Zafra
My feet urgently needed a day of rest and the timing was perfect – Zafra is a town with the narrow, bent streets, radiant white houses with black wrought iron fences on the balconies, Plazas with restaurants and cafes and the birds living in the palm trees chirping all day. I immediately was falling in love with this town!
Plaza Grande (used for bull fights in the 16th century) with the hotel Palmiras at the far end to the left
My hotel room was so charming that I did not mind hours of resting. But I needed new shoes. The receptionist recommended a shoe store very close to the hotel and I bought two pairs of shoes.The owner of the store and his wife were very helpful, provided a box where I could ship my barefoot shoes and other things back to Austria. The owner, Frank, even went with me to the post office and carried the box – a very warm and gentle human being. I was very grateful for his help!
Shoe store with husband and wife preparing my box for shipping
In the afternoon, I went for a short walk through the city, trying my new shoes. They felt so much better to walk in.
i could see this gothic entrance to a hospital from my hotel room
One of many narrow streets
View from the Alcazar (castle) built in the 16th century, now a luxury hotel
Inner court of the luxury hotel Parador
Defensive corridor of the former castle. I was able to walk all around, but had troubles with the stairs – it was hurtful and I had to hold on to the wall.
Every evening, I enjoyed cerveza chica ( a small beer) with the meal. Most of the time, I had troubles with the menu. I did not speak Spanish and it was impossible to use the google translator for food. For example, Revuelta de la casa was translated as “scrambled house” or 1/4 cabrito as “1/4 of a child”. This was not a country for vegetarian meals. Often, I ordered a hamburger.
Limping and still with a swollen foot, I left Zafra after a wonderful day of rest. The shoes provided a better cushion to the ground and the two walking sticks helped to ease off my weight a bit.
I hiked through a hilly countryside with olive trees. grapevines and meadows. The warm, red soil of some stretches of the path reminded me of Sedona in Arizona.
Torre de San Francisco, the remains of a monastery. It seemed that this beautiful tower on the outskirts of Zafra was not valued much.
Rows of vineyards with an old, covered well
The uniqueness of each old olive tree always fascinated me
Elegant beauty –
Not young anymore
the olive tree beside me
The remnants of an olive press
Endless red soil with grapevines
Sometimes, I found grapes still on the vine
After the rain
Approaching the town Villafranca
Two little boys using the church gate for climbing exercises in the town Villafranca de los Barros
A community project of knitting circular pads hanging near the hotel I stayed overnight
It was dark when I left Villafranca for the next town, Torremejia. I had to walk 30km with no houses in between, including a 16 km long former Roman road. Endless vineyards and rows of olive trees stretched to the horizon. Most of the time, no other plants were allowed to grow in between the designated plants and I was reminded of the industrial exploitation of land in agriculture. I used this toneless, unchanging landscape for my meditation practice and focused on breathing, on feeling the ground under my feet, listening to my steps and composing haikus.
Two workers harvesting olives with a tool shaking the branches. The olives are collected in the black fabric on the ground. The smaller plants are grape vines.
This is the former Roman road leading straight to the North (for 16 km).
There was almost no traffic and I walked in the middle of the gravel road for hours. At one point, I wanted to make a photo of my shadow on the street. I prepared my camera, leaned my walking sticks left and right on my hips and was ready to click, when I heard a car behind me. I stepped to the side without seeing the tiny slope, slipped and landed with my full body on the ground. The left side of my head hit the gravel and started immediately to bleed. The driver of the car stopped, said something in Spanish I did not understand and offered me a ride to the next town. I did not need it. The injury was only on the surface.
Walking the long road
with the shadow before me
breathing in and out
