Tele Cuatro

The folk from Tele Cuatro Spain found me quite at home in the bar Rayma in the centre of Galisteo.

We spent the afternoon filming me wandering in and out of gates of the pueblo, onto the walls of the pueblo, and, of course, entering a bar for some refreshment(s), and chatting to the locals.

All good fun, and the TV crew and David the interviewer were very patient as cars and pedestrians passing, strange noises in the background, and my occasional technical failures speaking Spanish coherently forced us to do retake after retake.

The only problem was that by the time they left it was too late to start the next leg of the journey, as it's a good four hours to the next pueblo, and there were only 3 and a bit hours of light left.

So I headed to the pilgrim hostal in town, happy enough to have an afternoon to relax, but with only 10 km done today. Tomorrow will have to be a long day to make it up.

I met these German pilgrims in the main square in Galisteo. A father and daughter cycling team, they bought me a beer while I waited for the TV crew. Buen Camino to them!

I'm just outside the excitingly walled pueblo of Galisteo. I need to wait here until a television crew from Channel 4 Spain arrive. They want to do a long report for a program they have concerning social issues and happenings, so are going to be following me about for some of today.

This is the first national channel to get involved so is a great opportunity to get the message about amyloidosis out, and maybe get a few more donations in.

There should also be some opportunities for dramatic action shots up on the wall.

Of course if anyone has any contacts in television, radio, press, in any country whatsoever, let them know what i'm up to, the more coverage the better!

Agustín from Zamora

Agustín drives a lorry, and saw me wandering down the highway near Salamanca last week. He then saw me on the telly, doing the interview in the main square in Salamanca. Today he arrives at his favourite bar in Carcaboso and I'm sitting there having my breakfast.

He was pleased to have finally met me, and got me a damn fine coffee to set me up for today's walking.

The ancient ruins at Cáparra will remain a mystery for me, because the new information centre is shut from 2 to 5, and there doesn't appear to be any way in to the ruins apart from by their gate.  A bit of a shame, I was looking forward to the huge arch that remains standing there.   

Annoying as well as that's where the path south goes from, so I'm going to have to head off on farm tracks and hope I find it at some point....

PS heading south I can now see the arch over some fields, about a third of a mile away. It's quite impressive even from here.

The halfway point of this Spanish adventure.

I can't believe it was 19 days ago I was up on the Atlantic coast, a sea breeze in my face. It seems more than a world away from the heat and the dry, dusty paths I'm on now.

And all going well I'll be back by the ocean in about 16 days for the final days  along the beach.  Of course that too seems impossibly distant right now.

Despite the blisters and the occasional directional mishap I have loved every minute of this, and am thoroughly looking forward to the next four hundred miles. Walking allows you to see a country in a different, more intimate, way to any other mode of transport. The experiences I've had will stay with me for a very long time.

Cycling pilgrims

Somewhere on the N 630.

Progress

Apologies for not posting much regarding my progress and if I'm ahead or behind schedule.

The good news is that I'm exactly on schedule, and barring dramatic incidents this morning I should hit the half way point of the whole journey around 2.30pm this afternoon. Annoyingly where I'm going to be then doesn't have a bar (research is all important on a trip like this), so a warm orange Fanta from my pack will be the celebratory refreshment.