Typing the names alone is almost enough to induce writers’ cramp. Maybe Madrid is the capital as it has the shortest name in all of Spain!
In anticipation of a hot day, it was an early start – treading the streets of Jerez in the dark. The primary downside was missing a turn in the early morning gloom, which added an extra half kilometre to the day. It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s added to the end when the going is toughest!
The path today was primarily alongside the motorway once the usual unglamorous route leaving a big urban centre was completed. Morning coffee was a motorway service stop (but coffee was the same price and quality as the city!), and the view primarily dirt. All the crops have been harvested and the remnants ploughed (or more correctly, disced) under. There was not so much as a grapevine to be seen, although I’m sure somewhere in the Jerez basin there must be vineyards given the volume of sherry produced (384,350 hectolitres for the statistically inclined). While the trail was beside the motorway, the early start made the temperature tolerable, the smelly trucks were downwind, and the walking surface was primarily dirt – which was reasonably comfortable to walk on.
El Cuervo de Sevilla (the crow of Seville) is a medium sized agricultural town, with no historic monuments or other redeeming features. Our hosts in Jerez couldn’t understand why we are stopping here, but clearly the physical capacity of an average peregrino is not something they are familiar with! We have a very comfortable room in a brand new apartment hotel, and had plenty of time after arriving to verify that all the restaurants in town serve exactly the same items. But when dinner (or lunch) is only $30 CAD including wine and coffee, who cares about variety!
Something other than dirt to look at.
2saunter 