Day 1 of our Walk Granada - Pinos Puente



19.7 km  mostly flat, 4:7 hrs without the pauses, average speed 4.6 km/h


We had intended to start at 7 am, but found that it was pitch dark outside. In the end we took off at a quarter to 8. It was flat all day, in fact unnoticeable going down from Granada town center. The usual long way out of a big town going at a fair pace.  A longish pause in the small town of Atarfe. It was beginning to be quite hot. 

Oh, coming out of Granada on a wide pedestrian walk there was a large rectangular bench with a bronze midddle which looked like cushions to serve a a back. Will try to produce the photo here

More road through a derelict industrial area, cross the railway line on a level crossing and then for 5 straight kilometers more asphalt parallel to the railway line until we had to cross it again, over a bridge this time, to reach Pinos Puente. On this long and boring stretch someone on a scooter came towards us, crossed over, stopped and asked were we walking the camino? He was wearing a black T-shirt with a large yellow arrow across his chest - he was one of the Granada team of the Associación de los Amigos del Camino de Santiago. During a long conversation he gave us his telephone number, telling us to call him if we had any problem and needed help. Andrea gave him hers and they had a Whatsapp exchange to make certain it worked. And it did...

Our hotel is at the entrance to the town which I was heartily glad of because I have developed a pain in the sole of my left foot - this is an old acquaintance of mine; I have orthopedic soles to deal with this which they used to do very nicely. But maybe it is the fact that I am carrying a heavy pack which I had not done during the last two and a half years in part due to the pandemic - walked a lot but without a pack - which has brought this on. Anyway from now on pauses are indicated at shorter intervals to avoid the pain coming on because once it has started I cannot get rid of it.

Had a nice sleep immediately after our arrival at about 2 pm, even before settling in, and another one a bit later and a good soak for my feet. So now I will read myself to sleep - Andrea has given me a book by Washington Irving, an American diplomat, historian and traveller who lived for a while in the Alhambra when the Alhambra was falling to ruins in the early 19th century and his writings contributed to a movement to save the Alhambra: “Tales of the Alhambra” (1832)...




Comments

  1. Tulsi4 September 2021 at 17:55

    Feel like I am walking with you. Sending the foot good wishes and look forward to hearing about tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete

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