Cicadas, Birds and Footsteps

 What an amazing sight to begin today's camino. On our way out of Merida the camino passes by a(nother) section of the Roman Acqueduct. The morning light was perfect, there were many nesting storks flying about as well as many other types of birds nesting here. WOW! I am saying that so frequently here. I wish I were more eloquent but I ain't.

 After 1.5 hours of walking alongside the old highway and then on an adjacent bike/pedestrian path, Karin and I arrived in a touristy (but all closed this early in the morning) area called Proserpina. The resort lays along a couple of kms of the man made lake. The Romans were the first to dam it, some of the original abutments are still visible.

 The camino at this point became bucolic farm land, such a pleasure to walk through. My heart was so full of gratitude for being able to experience this beauty of the Via de la Plata.
As you can see the weather is again perfect, not too hot, in the low 20s.

The only sounds are the cicadas, the birds and my footsteps.

 At 11:30 am after a little more than 3 hours walking .... looking back. Karin had walked ahead as I wanted to slow my pace. I caught up to her at the very small town of El Carrascalejo where she had found coffee at a bar adjacent to the beautiful, spacious and clean brand new albergue. Tapas were available so I finally got to have some tortillas espagnol. Then we treated ourselves to an ice cream bar.
Back to walking on a quiet road for the final 3 kms (only 17 today bringing my total to about 218) to the pretty village of Aljucen.

Here we have the luxury of another washing machine to have clean clothes, especially socks! We arrived just in time to buy some groceries. The tiny super mercado closes at 2pm on Saturdays and will not open until Monday. However at 7pm this evening we will go across the street to eat supper at the bar. And back again at 7am for breakfast. So the groceries are for enroute tomorrow. 2 oranges, 2 bananas, 1 apple and walnuts cost only 3 € but weigh just that extra amount to make my pack feel heavy.

The camino is made so much easier nowadays with the use of the internet. Many pilgrims have the route loaded onto their phones (I was unsuccessful with my attempt). For getting around Merida yesterday, Google Maps was so very helpful. We used it to navigate the warren of small streets when heading for sites and hostal and restaurants. Also Karin and I are linked by WhatsApp, as long as my cell data is turned on we have instant communication. At home 3 folks are able to track my phone so if they don't hear from me for a couple of days or if my cell heads off away from the camino they will know to take action. As a single woman this provides an extra layer of (perhaps false?) comfort.

Karin from Belguim was wanting to know how I was feeling. She asked "Snot fallin?". What a delightful way to put it! So yes everyone, snot is nicht fallin, I am feeling fine again. Not only was it a good cold, it was a short one.