BLOG: Our daily adventures,
Week 8: Villanueva del Lariscal to Past San Bartolome de la Torre
February 26th-March 4th
- Day 50: February 26th : Villanueva del Ariscal to Castilleja del Campo - 20 km
Yesterday we told you about the blue, blue sky and all that you can see is just another lemon tree...But stop wondering, there are loads of lemonade to do!
This peculiar scarecrow loves to dance flamenco?
Very beautiful refreshing station...
The town of Sanlucar la Mayor has a long history involving several civilizations, and evidence of this is provided by the remains found 7 km from the town dating from the Bronze Age, as well as settlements from the Turdetan period (Aera-Hesperis), which were destroyed by the arrival of the Romans (Solis Lucus).
However, Sanlucar really began to become important with the arrival of the Muslims, who made it an economic centre supplying agricultural products to Islamic Seville. It was in this period, in around 1189, when the walled fortifications were completed, with 46 towers and 3 gates (remains of Almohad walls).
After the conquest of Seville in 1248, King Ferdinand III the Saint decided to conquer the Aljarafe region, and Christians troops entered the town of Sanlucar in 1252.
Sanlucar La Mayor in the province of Seville, Andalusia, is located in the Aljarafe region, 18 km from the provincial capital, at an altitude of 150 m above sea level. Due to its location on the edge of the cornice of the Aljarafe plateau, Sanlucar is one of the sunniest municipalities in Europe, hence its name "Locus Solis" (the place of the sun), and the world's first commercial solar power station is located in the town.
The andalucians are fervent believers in the catholic church, worshiping Jesus and the virgin Marie. We have seen a lot of these illustrations/portraits hanging on the walls of Houses.
Yes we are following the camino..the real one, the old one...
The garden "lutins" are all part of a band.
As per Casey's favorite Frenglish expression: The scenery is very pittoresque...For today's french lesson, I introduce a new word/synonym to diversify Casey's vocabulary...very "bucolique" aussi!
Stop winking at this cow!
It is the first farm, we've encountered that is breeding the famous and expensive free range "cerdo iberico".
A helicopter flies above us while carrying what seems to be a gigantic cartwheel.
So happy to be on the move again!
Our sleeping spot amongst blooming yellow flowers in the backcountry. The place is so quiet and remote...pitch black night and deafening silence...perfect!
20 km done for a total of 507 + 20 km = 527 km
- Day 51: February 27th : Castilleja del Campo to Villalba del Alcor - 18 km
Second time using our umbrellas: this time to keep the sun at bay...Casey's true colors are shining through!
My pink clown is all set to walk under the burning sun and its crippling heat.
First apperance of coquelicots...the flora is slowly changing as we're moving more inland.
Swinging break at la Escacena del campo.
Tapas for lunch...a new habit of ours...we order a lot and make sandwiches for the evening with the provided bread and the leftovers...or how to travel intelligently on a tight budget.
The charm of he houses of Escacena del campo.
Spanish electric box...luckily it does not rain often here!
The city installed this work out stations...perfect idea to keep the population healthy and to counteract the ingestion of the fried food the Spanish are so fond of.
How to get ridd of your garbage the spanish way..have a campfire in your own street and leave the non-burnable items behind.
The sun is too hot, we need a little siesta time in the shade of olives trees.
18 km done for a total of 527 + 18 km = 545 km
- Day 52: February 28th : Villalba del Alcor to Niebla - 20 km
The spanish electricity poles never cease to astonish us..It is as disconnected from the grid as we are now.
Along the sidewalk, rows after rows of dried out plants invaded by the abandoned shells of snails.
In our quest for a river to wash ourselves, we stumble upon a welcoming river on our right...a strong smell made us look on the other side of the small bridge...the remains of a dead cow is decomposing itself into the water...not the bathing spot we were hoping for.
Again the same pest has decimated a whole row of cactus.
San jose..reminds me of Costa Rica where I was born...but in ruins.
At the entrance of the village, we see first an old abandoned factory and its chimney now converted into a nest for Storks.
I always lived murals and graffitis "The wine, immense god enclosed in a crystal glass, has witnessed for time immemorial, the ideal path of humanity on earth" .
