First the good news. We had a great day, lovely cycling and lots of fun. We had started out the day to a forecast of thunder storms but the Spanish weather-men are clearly no better than ours and we had sunshine and a cool breeze all day- perfect weather for a cycle.
The bad news is that I had just finished this blog and something happened and I lost it all so this may be an abbreviated version
We obviously set out on the off- road today, although the cycling is harder we both find it a lot more enjoyable and we see a Spain that otherwise we would never experience.
Here are the two en trepidation cyclists at the start of the days journey.
The terrain today was better than previous days but there was still quite a bit of variety. We started with a sandy gravel that offers little traction and so the going was slow. At one point the sand was so soft and deep we had to walk, the bike wheels would just not turn
Later it was muddy with lots of water hazards
We met a couple of walkers early in the day, one from Australia and another from France.
There were lots of route markers along the way.
You may remember from a previous post John’s affinity for route markers. Well he was determined today.
At around 11 we arrived to the village of El Cubo De La Tiera Del Vino- what a great name- and stopped at the bar for some tapas and coffee. There we met two more walkers, one from Manchester and one from Frankfurt. The German had an injury and they were waiting for a bus to get to Zamora.
While there a couple of Spanish cyclists from Seville rolled in. They kindly took our photo.
Later in the day when we met up again John returned the favor
The scenery today was again quite different.
We rode through great fields of harvested wheat and expanses of harvested, sad looking sunflowers
By mid day I had decided that John. could not have all the fun And I thought it was such a cool picture for the memory book so I decided to conquer my own route marker
The animal life was also different today. At one point we missed a turn, fortunately it turned out. A man pointed out to us we had to go back a bit and turn, as we did a van came out of the turn being chased by six dogs. Fortunately the were so intent on catching the van they did not notice us and we slipped by!
Later we passed our first really big herd of sheep
Once again we entered or destination over an old stone bridge, this one reserved for pedestrians and cyclists
After a quick shower we went on a walking tour of the town- Zamora- we also wanted to check out where we might have dinnerand look for a grocery store but everything is closed up as it is Sunday afternoon, even all the churches but it looks like a nice city.
It has a beautiful riverside
And lots of narrow streets and churches
I think we may also be ok for breakfast. Our hotel is very nice and say they have a breakfast at 7;30, much better than the normal 8:30, so that just might work for us.
VDLPbyBike 
Hai finito il blog? I can’t believe it! It is so very interesting and lovely photos!
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Ciao Paolo. Oh no, non l’ho finito! Abbiamo 6 giorni di più per arrivare a Santiago!
Sei .molto gentile che leggi il blog. Ci piace veder I tuoi messaggi!
D
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Getting up on those route markers looks a bit tricky. Glad that the sun shone today.
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Hi Bridie
Nice to see that you are still looking in on us.
When John got up the marker started to wobble a bit so we were a little worried about what we would do if the thing ended up on its side! We might end up in the annals of infamy as having desecrated the Camino
But it was good fun and we have photos for our memory wall!
Love D
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That looked like an enjoyable day. It is great that the temperatures seem to be in cyclists favour. The photos are great. All the best for tomorrow. Mary
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Another great and interesting blog, it’s like being a fly on your helmet as you journey on your trip.
You are both like young school boys climbing the route markers.
I’m glad you are enjoying the adventure, after all the hard work you put in it would be a sin not to get some enjoyment.
Yes, the landscape is much different, it doesn’t seem as remote and cork and olive groves. I love the bridge and how it reflects on the river, you can see the moorish influence in the architecture. The picture at the river and the village in the background is also lovely, the cliff side looks very interesting as it has verious colours one would wonder what type of sediment was deposited to created the lovely colour. The village streets are very steep but I’m sure that it’s a stroll in the park for you.
I hope tomorrow will be as kind as today for you. Take care and I await tomorrows blog with intrigue. It may be the last one I get as I fly out at 7 a.m. to Malaga.
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We will miss you here Ann. Enjoy Malaga. Ironically the one bad meal we had was in Cafe Malaga – but far from where you are going. See you soon. John
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Gorgeous scenery and what looks like a great ride. Your right i would have loved it.
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Great to see ye,re havin some fun! Would be concerned about the dinners. Not really hitting good steaks often enough. Loving the blogs and photos. Best of luck with the good weather
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Hi guys, Patricia here, what a fab trip, enjoying it all ‘virtually’ glad its you and not me. Best wishes for the rest of your joyrney.
