. The hills here are mostly planted in cotton and olive trees.
The road just followed the rolling hills that were not steep, but the slight inclined were noticeable because of the heat. Had I started earlier I might have missed some of the heat. I stopped under the only shade tree I had seen in miles and of course I was drenched.
As it turned out the town of Guillena was only a mile away and a welcome site. The next town is about nineteen miles away and there is no other place to get good or water, so I decided to stay here. The total miles for the day by the guide is about 14 miles, by my walking program 15 miles, but due to the heat it seemed like well over twenty.
I found the Luz Camino Via de la Plata albergue on the main road into town. The clerk, Peter, is a seventy-four year old German man that has done eight various Caminos, and he wants to keep trekking them. He liked my Wheelie because he had made a hiking cart of his own and of course had to share his photos of the cart.
I did not see anyone else today and thought I was the sole pilgrim, but it turns out there were eight already here.
I was fortunate again because Peter put me in a room all by myself. Maybe because he like my German last name? A few of the other men were grumbling about having to share a room with three people. Hey, what can you say? Teachers pet!
All eight pilgrims are men, but Peter said he has seen more women come through this year than any other year he has been here. The pilgrims are from all over, Australia, Belgium, Holland, Spain, France, and USA, me.
It’s a small town and Peter recommend a nice little restaurant run by a nice Spanish couple. Service was very good and the food was good. Large salad, bread, potatoes and fish, and one liter bottle of mineral water, 6 euros, about $6.60. The Aussie that went to dinners with me had a bill of 6.5 euros, because he had two glasses of wine and coffee!
I am back at the hostel and am glad I found it. It is very clean and everyone is very friendly.
Tomorrow I will only go the 19 miles as the next town is another 16 miles away, and that stretch goes through the national park and on the steep hill where the pilgrim died a few weeks ago from heat stroke.

Best wishes,

Ted
PS

Please excuse the typos, spelling, etc., as I am writing this on my phone and usually don’t have the time to review very them very well.

Starting the Camino Via de la Plata from the Seville cathedral