#WalkingEurope and the Via de la Plata: Seville to Zafra on Foot

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The Via de la Plata marks the beginning of the #WalkingEurope adventure with Apiediperilmondo. An extraordinary pilgrimage through the heart of Spain.
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It starts in Seville with the #WalkingEurope adventure with Apiediperilmondo. For 6 months we'll walk across Europe and discover some of the most beautiful routes and landscapes of the Old Continent.

We wanted to start in style and chose to explore one of Spain's most significant and renowned Caminos de Santiago, the Via de la Plata. This ancient Roman route has remarkably endured through the centuries, and today it captivates countless admirers with its beauty, the tranquility and sense of peace that pervades every step along its way.

Spanning 730km, the Via de la Plata traverses the entire centre of Spain from south to north.

It begins in Seville, the capital of Andalusia, and reaches Astorga, a major city in Castilla y León. However, just before Astorga, we'll take a 375km variant called the Camino Sanabrese, which will lead us all the way to Santiago de Compostela – but that's another story entirely.

March 14th, 2016, #WalkingEurope begins

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A Ryanair flight from Milan Malpensa to Seville brings us to the heart of Andalusia, one of Spain's most important and celebrated cities. The EA bus takes us to the city centre for just €4, and from there we walk to our hostel. Although it's our first time in the Andalusian capital, we navigate easily.

Seville's old town isn't very large, and the presence of the Guadalquivir river provides a very helpful landmark. Most major points of interest are easily reached on foot in a short time.

Right at the centre stand the Cathedral, the General Archive of the Indies and the Alcázar, with the famous Plaza de España not far away, and along the riverbank the Torre del Oro and the Plaza de Toros. The neighbourhood of Triana, across the Isabella II Bridge, is also worth visiting – it's easy to find spectacular Flamenco performances there.

Seville proves to be a wonderful experience, as we wander lost in its narrow streets and squares, enchanted by the intense fragrance of jasmine and orange blossoms that pervades every corner.
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The first week on the Via de la Plata unfolds in a spirit of enthusiasm, electrified by the new adventure awaiting us, yet aware of not fully grasping its magnitude. We've never undertaken such a long journey, and while the idea captivated us from the start, truthfully we have no idea what lies ahead! I suspect our usual "touch of madness" has transformed into a rather generous helping!

This is combined with the desire to tackle a new Camino de Santiago, different from the more common and crowded Camino Francés and Camino Primitivo, which we'd walked in previous years. Even before the route itself, we're drawn to the idea it embodies: that sense of solitude, of authentic, boundless nature, of seeking the genuine, and of meaningful friendships.

And indeed, the Via de la Plata proves to be exactly that – perhaps a bit greener and hillier than we expected, but decidedly much more beautiful and compelling. It surprises us with whitewashed villages, storks perched on church bell towers, people who are always warm and welcoming, and nature that is so lush and harmonious.

The Spanish skies don't disappoint us. Always special, with their intense colours and clouds that look painted, they're so beautiful. One of the things I missed most about Italy was the Spanish clouds. Look and tell me that's not true?!
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I said it the other day to Jens, a wonderfully enthusiastic German friend – Here, in Spain, the clouds are different, they're special!!! Clouds like these don't exist in Italy, nowhere in the world. Maybe it's the way the earth reflects in the sky, the depth of the landscapes, or the different light with which I see these skies, but clouds like these I find only here. – At that moment Jens didn't seem entirely convinced, but I'm sure he'll come around to agreeing that Spanish skies truly are something special.

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We start our first week in Seville with some light drizzle, quickly replaced by glorious warm sunshine. The first few days brought very high temperatures, and we felt thoroughly satisfied with our choice to begin these 6 months in Andalusia.

Our satisfaction took a blow on the third day, when dark clouds and strong winds brought an absolutely extraordinary wave of biting cold. We regretted leaving our down jacket at home – if this continues we'll buy a new one! At Monesterio, we even found snow in the morning! I know it sounds mad!

A few days later I mentioned it to a Spanish guy we met at an albergue, and he didn't believe it until he saw the video. But it's not really the rain that bothers us – we managed to avoid it, we don't even know how – it's the wind, glacial and relentless, that gets to you.

AnaMaria, the hospitalera in Zafra, told us that Extremadura gets its name from its extreme temperatures: bitterly cold in winter – and apparently even at the end of March – and scorching in summer, with temperatures reaching 48°-50°C.
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But extreme places breed open and welcoming people. Let me share an anecdote to show you what I mean.

We left Fuente de Cantos in the morning around 8.00 after a hearty breakfast. We'd slept the night before in a charming hotel where the owner had given us our own double room – needless to say, after days in shared dormitories we really appreciated this gesture ;) – complete with heating and hot showers. So we set off in the morning and after less than half an hour, we see the hotel owner coming towards us in his car. We look at each other and think – What have we done? – but instead he rolls down the window and hands us the wallet we'd absentmindedly left between the sheets. Needless to say, we thanked him profusely! Seeing a substantial sum of money and some important documents inside, he'd hurried to return it to us. A gesture so special it will remain an indelible memory of this journey.

And what about the landscapes?! Simply unique. We traverse parks, olive groves, cork forests, cultivated and wild fields, oases of peace far from cities and the noise of traffic and voices. We immerse ourselves in nature, carried along by the chirping of birds or the lowing of cattle grazing.

It's wonderful how, in an instant, you can feel part of something greater than yourself, luminous pieces of an enormous giant azulejo, the world in which we're fortunate to live. So why not commit ourselves to preserving it?

I'm convinced that walking, exploring these places on foot, is one of the most effective ways to understand what we're losing and at the same time what we can do to improve reality and restore some peace to our Mother Earth.

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Deborah Torreggiani

Hello, I'm Deborah Torreggiani, Editor and Co-Founder of Apiediperilmondo.com. Our mission is to bring together in a single portal all the information about walking travel, drawn from our personal experiences and expertise. I create clear, information-rich articles to help you find everything you're looking for.

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