Day 7. March 18, 2024. Cañaveral de León to Segura de León. 16 kms

 

May the pigs run free

Upon the natural stage

And curséd be he

Who puts them in a cage.

The hospitality and the meal at the Bar St. Sebastián were superb.

I have been doing more waning than waxing, and, in fact, a little bit of wailing and whining and whingeing as well. To myself, anyway. Yesterday was brutal for me. Today was easier. And it’s amazing how a few tiny poppies can lift your spirits.

It was an upward climb to our coffee stop at Fuentes, eight kilometres on. A sombre beauty in olive green, pasture on either side of the road, sometimes sheep and sometimes cows grazing under the oaks, bordered by drystone walls. On the higher ground, olives grew on the steeper slopes.

At Fuentes, we enjoyed leisurely cafe con lechés at €1 each. And the afternoon was an easy stint along the road. Again I took the road, while my hardy companions took the natural detour. I am preserving my energy.

I rarely eat pork in Canada because of the evil treatment of pigs in cages but here I have not hesitated to sample the pork delicacies for which the region is famous, because we have often seen the pigs at large. This afternoon, I watched them running free, not even in a sty, but in a field ambling and gambolling about, as happy as pigs in muck.

Tonight, we are staying at a casa rural, recommended by Ferdinand, the man behind the Camino de Huelva.