Shaken not stirred but soldiers on

Today started pleasantly with an early morning breakfast in the Sant Antoni pension where I must add we had the best meal ever last night cooked by our hosts consisting of about eight courses with lots of  red and white wine, beer, coffees and Bacardi costing the princely sum of 32 euros. Waving farewell, we walked through the small hamlet onto a path that quickly took us into agricultural countryside and with low temperature and a slightly refreshing breeze we made good timing as we passed orchards of various fruits with the predominant smell being that of pears. Well in front of our scheduled time we had covered the 8K that brought us to the small sleepy village of Castellnou de Seana and there experienced the continuing mystery of disappearing signage in towns and villages. We thought we were on the right road as we walked downhill past a children's play park, Mary and I together and Aisling close behind. Suddenly we heard a cry, a shout, and on turning found Aisling lying face down in the road. Coming off the footpath onto the road there was a double lip which caused her to lose balance and the momentum of her backpack did the rest. The girl ,who this year had climbed Everest, cycled the Bolivian road of death, explored Machu Picchu, trekked jungles, to mention just some of her achievements was face down with blood pouring from knees and nose, looking as if she might have broken her nose. We got her to a bench in the park and with her professional directions along with her protests proclaiming that she was fine she was patched up with antiseptic ointments, gauze and plasters. Shaken but not stirred and with a cut but unbroken nose she decided to soldier on. The final medical treatment was a Twister ice lolly out of a tabac in the town square. It was a quiet and sombre threesome that did the next 5K, again along quiet country roads to the sizeable town of Bellpuig which would appear to get a fair amount of its wealth from the rearing of pigs. The country surrounding this town was dotted with large farms with huge, factory sheds of pigs whose squealing we could hear as we passed. A quick Coke stop and a walk through a colourful market in the old town under the shadow of the impressive church tower and we were back on our dusty, stony, path making its way through the heart of the Catalan farming area. With an ever soaring temperature and very little shade the walk today was beginning to get tough. We stopped for our now customary lunch of baps, cheese, ham and crisps, all washed down with water in the shadow of the National Catalan Motorcross Centre before starting the long hot, dusty push towards our final destination at Verdu. There was little of interest on this section, the usual orchards, vines, birds of prey, several grottos, and of course the occasional abandoned historic house. What did make it interesting was the increasingly rising temperature that soon turned what might have been a lovely 28K walk into an extreme endurance event. It was with relief that after making the tough climb into Verdu we spied a cafe with outside red chairs and brightly coloured red umbrellas. The first drink on finishing a walk is a real lifesaver but it is the second drink that you real appreciate and enjoy. This afternoon we had several drinks each. An eventful day but thankfully we are safe and well