VDLP 2013 Day 1: Zafra

May, 2013
There are two albergues in Zafra. One is the donativo municipal. It is clean but stark.  I showed you the posters for both in the previous post.

The other albergue is a private and is called Albergue de San Francisco. It costs 10 Euros plus 2 Euros if you want desayuno. It is absolutely beautiful!

This albergue has 3 rooms with 5 to 6 beds in each. It has nice showers for each room. There is a kitchen where you can cook, a beautiful patio and garden. It opens at 11 am. They allowed me to leave my mochilla there while I saw the city. Very, VERY nice people!

Nice rooms.

Hot showers!

Nice clean bathrooms.

I spent the morning seeing the Alcazar, and the museum at the Convent de Sta. Clara.
Both were gratis though the Museu accepts donations. 

The Alcazar was built by Lorenzo de Figueroa, the Duke de Feria, in 1437.  It's a really cool fortress that has battlements and a keep. There are 9 towers and you can ask for a key and walk up on the roof. It is now a Parador Hotel, so if you have some extra Euros, you can sleep there!  It's really quite a lovely building, and worth seeing.

Courtyard with fountain.

Long quiet halls.

There was some gorgeous furniture!

Zafra from the battlements

There were spectacular views in all four directions.

Next I visited the Convent de Santa Clara.
The Convent was built by the first Duke de Feria and his wife in 1458.
Their funeral monument is made of alabaster
and built into the wall of the main altar.
 The Baroque altarpiece is from the 17th century.  

There were many treasure to be seen in the Convent.

This flay was used to whip oneself to pay for sins.
Ouch!?

A life sized Baby Jesus

Beautiful Courtyard - for the nuns only!

The altar flowers were fresh and very fragrant

Ceiling

Well, they looked better than they tasted!

You don't see the nuns. You say what you want,
put your money in the little revolving door,
it turns,
and out come your cookies!

The place to buy sweets is easy to miss - watch for the door under the staircase.

After visiting the convent and museum
I bought cookies from the nuns.

I didn't really like them

but it was fun buying them,

and I was happy to help the nuns.

It has been a wonderful day.
Now it is time for some lunch and a siesta.

Below are more photos of Zafra.

Hasta luego!

Annie

VDLP 2013: Zafra, Finally!

Our plane got very much behind in Philadelphia. There was some sort of emergency and at one point we were number twenty-something in line at the runway. We finally got off the ground about an hour late, and that put us into Madrid a bit late.

There were several peregrinos on board but all were headed for Pamplona.

My first stop was the Renfre station at T-4. We landed at T-1 so I had to find the shuttle. I finally got to T-4 and found the tiny Renfre station on the first floor, tucked into a corner by the Cercanius. Hooray! I made it! Well...not quite.

There was a disabled gentleman and his wife trying to make reservations somewhere and the one solitary clerk did a great job for him while the minutes ticked away. I was unable to buy a ticket to Zafra from the machine so I had no choice but to wait. Forty five long minutes later I had missed the only train to Zafra for the day. Exhausted and hungry, I made my way to the Avenuda de las Americas bus.

This bus took me to a metro station where I caught a train to within a block if the south estacion de autobuses. There I was able to get a ticket to Zafra on a line called Avanza Bus.  The coach left at 11:30 am and cost 20,15 Euros.

The buses in Spain are Mercedes Benz buses!

I made the connection by 7 minutes so there was no time to eat or drink. This was one time I wished I had carried some food!

The trip to Zafra was five more hours. I was feeling the lack if sleep, but more of food and water. Two hours into the trip the bus stopped for a 20 minute break and I almost cried with joy as I slugged down a beautiful glass of zumo naranja and found a bag of Mr. Corn!

Armed with a new full bottle of water I enjoyed the scenery into Zafra. The bus windows are huge and great for sightseeing!

I missed a great photo moment when we passed a ruined rooftop holding six nests of storks, each nest with a mother and two babies! Because of the way the road was situated up high, I was able to literally look down into the nests It was an incredible moment!

I had booked a room at the Hotel Cervantes. It's cute, clean and inexpensive but highly perfumed. Luckily I'm only here one night. My head is pounding from the scent but I stripped the bed and am using my sleep blanket and so far was able to sleep about five hours. I paid 28 euros.

