12.4 miles
We chatted with Steve and Ann from Florida over toast and tea.
Rain was forecast but it was a lovely sunny day until about noon when a few clouds gathered. There was a little drizzle about 3:30 but no real rain.
We ran into a couple (Julien and Joanne) from Montreal and s young woman (Kathi) from France at the start of a beautiful stretch of Roman road— bucolic meadows, holm oaks, Mediterranean scrub, low growing broom, purple and yellow wildflowers, hills on the horizon.
As we approached Galisteo, the landscape began changing. Everything seemed much greener. We walked along willows and poplars and rock roses.
Apparently, the area is irrigated by an extensive set of canals. We saw a number of beautiful stone aqueducts.
Galisteo (population 1055) has a magnificent Almohad wall of rounded stones—11 m high, 3 m thick and (in the 13th C) 1200 m long.
As we entered town, we saw Ann and Steve having lunch at the depressing Bar Los Emigrantes. We waved and walked on because we wanted to stroll around a section of the walls and it seemed as though it would soon start to rain.
We’ve seen giant arrays of solar panels but saw our first windmills of the trip as we approached Galisteo. (Spain is currently the 5th largest producer of solar power in the world after losing ground in recent years.)
Another view of walls
When we returned, Julien and Joanne were grabbing a bite to eat and the two Swiss women and their Dutch friend were waiting for a taxi to take them on to the start of the next stage.
We ordered two small beers and I called for a taxi to take us to our Casa Rural in Riolobos (population 1351; off the camino and roughly 12 km from Galisteo) where we were spending the night.
We are staying in a very nicely furnished Casa Rural. It has everything you need for a very comfortable stay (even a common room with recreational games).
Our room is very pleasant, nicely appointed and with a shared terrace. (81 euros includ. breakfast)
We ate the remains of our sandwiches and headed out in search of dinner supplies-i.e. bread and cheese and fruit. We struck out on the bread at the first market we tried.
We went looking for the bakery in town. A very nice gentleman left off unloading his car to take us several blocks to the bakery. He told us that though the bakery was closed (surprise!), we could knock on the door and someone would sell us some bread. I think that only works for locals…
We eventually found another little market.
