As I said to my lovely English class (Maria Jose, Encarnita and Tere) I have been having way too much fun, trying to get anything else done is proving tough. I will return to the title of this blog in a moment. But I have decided that Castilla y León is amazing. Church after church, town after town where we just can’t see all the sights in the short time we are here. But, we are currently staying in the Posada la Casa de las Manuelas in Horcajo de las Torres, which is a very small pueblo but this Posada is very, very special. The owners Ángel and Fernanda are special people, and their hospitality is something I have not experienced ever. Today 9th April was a local holiday and friends and Ángel cooked an amazing paella, puddings and just everything. We met friends of Ángel yesterday on the route (they ran with Julia) and they are such wonderful friendly people. Today Jack and I visited Medina del Campo and I swear that I have never seen a castle so big in ALL my life, it was beyond amazing. Last evening we visited a convent in Madrigal de las Altas Torres, again, beyond description. Fabulous.

Anyway back to the purpose of this adventure, Julia running barefoot across Spain… She has had some really tough days. Rain, cold, wind, and road surfaces that weren’t great for a barefoot runner. But last Friday we had sun and heat. We decided to get up earlier the day after, get started sooner and avoid the heat. It poured it down… But it just shows how unpredictable the weather is, we had rushed out to buy sun cream, and we needed raincoats. The significance of the title, is that when things get tough or we miss breakfast, I had bought some rather delicious cookies from the panaderia in Ampudia and we needed them to get through that day, plus bananas and coke. Whatever it takes to finish the day. But I have to say that I am full of admiration, respect, whatever you want to call it for Julia, who can pound out 25 kms day after day in some horrendous conditions. And barefoot. I ran with Julia approx. 8kms Friday and maybe 5-6kms on Saturday and now my Achilles is telling me I am not a fit as I should be… Oh, almost forgot in our adventure today, we saw black pigs. They were so happy. I couldn’t bear to tell them I love jamon… The castle at Medina del Campo is the other photo.