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Tuesday, June 1, 2010

GRIMALDO, PLASENCIA, OLIVA de PLASENCIA, ARCO de CAPARRA, HERVAS

We caught the bus from Caceres, with CJA alighting at Canaveral and walking on to meet me in the tiny little village of Grimaldo, The village is really the bar and the tiny albergue next door, but a gem of a place and a caring little community very keen on their vegetable patches down by the river! Adela ran the bar and the the algergue and a very kindly litte dynamo who arrived to give us breakfast at 7 the next morning and worked all day until 10pm (with a short break at 3ish, but bar still open for some elderly domino playing men). Adela had some additional help from village ladies to clean the albergue, which was her pride and joy. I was the first to arrive so was give the guided tour of the two little bedroos with bunks and the tiny kitchen washing machine area. Everthing was provided including washing powder and a huge bottle of shower gel and shampoo (and all this provided for a donation only).
A little later on 3 Germans arrived and then Chris (chris had already met Antonio at another albergue, so it was quite a jolly evening with Adela feeding us well in the bar with her home made bean soup and meat dish)!
One of the germans (a social worker in a school for difficult boys) had a really hughe blister on his foot and was suffering. We didnt know how he could walk on with the others, so gave him bus timetables just in case. The countryside around here was just spectacular with lots of holm oaks and wild flowers.
We then hailed the bnus again and had 24 hours in Plasencia, which was a fascinating old city founded in 1178 and still retaining much of its defensive city wall. On our way into the centre of the old town from the bus station we passed the weekly market, so had to buy some luscious looking tomatoes, apricots and what looked like squashed peaches but we now know are called paraguayia (quite delicious and almost tastier than peaches).
From Plasencia we used Mr Alsa and his bus line again as we need to get to Oliva de Plasencia, but discovered that the bus stop was on a roundabout and then we had to walk 4 ks into the village. This was fine and a beautiful sleepy little place, but with a little Ayuntimiento (town hall), library, medico, farmacia, local grocery shop and 2 bars and a church with a huge mulberry tree in front, shetland ponies, cats dogs and chooks! (did you know that delicacies in these parts include deep fried rooster comb and pigs ear). We have tried and enjoyed pigs ear but rooster comb has eluded us so far.
We didnt take long to find the lovely Monica, a mum with 3 young children, who also runs the albergue turistico. She settled us in to this very attractive old converted building which was most comfortable and we had our own room with ensuite. She gave us the run of the place and said she would be back at 730pm to cook us the evening meal. She arrived with her dear little 5 year old daughter Claudia and fed us well on the soup to flan deal via pescado, which is on the regular Menu del dia for peregrinos!
At 930 4 pilgrims arrived and Monica welcomed them warmly and fed them, which we thought was very kind as she only usually does meals for people who book in advance. Anyway, they were a chatty, friendly group but almost finished all the breakfast on offer before we arrived at the table! One of them, an air traffic controller from Seville felt a little guilty so stayed on and chatted to us and helped with the washing up. They agreed to a photo shoot for the blog and the air traffic contr. actually allowed a photo of his bike shirt on the camino when he caught up with us as it was covered with John Deere Tractors!!! (I had seen the same design on ebay last year,and wanted some fabric for the grandsons to make cushions, but it sold before I could get hold of it. Likewise he said he had found the tractor shirt on ebay, so we had a laugh about that, and it made me think I will still need to hunt down the fabric for the boys!
That day we walked a 14k round trip out to the Roman Arch at Caparra, a really pretty walk down a drove road filled with spring flowers. It bordered onto a huge estate with posh iron fencing and our bike riding friend said they were breeding fighting bulls (we noticed some very fine specimens)! Further along there were several dams with terrapins, so Chris got some good photos.
The Arch is in the middle of nowhere and is very impressive as it is still in one piece, and was once part of a Roman Village (much of which is being excavated at the moment). There will be a photo on the blog to show you this impressive archway which is actually on the Via de la Plata camino route.
Yesterday we walked back to the main road early so that we could catch the bus again, this time getting off at a little village called Aldeanueva, which had a beautiful little medieval humpbacked bridge in the middle of the village and where we were given cherries by an elderly lady! After clicking a few more photos of cluttered floral balconies overhanging the cobblestones, we then moved on to Hervas before it got too hot.
Hervas is quite exquisite and has one of the very best preserved Juderias (Jewish quarters) in the whole of Spain. It is a wonderful maze of tiny narrow streets opening out onto small odd shaped squares.The houses have the curved tiles on the roof and walls are made of adobe bricks covered in these tiles. The Jews lived here quite peacefully in this tiny mountainous village until the Spanish Inquisition when Ferdi and Is expelled them all or forced them to convert to Catholicism which allowed them to stay on in the village. This only half worked as they werent often believed. The first Jews arrived here in the 15th century and we are told by locals that there are a few descendents left, but not many Jewish newcomers. We have just dined at a Sephardic Jewish restaurant and had the most delicious meal (mostly vegetarian, but that was our choice). They even have pork on the menu to please the customers (could you not in this area).
We are staying at an Albergue Turistico in the converted Railway Station. It is splendidly run by Carlos, his partner and 2 year old Martina. We are the only pilgrims here at present so he has given us the run of the place, and it even has a professional coffee machine. We fused the kitchen electrics this am just making orange juice, so I didnt even consider the coffee machine! However, Carlos had left walnuts and cherries on the table for us so plenty to eat and a bowl of strawberries arrived late morning for us. They are so kind!
There is even a laundry with use of the washing machine......but U had to ask donde esta .....and you guessed it.....on the other side of the railway tracks!!!!!
Tomorrow we are walking to Banos de Montemayor, where we are likely to see elderly people scurrying along the street in their dressing gowns, heading for the thermal baths with high mineral content and very good for respiratory and muscular ailments. I dont think we need to worry about the respiratorty side of things but we will definitely take the waters in the pm!
Then it is on to Salamanca to enjoy 3 days in this fabulous city (so everyone tells us).
More soon......

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