May 21, 20

Right, that’s it, I’m not taking any notice of the weather forecast ever again – we’ve had black skies all day with not a sign of any blue except for our blue fingers and noses. It’s absolutely freezing.  So, no camping for us again (still I am actually using WiFi in the comfort of our room instead of a bar for the first time in three days which make things easier, so it’s not all bad news).

The countryside today was unremarkable, mainly cereal fields, the road was undulating, smooth and very, very quiet as it runs right alongside a new motorway which is not a toll road.  Just right for spinning the highest gear and speeding along to reach our target in record time.  We see lots of cyclists going north towards Santiago – we wave and shout ‘hello’ as we go.  As I have mentioned before we’re now travelling the Via de la Plata which is an ancient commercial and pilgrimage path originally from Sevilla, through Merida, Caceres and Salamanca to Astorga.  There is evidence that the route is pre-Roman but that the Romans paved it and many sections remain almost unchanged.  With the new motorways taking the traffic, the main users of the old road now are modern pilgrims as an alternative to the more famous ‘Camino de Santiago’ from France.  I hope they’ve got their thermals with them.

Seeing as it is still too cold to camp we’ll be moving on tomorrow rather than staying an extra day, but we still manage to get around the main tourist attractions of Salamanca – the Plaza Mayor, the cathedrals (old and new), the Roman bridge over the river, as well as endless streets of impressive old buildings and churches.  There a several museums that would be good for a longer visit – always good to leave something for next time.