Cañada, ancient cattle drive, especially for sheep transhumance
canada, historic sheep route
Modern canada, brrr!
Rob is reminded of his old pussy
Rainy lunchtime in old barn
Lunch room in an old ruin of a barn
Again the lunch room, now from inside out
Flat fire salamander (oat)
Calzada
Albergue Calzada de Bejar
5 cyclists from Spanish Minorca, in our albergue
Because I still am ahead of my program and also because the weather is very unstable here in the mountains, we chose a short route today again. Bale, Bale (meaning good, good in Spanish, but bad,bad in Dutch). I depend entirely on Paulien for the time being, because she speaks Spanish fluently. This feels quite easy after weeks of having to think about the infrastructure while walking: do I have enough to eat and to drink for myself, for the animals, where do we get shelter, don’t I overload the animals too much, is it wise to release Tosca here? Should I withdraw money and where? Should I give Tosca an injection against the upcoming estrous, or shall I risk all those uncivilized mega monsters here en el campo (in the field) etc. etc.
Today we constantly walked through a lovely valley. We had lunch in a field ruin during the rain. The thing could collapse any moment, but we made it. Photo. Stranded on a beautiful, centuries-old canada, an ancient cattle road, usually for wandering herds of sheep, called transhumance, often coinciding with our Via de la Plata. On the way I made a picture of a fire oat ( Salamandra Salamandra). Existing in the Netherlands only in the small setting of Cottessen-Camerig and Bunder forest, but has become very rare because of a fungal amphiby disease in Europe. Paulien speaks Spanish fluently and had already arranged a hostel for tonight, where there was also room for dog Tosca and pony Leon. So today I fortunately had some time for filming. Therefore I first had to completely disconnect Leon’s rain blanket, I had to get a specially created film toolbox from the horses backpack and after filming the complete routine had to be done vice versa. Mucho trabajo, much work.
I would like to go to the only wifi café here in the village of 82 inhabitants. But first I have to wait here at the inn for the owner of a horse stable to come home from his work tonight. Meanwhile, Tosca has been waiting for a few hours outside the albergue to an ever shorter leash, but under a roof. She kills time, curled up, by dreaming, probably of all those mega-macho male dogs, who find her so interesting. The stable that was offered proved to be a drafty garage with a bare cement floor and without food. I do not accept that for my two animal companions. Then Leon better just stays in the rain in the pasture with lush grass. There horse Leon can has a soft grass bed to lay on, has a lot of food and it’s not very windy there. Leon should be able to stand a night of rain.
Ua> Rainy Afternoon break in a ruin [/ caption] Tosca is smuggled inside at night. Let’s ask what time the landlady comes back to the inn tomorrow morning. Before diner will be served at the inn at 8 p.m. I make a quick visit to the local bar for wifi. Helas, in the bar wifi did not work today. There I met again the man of the garage for the horse, which garage I had not accepted. I treated him a beer for his kindness. He in turn treated me. In the bar Paulien wanted to taste our Pacharan, Spanish anise liqueur. I had a talk with the 67-year-old neighbor at the bar about his former years of working in Germany.
“A gen dush” (at the table) this evening in the inn we twinned with five cyclists from the Spanish island of Minorca, of course wine along with the dinner and next all together around the fireplace. They presented us a liquor of the region, acorn liqueur. Acorn resembles the Dutch word eekhoorn, which means squirrel. So we toasted to the Spanish squirrels. I did not want any alcohol today. You are a pilgrim or you’re not. I must also create some sins on my way to Santiago. After dinner we went along with the Spanish acorns on the photo. Rob is homesick for Joep (his old pussy). Therefore he wishes to call to Betty’s cats asylum home where his cat Joep is staying. I am also concerned, but about my bitch Tosca and my gelding Leon. So this was a successful day again.
