Day 16: Córdoba to Cerro Muriano, Nov 28

Bare tree against the sky

Nedjo and Evan cooked us a beautiful dinner of pasta with roasted vegetables and then while Evan and Sarah went to a hammam, Nedjo and I got ourselves organized for our departure. It was a bit hard dragging myself out of bed in the morning after not the best sleep, but it was time for tea, then breakfast and coffee and finishing the packing. Evan and Sarah walked us to the nearby street where we rejoined the camino and we said our goodbyes there. What a wonderful visit it had been.

Rosemary and Nedjo leaving Cordoba
Back on the road again! Leaving Córdoba along a well marked route.

Leaving Córdoba was delightful—well waymarked and going through successive neighbourhoods. We stopped for a quick coffee and bathroom break before the city gave way to countryside, which happened abruptly and before long we were starting to climb and soon on the most lovely of trails with natural holm oak—really one of the first, or maybe the first, non-planted landscapes we’ve been in on this camino.

It felt great to be on the road again and although a day of steep climbing the day went by quickly. Part of the day was on a cañada real (Royal livestock trail) and very lovely. The road bits were always short, often just crossing before the track would pick up again.

I was quite exhausted – all that lazing about in Córdoba – and opted to rest rather than explore when we got to our hotel in Cerro Muriano (Hostal Equis, €50). We got a pilgrim themed room at the hostal with all manner of photos, souvenirs and a corkboard with notes and well-wishes—very fun!

Camino themed room
Our camino themed room at Hostal Equis.

It was cloudy and cool today, but no rain. There was, however, light rain when Nedjo went out in the late afternoon and real rain in the forecast for tomorrow. That will be a bit of a shock.

Dinner at the hostal restaurant started at 7:00 which is always a bonus and we were served an excellent menú del día in the evening for €12—really our first pilgrim’s meal. We both chose salad followed by chicken and finished up with flan. Then our kind host joined us to pass along information about the route for next two days and some of the options. All in all a stellar day back on the camino.