We started off the day with an eleven mile straightaway with no towns. I chatted the entire time with a middle-aged Spanish shoemaker named Jose Luis. He spoke no English but we were still able to cover dozens of topics. I have noticed a shift with my Spanish- instead of trying to formulate meaningful utterances I instead focus in on getting the exact meaning of what the speaker is saying. My replies flow naturally, albeit in funny ways of saying things. For example, I was saying how much I loved the tiny swimming pool for bathing in our hotel room last night (bañera was the word I should have used for bathtub). Jose is a strong Catholic and used many metaphors and parables to talk about his upbeat philosophy (even with a child with a handicap). It is thrilling for me to think and talk in Spanish but after hours of deep conversation, I had a splitting headache! So cool - he lives in Alicante near our dear friend Pilar :)
We stopped for a bit under a low-growing oak tree in the early afternoon (see pics). There was clear evidence of wild pigs snuffling about.
I watched a farmer in an emerald green outfit and tan cap hand fertilize his wheat field. He carried a satchel over his shoulder and kept an exact rhythm. Step, spread, step, grab more, step, spread, step, grab more. Mesmerizing. His little white terrier followed along barely able to see through the young wheat.
We almost stopped in an earlier village but there was no sign of life whatsoever. No people, no dogs, no children. Just as we were departing, we caught a glimpse of one aloof kitty (see pic) but it was not enough to entice us to stay.
I liked today a lot more than yesterday because we could see the snow-capped Cantabrian Mountains in the distance, the wind kept the bugs at bay, and we suddenly realized we are more than halfway there! We seem to be going faster than planned so we might take a quick trip to Italy for a week or something.
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