26 km Fuente de Cantos to Zafra

It was a bit nippy when we set out this morning just a bit before 9. I've got photographic proof that the sun was shining when we left, but within minutes we were shrouded in a cold fog. Promises from the refuge operators of hot coffee and toast proved unfounded, so we hit the trail with the intention of eating breakfast in a bar on the way. Being Sunday, nothing was open in Fuente, so we pushed on. The next town was 6.5 km down a dirt road, which covers an old section of the Roman via. Fortunately, we found a bar opened in Calzadilla de los Barros.

At various times along the trail we crossed paths with everyone we'd dined with the night before. Cristof and Verner, from Lucern it turns out, accepted the offer of a ride in the French RV, due to blisters and knee problems. Nice weather for walking, all on quiet dirt tracks through various crop fields and vineyards.

We all ended up at the same hostal and dined together. The alberges and refuges are turning out to be either closed or as expensive as the better appointed hostals. For the same price, why sleep in a dorm and share a bath? But it does dramatically raise the overall cost of the trip. Oh, well.