May 6 - From Sevilla to Guillena

We went to the cathedral and got our credencials stamped. Looked for the signs, the arrows, anything we could find and made our way out of the city. It was a hot day. A very hot day! We were in good spirits. Leaving Sevilla, we passed through an old gypsy camp. It is not like the gypsy camps I remember when I was 13 and living in Spain for 9 months; no, there were no typical characters, women dressed with long dresses, brown skin, squatters on a piece of land. Here instead were what we call trailers, dirty ones, litter all over the ground, old cars in disrepair, in some it looked like they were living in them. No, they do not have that gypsy look, now it looks yucky. I felt like part of the culture was lost.
Along the road we hear rifle shots going off every couple of minutes. No idea if we were in a hunting area, but nope. Here come men on horses followed by a caravan of hundreds of carts being pulled by bulls, oxen, horses, donkeys or tractors. Each one had several people in it. Reminded me of a wagon train. On foot were many people. Women dressed in their native flamenco type dresses, men in theirs as well (suits, not dresses). We stopped a couple of women and asked what was going on and they said it was their Romeria to El Rocio. I took a picture of Salvador with them. Every town in Spain has a Romeria, a walk, a pilgrimage of sorts to their local holy place, where they will do religious rites, eat, sing, play music and dance. Good times. I sure wished we had been asked to join them, for I can just imagine what that night would have been like. We moved on. We went through Santiponce- Italica- a site with Roman ruins. We spent a short time there not realizing we missed alot of it. Have to go back there as well someday. Then on and on we went in this heat! The road was long, no shade for a long time. I saw a tree in the distance and was looking forward to getting to it. But I think it kept moving further away, for it seemed forever before we got to it. A little stream that had a bridge under water, so we went looking for a place to cross it. A fallen tree served that purpose- we crossed it and got to that tree and promptly spread my sarong and layed down. Salvador did as well on his and we fell asleep for a little while. A couple came by and that woke us up enough to get it together to move on. So we did. Arrived in Guillena. Found the "albergue". NO way in hell that this is an albergue. I argued (not really) with the young man who was in the gym. How can this be? Imagine a locker room.... two benches....two mats. That´s it. Now imagine these mats were trampled on and full of dirt. The floor of the place littered with garbage. The toilet, with no door, no seat, full of shit. The sink almost gray with so much crap. On the other side of the buidling was a twin room. One man was sleeping there. I was dismayed. I was so tired that it was inconceivable that this could be what this town was offering as shelter to us. I called Patricia, a woman I know from one of the forums I am on and who apparently had decided not to stay here (she was walking 2 weeks before me). I called a hostal, too expensive. So reminded myself of the saying, "a tourist demands, a pilgrim is greatful". So I asked for a spray cleaner and cloth and cleaned the mats, the toilets and the sink. By now, Moos, from Holland had arrived and he got the broom, swept the place and picked up the litter. OK. Better now, especially with others there. That is what makes anything bearable. The company of others. 4 mats, 6 people. One man put the benches together and slept on that, another one on his sleeping bag on the floor. Ivan from France, Angel from Spain, Moos from Holland and Manfred from Germany. And Salvador and I. We took our shower, ate what we had in our bag, washed clothes and slept. TOTAL 22,6 KILOMETERS