The day started with a good breakfast at Bar La Justicia, downstairs from our hostal, with apparently delicious cheese for Nedjo’s toast. The route out of town - with Nedjo in charge of navigating today - was straightforward, but then came a kilometre or so on a busy highway. As we walked along the shoulder of the highway we passed an olive wood furniture manufacturer - a first on this trip - but maybe not surprising given our immersion in all things olive. Highway walking is always somewhat stressful and so a relief when we were able to leave that behind and head onto a dirt road.
The morning was very pleasant, sunny but so much cooler than it had been. I even put on a jacket and gloves to start the day. It was a meandering route and then, emerging with striking beauty, the small hillside town of Espejo with its impressive castle appeared. We had imagined skipping Espejo with the bypass route, but it looked so perfect - plus the lure of a second coffee - that we climbed on up. Both bars in the plaza were closed for some reason—although we were told one would open in ten minutes but never did. We climbed to admire the castle, which was not open, and the marvellous views and then on our way out of town we were given by directions by two helpful women about where we could find a restaurant. So I got my coffee and a much needed bathroom break after all. And to top it all off, there was an olive wood fire burning in the restaurant.
As we left Espejo there was the ruins of a small Roman bridge which we stopped to admire and photograph. It’s often these unexpected gems that add so much to a day’s enjoyment.
The rest of the afternoon passed quickly and we were happy to be able to walk a bit with Elise, a fellow peregrina from the Netherlands who we’d met in Castro del Rio. Elise had started in Granada and we wondered if we’d see more pilgrims now that the branch from Almería and the branch from Málaga had merged. We’d also briefly met a Polish man in Espejo who’d started in Málaga but was doing the route at a more ambitious pace, or I guess more accurately we we’re taking it very leisurely. They were both ending in Córdoba and since we were taking a long break there, it did feel like we were closing in on a destination.
We gave ourselves a good lunch break - which some days we had not really been doing - and the pause to enjoy some fruit, nuts, crackers and cheese was a welcome respite. There was also some more variety in the scenery and colour of the landscape as groves of almond trees and fields of newly sprouted green shoots joined the ubiquitous olives.
The entry into Santa Cruz is unpleasant as the camino had us back on a highway with tons of traffic. Unexpectedly, and diverging from our map, the arrow markers had us leave the busy road, but needing to climb a barrier to do so. I was hesitating over this when the approach of a huge and fast moving truck had me half over the barrier before giving it more thought. Or only thinking that I would rather be half taken out than wholly. After a few moments to calm ourselves, we meandered through an olive grove and then followed a dirt path into town.
The town is tiny but our hostal (Hostal Casa Jose, €55) is good and the proprietor friendly and funny. We wandered through the town and found the small grocery store for some provisions and then had a sunset drink at the hostal bar. Sure, it had us looking over the highway – which runs through town but slows down as it does - and the backdrop was the massive grain elevator, but finally I was getting my sunset drink! Elise joined us for dinner at our hotel’s bar/restaurant and we all enjoyed the company and conversation. All in all a good day. And Córdoba comes next!
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