Today's walk should have been 20 km, the distance between the two towns. The first 12 km were without a doubt the most scenic yet, winding along a dirt road between stone walls. Penned inside were the famous black Iberian hogs, grazing and munching on acorns, blissfully igorant of their destiny to hang in bars throughout Spain as Jamon Serrano. Other pastures, blanketed in miniature daisies and dandelions, held flocks of sheep with bells clanging. We saw more castles in the first 2 hours than we saw cars, and we only saw 2 castles. Other than birdsong, it was quiet most of the time.
We knew it had to end. We'd been warned that road construction had obliterated the last 8 km of trail heading into Monesterio. The trail parallels the main north-south road through the region, and a new freeway is under construction that has buried the trail. The construction crew instructed us to walk the shoulder of the existing highway for the last 8 km to town. We walked it for less than 50 yards before we realized we'd likely be killed. There was at best a 3 foot shoulder, at times shrinking to nothing. Huge trucks passed one after the other within a few feet of us at 60 mph. We found a bar nearby and started asking if anyone could give us a lift into town. We got a ride with two locals who were heading into town with a basket of eggs to sell. We climbed into the back seat with the eggs on Conchi's lap and the floorboards covered in straw. I kept glancing at the continually disappearing shoulder that we'd been spared from walking and didn't feel bad at all about fudging on this short stretch. In addition to the already heavy traffic, there was a constant stream of motorbikes heading to the cup races this weekend in Jerez de la Frontera. When they ride in packs like that, they're a menace.
Felix and Paxti got to town about the same time we did. They'd ignored the construction crew and climbed up onto the new freeway and walked in that way. Barbara and Helga did the same, but it took them considerably longer, and stragled into town just before dark.
Today marked a few important milestones. We crossed the 100 km mark. We also left the autonomous region of Andalucia and the province of Sevilla and entered the autonomous region of Extremadura and the province of Badajoz.
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