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Loved your account of today and all the pictures. Glad to see that you are having fun although I hope that’s it for climbing the markers – I’d like to see you finish in one piece. They look pretty tall – well done to both of you for getting to the top. Good luck tomorrow. Hope it’s as good as today. Love, Breda
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I think it was you questioning whether John made it to the top the previous day that egged him on to try again!
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It sounds like a great day! I love the pictures–fun and beautiful today. You’re off to a great start for week two. I’ll be sending wishes for good food, cool/dry weather, and well-behaved roadside animals…
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Sounds great!
(as an interesting aside, Cal’s (Lin’s brother) wife’s surname is ‘Zamora’.)
That prompted me to read a bit about this town. I realize I’m a day late, but some very important info:
“Food specialities in Zamora include the pulses, the chickpeas or ‘garbanzos’ from Fuentesauco, the exquisite cheese made from sheep’s milk, honey from Sanabria, asparagus from Guareña, peppers from Benavente, steak from Aliste, mushrooms, game, cold meats, cakes and sweets.
Others specialties are the rice dishes from Zamora and the Toro wines (very dark, almost black, nowadays made using modern techniques – with a rapidly growing reputation for their taste and quality). Traditional dishes include bacalao a la tranca (a cod dish), pulpo a la sanabresa (an octopus dish), dos y pingada (two fried eggs with fried ham, usually served at Easter) and presas de ternera (a beef dish). For dessert there is the rebojo Zamorano, a very tasty though hard type of bun, and las natillas almendradas (Spanish style custard with almonds)”
Hope you knew and experienced all this. Sounds a lot better than fatty pork belly…
(by the way, if you need to supplement your gastronomic research any further, I can be available for a modest fee)
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Martin
We ate in a small, local place in Zamora. I did in fact have pulpo a la sanabresa for first course and that a fish dish that had a bunch of different fish. I thought they were delicious, John described them as prehistoric creatures and refused to eat them!
I was going to ask you help in identifying a tree. I took a photo but now realize that I can’t stick a photo into a reoly
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Martin. The other problem is we don’t speak Spanish and they don’t speak English so ordering is usually an experience and we generally don’t know what we are having until it arrives!
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Dermot & John – I am here to help. My apologies for being late. Eating well is paramount. Given your Spanish is a challenge, and as I have observed your respective culinary tastes are somewhat divergent, my gratuitous advice:
Conversation option #1:
“Hello. I am a pilgrim. I am very hungry. You have a beautiful country. Please give me your specialty for dinner” – Hola . Soy un peregrino . Tengo mucha hambre . Usted tiene un hermoso país . Por favor, dame tu especialidad para la cena .
Option #2:
“Hello. I am a pilgrim from Ireland. I am very hungry. You have a beautiful country. Do you serve boiled potatoes and cabbage?” – Hola . Soy un peregrino de Irlanda. Tengo mucha hambre . Usted tiene un hermoso país . ¿Sirven las patatas hervidas y la col ?
I’m pleased to have helped in some small way.
(Dermot have you tried the infamous audio google translate on your phone yet?)
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Martin, your efforts are much appreciated. Yes I have tried using the translator but typically there is no wifi and Rogers have told me I have already used 100$ in internet access -also the way it works is this. We go to a place for dinner. They present us a handwritten ‘menu del dia’ which usually has 3 ‘first plates ‘ and 3 ‘second plates’ ( I don’t call them starter and main course because often the first plate is larger than the second plate.) Anyway these menus are totally unintelligible, the waitress doesn’t speak English and is standing there truing to figure out why you are talking gibberish and not making a selection
Once I tried looking a word up – didn’t work!
So we generally take a chance and sometimes it is good and sometimes less so! This really is rural Spain.
Maybe I could just get you on the phone to order for us- would obviously be cheaper than Rogers Internet!
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Dermot, Have loved the last 2 day blogs. Your photos are fantastic and interestingly I love the shadow shots.. Would love to know the bird associated with that nest! What a memorable trip you and John are experiencing..
Yes I agree that Steve would have loved this trip.
Look forward to more.
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Cathy
Great to hear fro you again. We would also very much like to know what those birds are. We might be able to use a pair to carry our panniers!
D
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