Another of my favorite things, people wearing a shirt carrying a message, today we've seen a few interesting ones in english: "epic times" "something special" in the shape of heart and "your potential is endless"...beautiful serendipity!
Another of my favorite things, people wearing a shirt carrying a message, today we've seen a few interesting ones in english: "epic times" "something special" in the shape of heart and "your potential is endless"...beautiful serendipity!
Casey and I are quite hungry, we need a big lunch break! One of the rare restaurants of the city that is open during the "andalusia's day" attracts our curiosidad..."gastro-bar" sounds great for our rosted-by-the-sun ears..
We start with Puro del Pedro (Pedro's cigar)..mashed olives rolled inside a crispy crust and mayonnaise..delicious!
The art/heart of a good coffee!
A small shop exhibits its taste in interior design and decorations. A capharnaum of colours, plants, kitschy angels, rococo style, flowers, from christian items to buddhist statue and, of course, butterflies.
The city hall was built in 1929 on the plot of a hospital-hermitage of the second half of the 16th century devoted to the Immaculate Conception. Later, it was transformed into a public school called ""Escuela Vieja". The new design was influenced by Regionalism. The facade presents renaissance elements mixed with a baroque pediment and neogothic sills.
This building has the typical eclectic character of that time. Inside, rich ceramic tiles by Garcia Montalban with ornamental stucco motifs and stain glass windows which provide that place a unique chromatic style.
Little break at la plaza espana in La palma del Condado. We are cleaning our gear in the foutai' with a beautiful view of the church.
The church doors open exactly at 5pm. I take the opportunity to get inside. I try to find a way to talk to the priest in order to get another stamp in my Santiago's credential. Success: I knock on a side door leading to the sacristy and, 2 minutes later, my notebook has a new "sello" on it!
We enjoy a little vino tinto break at the bar dos puertas. The owner is proud to share with me a few words of French. A passerby comes to us and gives us an history lecture on Niebla: its moorish castle and roman bridge...half of it eludes us completely as we doodle our heads enthusiastically without understanding much.
Our path is simply paved with gold...speaking of which: don't forget to donate for the kinderhaus bodensee and Innocence Lost Foundation.
20 km done for a total of 545 + 20 km = 565 km
- Day 53: March 1st : Niebla to Candon - 15 km
Our treat this morning, homemade lemonade!
Palm trees of every sizes and shapes..no doubt a plantation designed to be sold in order to enhance the beauty of the nearby cities and homes.
El rio tinto..its waters are definitely too tinto/red for us to dive in but we enjoy a little break in the shade..watching a herd of sheep passing by with its shepherd (baton de berger en main), two guiding dogs and one donkey...a very fragrant scene from another era.
The old San Martin church in Niebla.
Today is a sandwiches making and cooking in the evening day: pasta with tomatoes, serano ham and parmigiano sauce: yummy!
Again an olive trees plantation welcomes our home.
15 km done for a total of 565 + 15 km = 580 km
- Day 54: March 2nd : Candon to The Domain of Hijos de Celestino Cuadri - 18 km
Our morning starts well with our coffee con dulce de letche and a delicious cake/brioche reminding us of the ones shaped like a lamb that we used to both eat as children for Eastern.
And eve's apparel is back on..at last clear drinkable water and a giant bathtub for our long-awaited washing day: clothes and bodies thoroughly cleaned and groomed. Perfect unexpected and refreshing surprise: the fountain is actually a Roman drinking trough from the 2nd century AD. It borders the old roman road that connected Sevilla and Ayamonte and which crossed all the province of Huelva from east to west. It id popularly known as the "Half League Pillar", due to the distance of 2.5km that separates it from the town of Tringueros...So its name "Pilar de la Media Legua" as shown on our map was not preparing us for any source of water: Die Perfekte überraschung!
Casey is rediscovering the true color of his clean-at-last feet.
As a promised land, Trigueros, ahead of us is tantalizing us, we know that the immer-leckere tapas are waiting for us. We arrive quite late in the city during the siesta time and stop at one of the only bar/restaurant still open: D'Benis. The waiter falls in love with our crazy project and offers us a few dishes for free on top of the 4 we've already ordered! We are spoiling ourselves today: tuna in olive oil, fish sauce béarnaise, shrimps potatoes salad, carne in mustard and pine seeds sauce, fruits salad, and caramel pie!
