Etapa 1 — Granada to Pinos Puente


We got started a little before 7:00 and walked through Granada in the dark, but with ample street lighting. The sun was up by about 7:45, and by that time we were already on the outskirts of the city. We got to the suburb of Maracena, and then from there we walked on a gravel road to Atarfe, past the Monumento de la Concordia to the ayuntamiento,  where we stopped after having walked nonstop for 2 hours and 45 minutes. The uneven gravel road from Maracena to Atarfe was rough on the feet and lower legs, but the weather was cool and we felt fine. In a café in the Plaza de España, opposite the town hall, we had coffee and excellent whole grain tostadas with puréed tomato and slices of perfectly ripened avocado drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. 

We left Atarfe at about 10:30, and the weather was by then considerably warmer, although still pretty mild by Andalusian standards. Fortunately the Camino Mozárabe from Granada to Córdoba goes mostly in the northwesterly direction, so we almost always have the sun at our backs. The road between Atarfe and Pinos Puente was a long straight stretch with no shade, with train tracks and mountains on the right, and corn fields and olive trees and asparagus on the left.

After walking for about two more hours, just at the outskirts of Pinos Puente, we stopped under a lone shade tree to rest our feet before continuing into town. After getting a room in the edge of town, we went into the main part of town, over the medieval bridge for which the town is named.

In the evening the moon was out as the sun was setting, making a beautiful sky.

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