From there to Porzuna
The last few days have been spent moving through Castilla La Mancha, and the scenery as I have driven from place to place has been beautiful. This is where the cows are I reckon. Castilla y León had pigs but this region has cows, and lots of them, it looks like farming on an industrial scale. And there’s red soil on the roads and lots of slow moving tractors passing by the gang as they run their 25km a day. This week we’ve been joined by Katie another ultra runner (there seem to be a lot of them!). So each day its been Julia, Josie and Katie pounding those roads but the blue dot I mentioned the other day is moving down the country quite rapidly now. For those familiar with Google maps, you know your current location by seeing that blue dot…well “our” blue dot is now way past Madrid and bordering Ciudad Real, and in three weeks that dot will be in Almuñécar, although there is a bit to do between now and then. This morning I opened my email to see a request from television Castilla La Mancha wanting to interview Julia on Monday so that’ll be interesting! The word is spreading down the whole of Spain. And the adventure continues. Today is supposed to be a rest day but Julia has a few kilometres to catch back so she is out there doing 10kms or so just so tomorrow she’s back on track. Porzuna where we are staying for 3 nights, is a small working town and I’m guessing tourists don’t come here much. But where were are staying is lovely, its got that beautiful courtyard entrance and the whole place (Casa de Las Junqueras) is quite oldy worldy but a great spot for chanting! I’ve included a photo of the wildlife on the wall in accommodation farther back this week. Hunting is big in both Castilla y León and Castilla La Mancha (in all of Spain really), but it’s noticeable in bars/accommodation where its not unusual to see stuffed deer, and wild boar. It reminds me of growing up in Northern Ireland a little, as stuffed deer were on many’s a hall wall.