I left Aldeanueva and headed for the beautiful hill-top village of Hervás.  It is well worth a visit.  It has one of the best-preserved Jewish quarters in Spain, a tangle of narrow streets clinging to the mountainside ( what happened to the Jews? – don’t ask).

From Hervás, you can walk directly to Baños de Montemayor without retracing your steps.  I followed the road signs and then picked up the camino arrows.  Baños is an ancient, little higgledy piggledy, village, boasting Roman baths (now a fashionable spa) and many 17th and 18th century houses.  I called into the bar in the square.  It was an older clientele, but after I had enjoyed my beer and tortilla ( energy food), they were happy to show me the way to the Camino and the Roman road.

The route to Calzada follows exactly the Roman road, and is well signposted by not only the camino arrows but also the Roman stone pillars, every 1000 paces, their inscriptions sadly now illegible.

In meanders through countryside which must have been, once upon a time, well populated, but now neglected.  I passed huge moss-covered stone walls, enormous crumbling farmhouses and great bridges, nowadays, going nowhere. This was the work of generations, now returning to nature.  It is a little sad, but serves to remind us that live is short and should be sweet – carpe diem!

Calzada de Béjar has to be seen to be believed.  It is an ancient community of 80 souls, in the middle of the mountains, but on the Roman road, it runs down the main street.  There are now a few choices for accommodation.  I stayed at Casa Rural Jorge, which is well signposted, and I can only describe it as excellent.  Ester, the daughter of Jorge, settled me in and told me something of the history of the village.  As she was leaving, I pointed out that the horseshoes hanging over the fireplace were the wrong way around, and that the luck was running out. She disappeared,  returned with a claw hammer, and had the problem sorted in seconds. She apologised, said that she was not as superstitious as her granny, but some things could not wait until tomorrow.  I eat in the bar, 20 metres away, and slept very well.