The reason I’m in Spain in the winter is to attempt to walk a new Camino, the Via Serrana, from Gibraltar to Seville as indicated on the map above. This is a fairly new route, it’s only been marked for about 10 years and has only gained a modicum of popularity in the last 3-4 years. By its location it’s ideal for a winter Camino as temperatures should be moderate and I assumed not very wet however I mentioned “attempt” as there’s a lot of rain the the forecast and I’m not in the least fond of walking in the rain so we’ll see how it goes!

Today I did a portion of the first Stage in order to break it into more manageable distances: 8k today and 22k? tomorrow.

La Linea is not necessarily an attractive town and it’s outskirts are the same. The yellow direction arrows took me thru minor back streets till the town finally wound down then dirt roads through empty scrubland. I could hear a nearby gun range blasting away and was glad to be wearing my bright orange top!

The weather was perfect – a clear and soon-to-be warmer day, and finally at 2 miles it opened up into pretty countryside with grazing cows and chirping birds and my worries over being mistaken for target practice eased – no one would risk shooting a cow, would they?

One cow with tremendous horns gave me the side eye and another mommy cow looked very protective of her calf but I gave each a wide berth and continued on….

At 2.75 miles I could see San Roque ahead on a distant hill and was pleased to have my first destination in sight. It’s taking a while to put blind trust in the yellow arrows again and as they are not frequent and I like to know where I’m headed. (Full Disclosure: I do have gpx tracks on my phone).

I walked through town (actually up and over) to make sure I covered all the Camino as I wasn’t sure where the bus would drop me off tomorrow then I decided to taxi to the next town to buy my hiking poles. I had ordered some online but they hadn’t arrived yesterday as promised and it was already noon without any email confirmation so…. I found a taxi with a lovely driver named Jorge who drove me to Decathlon, waited, and drove me back to the bus stop in San Roque. He kindly spoke in kindergarten Spanish so I could understand and we chatted pleasantly the whole time. He was thrilled when I paid him for the return trip, I guess he thought I was asking for a free ride back. Anyway, I caught the bus back to La Linea and wandered the town hoping for a good lunch spot. All the places were either empty or occupied with just coffee drinkers so I strolled on till the cacophony of clinking glasses and raised voices led me to a tapas bar. The only free table was in the bar and the noise was deafening, the locals in full fray. The bartender was the conductor, orchestrating the waiters with a ferocious intensity, and keeping the rowdy locals in line. I meekly pointed to a couple items on the menu with my fingers crossed, not quite understanding what I was ordering but knowing I had a nice Rioja with which to wash anything down.

The result was a wee panini with pork & Roquefort, tender beef chunks in a sweet savory sauce w/ fries, and 2 fried chicken wings w/fries. All delicious and I vowed to have a healthy salad for dinner to set me up for tomorrow’s walk.