CVdlP, Day 14, Sunday, October 2, 2016

Caceres to Casar de Caceres (8.19 miles)

This morning I slept until 8:30 AM. I thought it was earlier and almost went back to sleep. The room had window coverings and it was very dark.

I had planned on having a short day today and was not in a hurry. I got directions from the albergue host and she sent me back up the hill to the city center to find the Camino. I asked if there was an alternate way and she said no. I just had nightmares about that steep climb from yesterday, but from here ii really wasn’t bad.

I went up the hill but it was a lot more gradual. The street was very narrow and though the time wasn’t on the hour or half hour, the church bells at the center started to ring. Not just for a minute or two, but forever! Well, it seemed that way. The sound of the bells were so loud because it was bouncing off the walls in the narrow street, like a giant echo chamber. Now I know how the hunchback of Notre Dame felt! The bells, the bells!!!! Turn off those bells! I actually like the sound and enjoy hearing then throughout Spain, but not this close and loud.

The thing I don’t understand is about the logic of having a church up on this steep hill? I know the church is always built on the highest place in town so people can find it and it is the tallest place of honor. But, what about all those poor people that have to walk up here for the service. What an excuse to not go to church. Mom, I can’t go to church today, my knee hurts. Or, what about all those old people that can barely walk? The streets are so narrow and there is no place to park so people have to walk there. I know, what strange things come to the mind of a man that has a lot of time to think.

I got to the city center and it looked quite different from the image I had of it yesterday. It was beautiful and fairly typical of the old centers in many of the larger Spanish cities. I had breakfast at one of the outdoor cafes and it allowed me to enjoy the scenery and appreciate how beautiful it really was. It’s also fun to people watch.

I was just a block from where the Camino ran by the city center and followed the usual obscurely placed arrows. I still lost my way and had to ask several people the right direction. Most of the time I was on the right road, but as Wrong Way Ted, you don’t want to take the chance. So there I was just outside of town, and no Camino arrows! What the heck!

I know I was told by that last lady that it was straight ahead, and there haven’t been any other turns or exits. And then I saw a sign indicating that there were pedestrians on the road for the next three kilometers! Oh well, I’ll just keep walking north and eventually I’ll get there. I figured if I had the sun to my back late in the day I was at least going north.

After a few miles I barely noticed a marker. It was not the traditional Camino marker but one indicating the other Camino. I had to go back to look at it again, as it was about thirty feet off of the highway. It looked the trail paralleled the highway but east of the road and on the map it was suppose to be west. Oh well, I took it!

The trail was wide and smooth and easy going. I ran into many off road bicyclist and many wished me a Buen Camino, so I figured I must be on the right trail?

Before I knew it I was at Casar de Caceres. I was here but not by the way it looked on the map in my book. The book that I have is over six years old and is translated from Spanish to English. It’s the Via de la Plata Guide of Saint Jame’s Mozarabic Way. It is not very detailed and doesn’t tell me about lodging etc., like most guide books do. I bought it in Seville and I realize that I can’t rely on it.

Casar de Caceres seems like a very nice little village. It’s very modern looking at the entrance and as I started walking through it began to look more like the typical older Spanish town. Several narrow main streets lined with row after row of connected houses and businesses.

Several people saw me looking around and offered me a friendly hello and pointed me towards the albergue.

I wander through a little center when a man yelled out albergue and pointed a nice looking old building. The door was locked and the man pointed to the bar across the street.

It’s a municipal albergue that is run by donations. I got the key from the man behind the counter and I was on my own. It’s on the second floor and I had to pull the Wheelie up. The entry door is about five foot high and I had to duck under the archway. It has twelve beds and I was the only one there.

Later a Spanish couple riding bicycles from France to Santiago, and now back to Seville, came in later. Another man came in but he was so beat that he didn’t say anything and just fell into his bed.

This is really a nice little town, the kind I prefer to the big cities. I can walk a few blocks to the store and there are a few restaurants. Everyone seems very friendly and willing to stop and give you a hello and help. It’s probably no different comparing it to a big town and a small one in the USA.

I got here by two and I am really enjoying having the time to relax. I went over to the bar and had lunch and was able to use their wifi. Funny, but it’s Sunday football (soccer) here and all the men are sitting around cheering for their team. No different than back home for Sunday American football.

I got my groceries for tomorrow and I have the same decision to make, stay at the little town ten miles away, or go the other eleven miles to the next town? I will see how the day goes by noon or so?

Best wishes,

Ted

The road out of town. Was it the Camino?