< VDLP Day 13 — VDLP Day 15 > < VDLP Index >
49 kilometers, 9 hours and 30 minutes. Through Valverde de Valdelacasa and Fuenterroble de Salvatierra, along with a climb over the Pico de la Dueña.
Out of Fuenterroble de Salvatierra and before one may make the climb to a ridgeline with wind turbines, there was a long, very straight stretch of Roman road marked with millarios (mileposts). A milla was a Roman mile, and the mile markers indicated distance and tolls along the Silver Way, the Via de la Plata. The Roman Empire had the road built to haul silver from Spain and bring it to the port at Seville. The silver was then transported to Rome.
Our mile in the US came from the milla, through England, and is close to the same distance. The mile markers, or millarios, were the route markers of the day—well before the birth of Christ. We followed the same route using yellow arrows painted on rocks, road signs, buildings, and whatever was handy. We also used GPX files and our smartphones. Eric, my Belgian friend, said the millarios were the GPX of the time.
GPX files were recorded by others that have covered the same path we wished to follow, using a GPS device or smartphone. We downloaded the file, and using a map program on our phones, we followed the route.
For video, click on image.
All the albergues (hostels) in my VDLP information for San Pedro de Rosados were closed for the winter, or permanently—I don’t know which. So I stepped into Bar El Claveles and asked the lady behind the bar for both a beer and information about the albergues. She said they were closed. I asked if there were others, and yes, she indicated there were and that she would show me. After I finished my beer, the bar owner, named Elena, showed me to the side yard of the patio at the bar, and there was a small albergue, Albergue Casa Elena. She had started her own after the others had closed.
For slideshow, click on imagine.
People:
Eugene (from Belfast, Ireland), who lived in Denmark with his Danish wife. He and I had dinner together at Bar El Claveles.
Juan and Mercedi, the Spanish couple from Seville, whom we met coming into
Cáparra and with whom we went to Jarillo and the Hostal Asturias.
The German couple we met at Cáparra.
The German woman, the Frenchman, and the Italian man in the albergue in San Pedro.
Costs: €6 for the albergue, €5 for lunch, and €10 for dinner and wine.