Friday, March 21, 2014

March 18: El Cubo to Zamora



Another glorious, sunny day in Spain. But let’s pick up from last night. Berto, our host, chatted with us at the end of our meal, which was fantastic: a tasty fish soup, fried eggs and beef. I mentioned the confusing “sin agua” and “con agua” signs, and he promptly called a Camino expert/friend to explain. Apparently it was a misinterpretation. The signs were referring to a stream that ran under the highway. If the stream was “sin agua” (or dry), you could continue on the normal route under the highway. But if the stream had water, you needed to detour up and around.

So today we left Berto and his wife and began the trek to Zamora, about 20 miles. We looked everywhere for our sunscreen but couldn’t find it, so Maura wore long sleeves and pants. I was in shorts and hoped for the best.

The first leg was about 8 miles to a small town. It was a beautiful hike/run through gorgeous countryside. I’ve been on this stretch once before, in fall. It’s amazing how different it looks in the spring, when everything is fresh and green. Once again, a lot of the confusing signage has been cleaned up, and it was pretty easy to find your way.

The second and final stretch was about 12 miles. The miles seemed to fly by until we had 2-3 left. Then it seemed to take forever. Maybe it was the footing all day; our feet really began to hurt. We got to Zamora and our lodging, one of Spain’s famous Paradors, just as our luggage was being delivered. We each took an ice bath to help our muscles, then headed out into town.

I’d spent a few days in Zamora previously, but this time I discovered more of the city’s impressive old walls and a cool castle, complete with a moat. Unfortunately we’ve been stymied by WiFi lately. Our albergue didn’t have it last night, and while the Parador is supposed to have it in every room, we can’t get it in ours and are both too tired to drag our laptops to the main level.




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