Today was seeing how our bikes battery’s fared as we started climbing more serious hills and can we do longer distances in hilly terrain, probably not…We were disconcerted to see our bikes covered in fine yellow dust ,Tim’s taping had kept the battery terminals clean,phew.When we went out onto the street all the cars were covered in dust,sand from the Sahara no doubt.The sky had an orange dark hue to it but no wind so no more sand coming out of the sky.I was glad I had my new cycling goggles on (Xmas pressie) useful when too dull for sunglasses had been too sunny at home to try them.

We left Zafra on a lovely if bumpy country road, the N630 might be easy to follow but a change is good.Easier to stop for photos.We cycled through the first village we came to Calzadilla de Los Barros, no sign of a cafe even though houses looked smart.There was a lovely bakery but it didn’t sell coffee nor did the supermarket.We photographed the local church a 15th century monstrosity what’s wrong with building a small pretty church. We headed out but then back on road was a restaurant/bar waiting for us., not the best coffee and tea and a very grumpy barman,still it was a hot drink and yes it was chilly.

We peddled on now past fields of solar panels I’d been looking out for them.Spain although sunny only generates 8%of its energy from the sun after it offered subsidised solar incentives over a decade ago which nearly wrecked the country during the financial crisis.

A quick stop at Sante Olalla de Cala for a decent tea and Tim opted for a hot chocolate, now my voice has returned I’m back to ordering as I can remember the Spanish.It was a packed bar but a Thursday morning very strange.

We were now into real hills and back to stone walls and mosaics of farmland fields around us.We saw quite a few walkers today all on their way to Seville .

We cycled up and down hills and into our destination Monesterio.As I cycled into town there were school sports and as the young children ran they blasted out the music from chariots of fire. I thought how kind they are playing the music for me arriving in town but no such luck it was definitely for the children. Tim and I stopped to check where we had to go and a car pulled up and said “oikos apparments” we said yes and followed his directions.He was the owner and very friendly.

We checked in early a great private room in the garage for bikes and a small modern appartment for us,perfect.A quick change and off to town .We found a great restaurant and had fun with the waitress choosing what to eat.We pointed at what another couple were eating for a start.This turned out to be a Russian salad, potato and tuna and a dressing, she recommended 3 other dishes.It was a great meal.I wasn’t sure whether you ate the heads of the ?large sardines deep fried, “si” so I crunched them down.Delicio…

A relaxing afternoon to prepare for the hilly ride tomorrow.