Happy Celine with, in the background, a not so obsolete mean of transportation here in Andalucia...ridding a horse seems quite common...Casey still regrets not taking a horse or a donkey for our trip..now it starts to make more sense.
Plaza Espana seems to be the universal go-to name for the main square in every Spanish city...as always charming next to the church...At 5pm (same as in "La Palma del Condado"), the church bells ring announcing the opening of its doors. I want to try and get a stamp for our camino credentials from the local priest...unfortunately, there is a funeral going on, its the second procession we've seen in 3 days.
No parking in uneven years...An invitation to travel every 2 years?!? At least we'll start to follow this regimen starting in 2023.
Classical beautiful spanish town, houses as yellow as the mustard we've just eaten.
And as if there were not enough pigeons, statues of birds lined up on the top of the house.
And as if there were not enough pigeons, statues of birds lined up on the top of the house.
The construction of a big housing complex has been stopped mid-way and the property is now for sale...The storks nest on top of the crane tells you how long nothing has been done here. I pity the future owner of this parcel, he/she will have to destroy everything to start his/her new project.
The next village on our itinerary shares its space on the traffic sign with the next country we are heading to..it is the first time we see Portugal indicated: our motivation is multiplying!
We are documenting Spain's hardship when it comes to water: a river indicated on our map was supposed to be there along the road..its dried out in winter as most of the rivers we were hoping to wash ourselves in.
Shortly after, we cross a bridge over an inexistant rivera de Nicoba..again the river's bed is as dry as can be.
Casey and I, are leaving the busy paved road to follow the "particular" dirt road belonging to the vast domain of "Hijos de Celestino Cuadri": a farm breeding free range bulls. We have to cut through a beautiful secular olive trees plantation and fields of marguerite flowers to avoid the dogs defending the part of road crossing the very luxurious hacienda/farmer's home.
The trail we are following for at least 6km is lined up with ancient old walls preventing the bulls to charge pedestrians and cars. The owner talks to us on his way home as we are enjoying a little break: he warns us not to camp on the other side of the walls as there are many "torros" running free on both sides...he tells us we could be stepped over by the charging bulls and that also, at night, a choir of mooing bulls may prevent us from sleeping. As I tell him that I am coming from France, he is proud to say thay he is selling his bulls to different cities in the south of France where the "bloody" bullfighting to the death"" is still tolerated at Easter festivals: Béziers, Carcassonne, Les Saintes Maries, Bayonne, Mont de Marsan, Dax and Arles. Nimes, Bayonne, Arles...Indeed, Bullfighting takes place in 10% of the French national territory. Despite the fact that the penal code clearly recognises bullfights as “cruel acts and serious ill treatments towards animals” (article 521 -1), bullfighting is allowed to continue in this minority area as an 'uninterrupted local tradition'.
When setting our camp on a meadow located at the crossroad between the separate territories of the different breed of bulls, we experience one of the most beautiful sunset projecting its colours upon the dancing clouds.
We wake up at sunrise after a night of lullabies sang by the indeed, very loud bulls: mooing, growling, high pitched voices, tenor, baritone, bass...an impressive symphony or cacophony depending on the appreciation of the audience.
18 km done for a total of 580 + 18 km = 598 km
- Day 55: March 3rd : The Domain of Hijos de Celestino Cuadri to Agricola De la Calvilla Agricasa - 19 km
Little messages on our path:
"Love is the most powerful healing energy"
"Love is the most powerful healing energy"
"Remember!
The greater the test, the greater the reward.
Faith, Hope"
The greater the test, the greater the reward.
Faith, Hope"
And one recommendation: "Read the 7 laws of the universe"
This artificial lake is well guarded...kept behind barb wires and all fenced in...water is precious.
Today was the first day of rain we've experienced since January in La Finca del Patron in Los Barrios. We arrive in the little town of Gibraleon just on time to find shelter under the heated patio of the Bar/restaurant del Parque. It rains heavily for 2hours while we enjoy the local tapas, cafe con leche and heater above our grateful faces.
