This past weekend, everyone in my program and I had the pleasure of walking 70 km (roughly 44 miles) in honor of a famous Spanish poet, Miguel Hernandez. Hernandez was born in Orihuela and died in Alicante, and the walk follows the same route. Early Friday morning we took a bus up to Orihuela, a small town south of Alicante. About 2,000 people began the walk the first day, including what seemed like millions of grade school age kids. We began walking at about 11 AM and walked all day, arriving at Albatera, the sleeping point, at about 6 PM. It really wasn't bad since we stopped about every 45 minutes for water or fruit breaks, and an hour-long break for lunch. My only issue with the entire thing was the crowd- I definitely prefer to have my personal space and Spanish people do not understand that concept. In Albatera there is a theater dedicated to Hernandez where we were allowed to sleep. However, it was attached to a beautiful little park with waterfalls and palm trees everywhere, and my friends and I thought it would be a great idea to sleep outside. At about 3 AM we were all still awake and freezing, so we moved into the theater. (Imagine hundreds of strangers all sleeping in a giant theater-- snoring, coughing, laughing... it was a long night.)
The next morning all the Spaniards were up by 7, so we had no choice but to get up too. We started walking again at about 10, same routine as the first day. Walking through small towns, orchards, suburbs, farms and countryside, stopping here and there for breaks. The second day was the longest, due to the 28 kms and the lack of sleep from the night before.
We spent the next night at the University of Elche, the same city of the Palmera grove. Many of the walkers dropped out after the first day, so there were considerably less people. (About 300ish?) We slept in the main part of the University, spread out everywhere, so there was much more space. Libby and I were asleep by 10, not waking up the next morning until 8, despite the tile floors. We were exhausted.
The next morning we ate breakfast and were back on the trail by 10. The last day had the most beautiful scenery by far. Alicante is the most mountainous region of Spain, and walking through the mountains was beautiful. There were less villages and the ground became more and more dry and desert-like. The finishing point of the walk is Alicante's cemetery, just outside of town. We walked straight up to Hernandez's tomb and got a good look at it. There were tons of local poets, all wanting to recite their poems at his grave. The spanish peopler really got into it; we were all ready to catch the local bus back into the city.
The weather was great, pretty sunny, warm in the afternoons and more chilly in the morning and evening. We got to meet a few local spanish people, so that was interesting. This walk has been going on for years, on the anniversary of Hernandez's death, and for many people it is an annual tradition. Hopefully it will get us in shape for the Camino de Santiago in four weeks!
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