May 23 Friday Villanueva de Campeán to Zamora

May 23 Friday Villanueva de Campeán to Zamora

I forgot to mention about snakes. When we were in Cásceres, Marilyn from South Africa mentioned that she had seen a snake. I looked at her astonished because I didn't think there were any snakes in Spain. At least, I'd never seen any while hiking. She showed me a picture she had taken. I didn't think much of it. Then she started telling me about all the deadly snakes they had in South Africa and I immediately reconsidered any plans to go there. Then I'm walking along the river on the bike and walking path in Salamanca some days later and a snake slithered onto the path. It looked just like the one Marilyn had taken a picture of. It was about three or four feet long, skinny and green. I said to him, "I don't think you want to come out here. You might get run over by a bicycle. He seemed to consider my comment and then slithered back into the bushes. I thought, "Darn, I didn't take a picture." Well, what are the odds? I had walked that path a hundred times in 2012 and never saw a snake. 

Back to the present. When I woke up this morning it was raining pretty hard. Oh well, rain and mud today.  I got up, packed up and put all my rain gear on. When I walked out the door it had stopped raining. It was mostly blue skies, but there were some dark clouds around the edges. I left my rain gear on and started walking. Mr. Burple was tucked in all cozy under the backpack rain cover, taking a nap. After about an hour I started getting hot and I noticed the sky was all blue. So I took off the rain gear. It was a brisk day and there was some wind, but it was great walking weather. The vistas were amazing once again. They just go on and on. I'm going to miss walking when I stop. 

The one problem with today's walk is that you can see Zamora for more than two hours before you actually get to it. But I wasn't a hurry. I was pretty sure it would still be there when I got there. Sometime before we got to the city there was a big monument thing consisting of three large stone pillars with writing inscribed on them and a round shallow well for depositing your promised. I took pictures of all the writing so I can translate it later. I didn't feel like doing it standing up. Then as we got closer to the city there were little stones marking the kilometers

I visited this city when I was a student in Salamanca. They took us here on a bus and we walked around. It is a beautiful city. It's one of the walled cities built on a hill for defensive purposes. We entered the city crossing a wide river on an old bridge built by the Romans. There certainly is a lot of their stuff still around. I didn't do any sightseeing today because I will be here for two weeks starting June 1. I got to the albergue at 1 pm, but it didn't open until 2 pm. So I went to a small panadería café and had a croissant sandwich. It was yummy. Then I checked into the albergue. They have wifi and a freezer for my gel pack I use on my knee. So all is good. I haven't found out if they have blankets yet. 

I don't quite know how far I'm going from here before I turn around to come back. I have to stop somewhere with a bus the comes back here. I think it will be easier to get that information once I'm in the pueblos. The natives are familiar with the buses that run through their pueblos. 

The French guy with the stinky feet is here, but he must have taken a shower because he is not odiferous tonight. I saw all sorts of storks flying today. They remind me of the pelicans at home. I saw a few rabbits today, but they move too quick to get pictures. 

Well, it's time for bed soon. For some reason, I'm very tired tonight.