Monday September 29, 2014

We were one of the first “pilgrims” that were up before 7:00.  We had breakfast and were on the road before it was light (7:45).  We eventually found the N630 and were on the right road and out of Merida by 8:15.  We both felt a little sluggish today, but it was a good route again.  We passed hectares upon hectares of vineyards and olive groves.  We were surprised to see that a lot of them were waterlogged.  There had been some heavy rains here while we were in Portugal.  Most of the grapes have been picked, but we did notice some pickers picking the olives – by hand!!

When we arrived in Zafra, we noticed an Orange shop.  This time I went in with the phone and my data stick.  “Hola, Do you speak English?” – “NO” oh heck here we go again.  Holding the phone up I said “recharge”.  She clicked on something on the computer and started typing, YEAH Google translate.  We spent about 20 minutes, hardly saying a word to each other, busy typing what I needed and google translating.  At first she came back with you need to call this number.  No hablo espanole can you do it for me.  You can ask for an English operator.  She attempted to do it and after rolling her eyes for a couple of minutes, because she couldn’t get an English operator after pressing several buttons, she recharged the phone for me in store.  I then needed the data stick updating, they didn’t have any in the store.  We have the phone with credits that should last us until we leave Spain.  I don’t have a data stick, but am hoping that we can keep using free wi-fi where I can find it.

We found the hostal/Albergue and paid a little more than we expected to, but it is really nice and we have a private room.

After we were settled in, I rinsed some clothes out and hung them on the line. We then went for a walk around the old town and as we were walking to the grocery store, the heavens opened and it poured with rain!!  Oh good gravy all my clothes will be sopping wet for the morning.  When we got back to the hostal, the lady had bought them in to the garage and they were dry.  She even came into our room and closed the window, because our cycling shoes were getting wet.  Great service and really nice people, even if they don’t speak a word of English.

The old Town of Zafra has lots of little streets and alleyways to get lost in.  Most of them open out on to small squares or plazas, where there are bars and cafes to sit and enjoy a beer or coffee.

The old Town has been very well maintained, with whitewashed buildings and clean streets.

As you leave the old town and enter the \”real\” town, it becomes apparent that the old town is for the tourists and the new town is a bit worse for wear.

The hostal was originally a monastery and is about 300 years old.  It has been an Albergue for about 7 years.

Ralf went out to take some photos of the Alcazabar a hotel and castle, while I updated the blog.  He was only supposed to be gone for half an hour, but my dearly beloved manages to go inside the hotel, past the security guards and takes photos of inside the castle/hotel.

After he had finished investigating the three floors of the hotel, he came down to the reception area where they offered him a glass of red wine.  Of course, to be polite he accepted the free glass of wine, he carried on taking photos and pretending he was a guest, when they offered him the second glass of red wine, not to be impolite he took the second glass of wine.

He came back to the hostal, where the door was locked and our proprietor made sure they knew who he was before letting him back in!  The security is better at a E14 a night hostal than at a E135 a night hotel.