After the stepping stones, a young Korean girl went past me, wringing water from her sweatshirt. She had obviously fallen in! I spoke to her later in the day and she showed me a huge bruise on her leg.
The scenery today was beautiful again. At one point a hare ran across my path with its ears up. It was a long stage, with no intermediate stops. I was given a luscious piece of home made carrot cake by Naomi at Aqua Libera, which kept me going!
On arriving at Alcuescar it took me some time to find my hotel, Casa Grande. Nobody was there except a German pilgrim waiting for her friend to arrive. The person looking after the place was also managing a bar, some distance away. By the time he was found, my room ( reserved via Booking.com) had been given to someone else. Unbelievable!!!!
Fortunately a Spanish man, who was also looking for accommodation, came to my assistance. He said the "manager" of the hotel would drive us to the Monastery which had an Albergue. First, I thought we were going to have to share a room there, bit it turned out there were two rooms left! He said we might have to pretend we were married, as it was a religious establishment, but I said nobody would believe this as I was old enough to be his mother! He spoke really good English and admitted to attending weekly conversation lessons in San Sebastián. Over dinner (baby squid and white wine) I gave him a free lesson!
I forgot to say that before the accommodation disaster occurred, I took a taxi 4 kms out of town to visit the Basilic of Santa Lucia, a 7th century Visigothic church, which was on my must-see list.
Ancient olive grove with carpet of yellow wildflowers
Inside the Visigothic church
Monastery/ Albergue
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