On the way to the hotel I saw a poster advertising a new albergue in Zafra, but I'm happy where I am.  There is a mercado a couple of blocks away, I have air conditioning, and I'm happy!

It is now 2:08 am. My body thinks it is morning but I better try to get a bit more sleep. Tomorrow I hope to find the Albergue and officially begin my Camino.

That's all for now.

VDLP 2013: Fresno International

I was told to be at the airport at 4 am, 2.5 hours before my flight. I'm not sure why they tell people this, because the checking gate didn't open until 5 am. But at least I was the first in line!

I had a lovely pat-down by TSA, she could have charged me for a massage and I would have paid. So I feel secure.

Now comes the first stretch into Phoenix. The nice ticket counter man put me in seats with no neighbors so maybe a mask won't be required for the entire flight. So far, only two people have been drenched in cologne and they were men. Why do they do that?

Well. I'm off on a new adventure!
I'm looking forward to finishing the Via de la Plata!

Will post from Madrid.
Annie

Via de la Plata it Is!

I've decided
I will continue with my plan to walk the VDLP.
I will go directly from Madrid to Zafra, skipping Sevilla, which I have seen before.

I've added a shell to my pack
It's lightweight!

I'm excited and ready to go!
Just 3 more sleeps

A Possible Change of Plans

So, I have to admit I'm struggling today with whether or not to change my plans.


Last night, on the forum, a pilgrim posted he had been robbed on the Via de la Plata right before Guillena!  Two masked men with knives forced him to spread out his belongings on the ground. They took his money and his phone. He begged them and was able to keep the phone.


At first I thought maybe this was just a fluke. But then Luka posted on the forum that two bicigrinos had their bikes stolen from them by the same men right before Real de la Jara. and then I hear reports of other pilgrim robberies on those first few stages, as well as in an albergue further up north.


I'm planning to bus up to Zafra, so I would be past the troubled area.

But for some reason, my gut is telling me perhaps I should consider sticking to the Camino Frances this year again.  It is busy with pilgrims. A person never walks alone there. The area I"m considering walking in southern Spain on the Via de la Plata has very few pilgrims - one is alone much of the time - and I'm just not feeling comfortable after these reports.


I have to ask myself, what is my goal?
I have seen Seville, Cordoba, Zafra, and much of southern Spain.
I was hoping to finish the VDLP, but that is not as important to me as keeping my money in my pocket and being able to walk for my health for those few weeks.  I can do the same amount of walking in familiar territory on the Frances, where there is safety, as well as have more lodging options and even the option of bag transport.

I'm not hoping to have an unexpected adventure - I'm walking for my health.
I don't have cash to spare - so getting robbed, which has never before been a concern, is now on my plate as a real concern.

If only one pilgrim had been robbed, I would probably just shrug.
Or if it were just a "story" I"d heard.
But I heard it here from the horse's mouth.
A pilgrim was robbed at knifepoint.

Before I read about the two bikes being taken, I also would have shrugged.
But now, there is a knife, the robbers are attacking pairs (not just single walkers).
And there are reports of robberies further up the trail.

A 60 plus woman walking alone feels an awfully lot like an easy target to me.

So, I'm thinking today.

It's not too late to change my plans and just stick to the Camino Frances.
The only cash I"d lose would be my $45 deposit to the Poor Clares in Seville.
I could just count it as a donation to their African mission.

Maybe the VDLP is just not in the cards for me.
Or maybe I should wait and walk it next year when Joe or another walker can accompany me.

I've been told I"m brave,
but I've never been told I'm stupid.
Walking into a den of snakes feels stupid.

What would YOU do???

Decorating my Pack

My backpack is getting pretty old and I thought it might be fun to spruce it up a bit. Mermaid Lillian put flowers all over her pack a few years ago, so using her example, I used puff paint and decorated my pack with colored dots.

Then, I added eyes.
I'm not sure why
I just thought it would be fun
Maybe a charm to help me find my way?

So here is my silly pack
If nothing else, it's identifiable!
See the forum patch?

I also decorated my waist bag with arrow and an eye.

If you see me on the trail, please say hello

Love, Annie.