Day 10: Lucena to Cabra, Nov 18

The section of the Camino Mozarabe from Lucena to  Doña Mencía follows the Vía Verde del Aceite, which is an old rail line converted to a cycling and walking path. Today we were just walking half a stage as far as Cabra, so it was a lovely, short and flat day. Being Saturday there were lots of people out walking, running and cycling and it was fun to be part of that lively mix. We’d left around 9:00 so it was also pleasantly cool as we started out and luckily it just never got too hot. For the first part, the Vía Verde was paved but once we got part way, after crossing a large viaduct, it switched to fine, crushed gravel and was very pleasant to walk on.

We entered Cabra by veering off the trail before arriving at the train station – which we remembered from cycling along the Vía Verde on an earlier trip to Spain – winding our way in on a pleasant, tree-lined street and easily finding Pensión Guerrero. We were early and after not getting an answer when ringing the bell, we went across the street to a little plaza to wait the half hour until check-in time. But not more than ten minutes later a friendly woman called across to us and got us settled in – no formalities until later – in our luxurious room.

After showers, we took her recommendation on where to eat easily finding “Entre Tapas” in the Plaza Vieja. The food was great and the people-watching excellent on a sunny Saturday afternoon: large families, groups of friends and with lots of hugging and kissing as this was a small enough place that people knew each other.

As we completed our check-in formalities, we discovered that our host was a keen supporter of the Camino Mozarabe and we were given a Mozarabe-branded first aid kit. She also asked us to fill in a questionnaire about the route which we were happy to do, since our experience so far had been great.

After lunch, Nedjo opted for a nap while I discovered a delightful terrace on our floor. Luxuriant plants in bright blue pots, along with a good table for writing, made it a perfect spot for me to while away the rest of the afternoon. As I wrote, two different older men, slipper and cardigan-clad, shuffled out for a smoke. As I would later twig into, our delightful host clearly had long-term guests in her pensión, and provided food as well as lodging.

The five loud chimes from the church kitty-corner to here told me it was time to rouse Nedjo from his slumber and join the reawakening town for further exploration including the nearby city park.

We took in the small but informative archaeology museum, learning all the various names for Cabra: Igabrum (Iberian and Roman), Egabro (Visigoth), Qabra (Islamic) and finally Cabra. So not a goat as we had assumed! Later in the evening we settled in another plaza for wine and tapas, savouring our very relaxing weekend.