Ina with Daughters on Mozárabe from Almeria to Granada -Ina et ses filles sur le MOZARABE

Day 3          Rioja  -  Santa Cruz de Marchena     Sunday  28/04/2019 2o,4 kms        plus 450 m up = 4.5 kms effort = rounded up to 25 kms   8 hours of which pauses 15 min, 15 min and 1 hour (lunch) When we came “home” last night after a delicious tapas dinner together with the others we discovered that another two had arrived, two young men from Italy. Off at daybreak this morning, quick breakfast of a big Madeleine, and off into a cool windy sunny morning. Flat at first but soon ups and downs in quick succession and steeper, longer ups and steep, short downs until we reached the top of the world.  And it was getting quite hot!  Just before we got there, with Andrea encourageing me, “ only a short step to the dip and then another short up and it will be going down all the way to our destination!” But I was completely out of breath and could not take any ...

Day 2          Almeria - Rioja     Saturday, 27/04/2019 15 kms flat     4 ..1/2 hours of which a 15 min. breakfast after one hour Left at 8 am into a pleasant sunny morning, not cold, a light breeze, perfect for walking. Went to the cathedral where the camino starts - we got the stamps to our “credenciales” yesterday. Then we walked endlessly through suburbs until the camino took us to a dried river bed for a long time and out again and back into it and that time round there was WATER! Not a lot of it, but even so! And finally some more road into a built up area, and there was Rioja! Had some trouble finding a bar, got worried - I did! Not Andrea! - the fear of not having enough to eat!  Found a bar which was a very good restaurant too. I looked for octopus (pulpo) and was offered calamar (squid or seiche in French). I loved seiche  - Riton used to fish seiches, cleaned it carefully before frying it cut into strips. So h...

Day 1         Friday,     26/04/2019 Got up at an outlandishly early hour to catch our plane to Almeria at 5:45h. Landed at 9:30h and allowed ourselves a taxi to our four star hotel in the center of Almeria - a fitting start for a pilgrimage!  A walkabout in the city, cathedral which looked like it had been freshly cleaned - the stalls of a book fair somewhat spoiled the picture. Then on to the citadel which was originally built by the moors(?) and a large part added by the Catholic Kings after the Reconquista to demonstrate their power. A delicious meal in an Arab restaurant and back to our hotel for a late siesta. Another walkabout to go to the Refugios de la Guerra Civil, underground air raid shelters which were originally built to protect the population (40000) from German air raids during the Civil war and also served during the Second World War - however the guided tours are booked out until next Wednesday! Time for an earlyis...

Ina with Daughters on Mozárabe from Almeria to Granada Taking off again! This year’s walk will be shorter than previous ones – only ten days of actual walking. The “arabized”  Christians who lived on Muslim occupied territory under Al-Andalus from the VIII – XV century were called “Mozárabe”. This itinerary for the Christians in the South of Spain shows the various civilizations which influenced this part of the country: Roman, Arab and Christian.  The Camino Mozárabe starts in Almeria, or Malaga, or Jaén in Andalusia and goes through Granada and Córdoba to join the Via de la Plata in Merida in Estremadura – 1400 kms from Almeria to Santiago de Compostela of which we will walk only the 200 kms from Almeria to Granada. Andrea and I will fly together from London to Almeria on April 26th and start walking on the 27th.  Alison will join us on the 29th. Here you find a map of the section we intend to walk: https://1.bp.blogspot.com/...