We quickly replenish our food supplies and walk out of village with full happy stomachs and dry under a blue sky.
We quickly replenish our food supplies and walk out of village with full happy stomachs and dry under a blue sky.
The sun is too strong for us today, we need a small chocolate break in the shade.
Gibraleon's students are expressing their support for the Ukranians.
As we leave Gibraleon and its fortifications behind, we meet a Russian traveler. He shares with us his happiness to be here in Spain where it's hot and sunny and not back to his country where war is very real and on everyone's mind..a consequence, though, of the conflict up North, his credit cards have been frozen and he cannot access his money while traveling. Despite this ordeal, he has a very contaminating smile, so excited to be here in the summer-like tempetatures. He is now joyfully looking for jobs around to avoid going back to Russia.
We try not to take this as a bad omen "the path of death" will be our walking trail just for a few km... we walk faster than usual to reach the next camino with a not-so-threatening name.
The spanish landowners love to line their property with cactus...One long row is now our right side landscape..these were covered with spiders web.
Walking out of Gibraleon toward San Bartolome de la Torre, we find once more an ideal place to camp in a plantation of olive trees. Cherry on top: there is a little river where we can wash our dishes and clean our tired feet.
19 km done for a total of 598 + 19 km = 617 km
- Day 56: March 4th : Agricola De la Calvilla Agricasa to Under a pine tree somewhere past San Bartolome de la Torre on la Ruta del Pan y Aceite - 16 km
When hiking, we always try to get as far away as possible from the main roads and their heavy traffic. Today, while following a dirt road leading to San Bartolome de la Torre, we are led to cross the huge property of Golden citrus...alleys of orange trees more than a kilometer long. Since early in the morning, we've been hearing the uninterrupted nuisance of what sounded like a hair drier. As we walk through the property, we now discover that the noise was coming from a man going up and down the aisles with his tractor. He is pulling a piece of machinery which sprays fertilizer or pesticide everywhere. Our weather forecast today: blue sky, scattered light chemical rain, strong gust of insecticide smell.
About 3/4 of our way into the plantation, we are surprised to meet a group of fruit pickers; judging by the vertiginous numbers of trees, we were assuming the harvest would be done with some kind of harvesting equipment..but no, oranges here a picked one by one: the harvest runs all year round.
One of the worker tries to help us and explain that we are actually trespassing on a private property..all the roads from this point are apparently closed by gates and the all property is surrounded by a fence. She recommends that we call the number indicated on the gate for someone let us out.
She then gives us 3 blood oranges to enjoy on our way out.
She then gives us 3 blood oranges to enjoy on our way out.
Luckily, we do not have to call anyone, right when we are contemplating the idea of climbing over the main gate, a truck filled with the precious oranges comes up the road and the gates open, we sneak our way out..happy not to be forced to hike back to where we've started.
This lucky duck is the only one with his ci-flying friends who can access the water if this artificial lake/reservoir. Golden Citrus has its giant water pool all fenced up.
Right after Golden citrus, we have to cross another private road running through Masia's strawberries plantation. Casey is salivating at the sight of so many of his favorite fruits.
Green houses everywhere as far as our eyes can see.
Not even 1km done on this road, a security guy comes by obviously in a bad mood since we are not supposed to be here...still a little smile and broken spanish later, he decides to let this one go....
We would have loved to pick a few of these tantalizing strawberries..but after this small altercation, we'd rather behave.
Now at last on the other side of all these private roads, we can continue our hike with more serenity: no more fear of trespassing or closed doors.
I fell in love with these pink flowers on the side of the road..they ate produced by a variety of cactus which does not exhibit so much dreaded spikes. A plant to keep in mind for people who like me often forget to water their flowers.
Some camino de Santiago pilgrims must have passed by this very point...
Sounds and looks like a plan! We find this sign right at the entrance of a park in San Bartolome where we just had our lunch break....Perfect!
Ruta del Pan it will be from San Bartolome de la Torre to Villanueva de los Castillejos.
Ruta del Pan it will be from San Bartolome de la Torre to Villanueva de los Castillejos.
We head out of San Bartolome with the sunset and an angel to look over us.
16 km done for a total of 617 + 16 km = 633 km