My two extra days in Zafra allowed my blistered feet to heal significantly. Of course, I didn’t lie around idle. I did a lot of walking around Zafra, mostly in my Crocs that I brought along. With the padded dressings applied at the hospital, there was limited pressure on my sore feet. The hospitalero at the hostel made me a pot of tea each morning and was very caring. But the best discovery was that his partner (wife?) was from Edinburgh and I could speak English with her. She was the first natural English speaker I had encountered in Spain. Of course, some of the Germans were very fluent, as was Marie from Montreal. But I think Clare was as pleased as I was to speak her native language (albeit with a soft Scottish burr). She was a great source of information about Zafra and the various caminos..
This morning, I tracked down some new insoles for my hiking shoes, which should give me a little more room when my feet swell on hot days. I then boarded a bus for an hour and a half trip to Merida, which would have taken me two days to walk. I’ll spend the day tomorrow exploring some of the Roman ruins Merida is famous for.