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
We left before the others. Just outside town Manolo rides up and stops to say goodbye. The area is very nice. I am enjoying it, trying not to think about pain. Which right now is not so bad....but wait. I know what everyone tells me, but hey, I have to wait for the sign, what sign???? I don´t know!!! By the way, I pee often in the bushes. Salvador is very patient with me for I probably pee 4 times for each time he does. And I never throw toilet paper on the ground. I take it with me. Which is something I must mention. Compared to the Camino Frances this walk is void of litter. It is so refreshing, for I remember the CF had so much of it. Void of litter on what is considered the camino, because when in cities or along main roads there is a lot of litter, which obviously is not from pilgrims, otherwise it would also be seen along the camino. I congratulate everyone of us for being so careful about our loved Via. I had to stop and rest. My leg was hurting. Moos caught up with us and he wanted to rest a bit also. So I started walking alone slowly and told them they would catch up with me at some point soon, but that I was going to thumb a ride. I walked by a pig farm adn all those piggies were scattered around until they heard me approaching. All of a sudden it was like a pig magnet appeared (me) and they came up to the gate screaming and clammoring over each other to see me. It must have been feeding time and they thought I was the food. It was so funny I wish I had videoed instead of a picture, but here they are... 
It was a long time before I was on a main road that led to a major road. I stayed at the stop sign until they caught up with me. 
They went across the road and stayed on the camino and I turned right, onto a paved (!!!) road. It was a pretty walk today. I stayed on that side road and no one picked me up. I stopped at a small brook and rested for a bit. 
By now it was sunny with a chilly wind. I wrapped myself up in my sarong (multi-use, I love having it) and made it to the main road. It was a sunday.... hardly anyone on the road. I walked and walked and started getting upset that these guys were walking on a beautiful camino and I was on this highway, on asphalt, and km after km was going by. I stopped often to get the cramps to subside and finally, finally someone stopped. A young man was on his way to pick up his daughter for the day in Fuente de Cantos. He told me he liked me and wanted me to meet his daughter. We stopped to pick her up and she is adorable, 5 years old. I told him he should make a dozen of them, he laughed, rolled his eyes. Then he dropped me off at the albergue. The albergue is in an old convent. 
The place is very spacious, the rooms, the living area, the courtyard, the place to hang your clothes, all large. It rained and we had to hang our clothes to dry in the room. There was one room with just 2 beds and the Iranian couple had that one. They were so quiet, for any attempt at conversing was difficult. They knew none of our languages and we did not know theirs. But lots of smiles. They burned incense and it wafted into our room, I loved it, for I am carrying the same incense they are burning. Something in common. I met Peter from Galway,Ireland and we went out for a beer. The guy is young... first young person I met besides my son, and he is teaching English in Salamanca. Peter is learning Japanese, for he is going to Japan to teach English. That is his work. Travel and get to know the world and teach English. Great way to see the world. I enjoyed our conversations, they were deep. Notice I am not writing anything about my feelings,sentiments, etc.... this blog is for me to remember what I did, who I met, where I went. My thoughts, feelings are mine to keep. 
The Via, like the CF gives time to reflect, to plan, etc. Everyone I have known comes away with positive mental experiences. Although I do love reading other people´s blogs where they share intimate emotional experiences. I went into the chapel. Since it is Sunday, all is closed except for that bar, so we all ended up eating dinner there. The place was full of men all watching the bullfights, a commom thing to do in the evenings. I know it bothers many people, but I don´t let it bother me. It is their customs, their traditions. And I can see it is changing as younger people in Spain are feeling different ethically from the older generation. TOTAL 22 KILOMETERS. I DID ABOUT 18 OF THOSE!
