To Grimaldo
After the blisteringly hot day from Caceres to Embalse de Alcantara yesterday it was vital to be up and away early. Yesterday’s walk had been made more difficult because of footpath diversions, thus lengthening the already long route to 37km, and lack of food en-route. Oh, and a diminishing supply of water.
Leaving the albergue at around 6.30am was just about right, the air was cool enough to be able to get a move on and the burning sun hadn’t made it’s appearance….yet.
Leaving the albergue meant climbing a very steep and stony track for 250m, not nice first thing in the morning when your legs haven’t woken up!
Tarmac ensued. This was fine in that it helped speed progress – but it was a bit boring. Road bridges made crossing the wide Rio Tajo a quick and clean affair. The views improved as the sun (and temperature) rose. Approaching Canaveral and walking close to a huge reservoir, a ruined bridge, the Puente Mantible, came into view. I was taken aback to realise that the bridge had been built in Roman times, and although in ruins, was in quite remarkable condition.
Puente Mantible
The early departure from Embalse de Alcantara resulted in me missing the warden – I needed him to stamp my Credencial, a sort of Camino passport. Getting regular stamps in the Credencial proves to albergues en-route that you’re a bona-fide peregrino and are therefore entitled to the appropriate privileges.
To get round the problem I called into Canaveral ayuntamiento (town hall). A very smiley young lady directed me up to the council chamber where a rather official looking official grunted something foreign and stamped my Credencial with his sello (that’s foreign for ‘stamp’).
These ayuntamientos are often quite ornate, even this relatively plain building put our bland town halls to shame.
Canaveral Ayuntamiento
I was hoping for breakfast in Canaveral, a bit of a mooch around the town resulted in finding a small bar where coffee & breakfast were obtained for €2. Beer & wine were also available for those who felt the need – not me!
Leaving the town, the Camino passes Ermita Sancristobal, one of the many small churches that are found on the outskirts of towns on the route. I was hoping to be able to have a look inside some of these churches but there were all locked.
Ermita Sancristobal
I had been advised of a diversion from the main route, it was duff information that had me wandering around dead-end lanes. By now it was really hot and although I had plenty of water, it was tough going. Once again I found my day extended, probably by 5km. I was saved by my Garmin SatNav, loaded with European road maps, it successfully put me back on track after much faffing about.
A long, hot stretch of tarmac brought me to the village of Grimaldo, Pop: not many, Bars: two (one of which seemed closed), albergues: one….which was temporarily closed because of the ‘infestación’. Even with my limited understanding of the language I realised that I didn’t really want to sleep in a place with an infestación. I was to later discover that the place was suffering from a bad dose of bed bugs. Lovely.
The long walk in had me dreaming of egg & chips and other deliciously unhealthy dishes. Not much chance in Spain, eh? I entered the bar that was full of peregrinos, all eating and drinking most unhealthily – just what I needed. I ordered a jug of water, a beer, and a bowl of soup (selected by pointing at one of my fellow walker’s dinner). This was all quite wonderful – it was even more wonderful when, when I had cleared my plate, a plate of egg & chips appeared! Oh, and a bottle of red. I hadn’t said a word to anyone – the lady who was cook, barmaid, cleaner, waitress etc must have thought I looked in a bad way and needed extra food…brilliant!
At 5pm the infestación man arrived, suited and masked to withstand a nuclear attack. I don’t know what he was using to zap the little blighters but it was so strong that the bar’s customers sitting outside had to move around 50 metres up the road – it was powerful stuff. After that I was quite pleased that my night wasn’t going to be spent inside the albergue. I’d have woken up dead.
This just left the little problem of finding somewhere to sleep for the night. The ladies of Grimaldo had a solution, not ideal, but a solution. The community centre floor (tiled, and VERY hard) was made available for those who needed it. A couple of cyclists rolled up quite late on, perhaps 10pm. They had been covering around 80 – 100km a day, not easy in such high temperatures.
I called back into the bar for a beer before bed. The cook / barmaid / waitress etc sat me down in front of an excellent meal of tuna salad followed by a white fish dish. This place was unbelievable! My bill for the entire stay at Grimaldo was around 20€, the sort of price that you would only dream of in UK.
It wasn’t a comfortable night as I didn’t have a sleeping mat, I ended up sleeping in my silk liner on a mattress of my sleeping bag containing my clothing….but at least it was a place to sleep.
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