Climb Every Mountain

The guidebook said that today's 20km was relatively flat except for one big hill to start the day off right. And that was true, one big cardio blast followed by a traverse across the top then an 18% grade down the other side. Just another day on the Camino. We were once again blessed with an extraordinary sunrise to accompany our morning climb. The landscape is pretty brown and dry, but the soft morning light creates a subtle dynamic color palette of earth tones. It's hard to capture it a photo, but it delights us as we walk along.

Unexpected Wine Tasting

I didn't realize that we were dining under the beam of an old wine press in our Albergue. After dinner the owner gave an animated description on how the wine press worked, including a demonstration with some pilgrims cranking the press. We were then led down a tunnel to the ancient wine cellar. A Spanish pilgrim named Luis translated that the Roman arches had been determined by historians to be from the first century AD. This area saw a lot of fighting in the 8th(?) C between the Muslims and the Christians. There are many tunnels under the castle all around this area. We were led through a tiny opening way that even I had to duck through to a separate cave area. After all the explanations, we were given small glasses of wine to toast the Camino. So many wonderful surprises!

A Place of Quiet

We are staying in the town of Castrojeriz at a busy Albergue. It has a few special features such as a grassy garden area with lavender and a cool round foot soaking pool. After doing the usual routine of checking in, showering, doing laundry and finding some food for lunch and snacks for tomorrow, we stopped at an outside terrace bar looking out over the region. Our new friends all seemed to find us there and we had a good time hanging out. Someone mentioned a quiet space nearby, so I went to check it out. A fellow former pilgrim had created a lovely contemplative set of indoor and outdoor spaces to go and be quiet for awhile . I spent a little time there, mostly reflecting on how little quiet time I had had on the Camino. I'm hoping that will change soon. It was good to be reminded of what it felt like to be quiet. I returned to the Albergue and went to the garden to soak my feet. Nobody else was up there, so I had some more lovely quiet time.

Taking Coffee Breaks

Sometimes we get a shot of coffee before heading out the door, but usually we try to stop at whichever town is about 5-8km away. Today it was still dark when we got away and we were blessed by a gorgeous sunrise. I think I have seen more sunrises on the Camino than my whole life combined.

When we reached the 5.8 km point there was a sign for an Albergue 100m to the left. We decided to deter over there and were pleasantly surprised to find a lovely, peaceful Albergue serving coffee and freshly cooked eggs and ham on the outside terrace over looking a littl patch of trees. The food was delicious and it was great to be in such a peaceful spot. The Albergue was literally the only building in San Bol. They had a foot pool to soak your feet in that was said to cure and problems you might have. I was somewhat tempted because I have another blister on my right heel, but the since the temperature was in the 50's it was way to cold to plunge my feet into the icy water.

From there we continued to climb up the hill to the top of the Mesa and then traversed across it for quite awhile. We knew the next town of Hontanas was close but it was hidden in a valley out of sight until we walked down the steep other side of the Mesa. 

I enjoyed another coffee and conversation with our new friends before the next 9km which included passing through the ruins of an old monastery. It was pretty hot, but there was a light cloud cover for which I was grateful.

Paella Party Albergue Style

There was a community dinner offered at our Albergue last night featuring paella. The owners cooked it up in their huge paella pan and we dined in a covered outside area. The food was delicious and the company really entertaining. Our end of the table was speaking English because there were 6 Americans and one Irish woman. We laughed at everyone's Camino stories. I sat between a mother and her 24 year old daughter. Very fun. We seem to have a new "Camino family" that is traveling about our pace.

Chicken in a Drum

We are staying in the small town of Hornillos del Camino, pop 61, 21 km from Burgos. The town fountain features a rooster on top because of a story that says that Napoleons troops stole all the chickens in Hornillos while the towns people were at Mass. The soldiers killed the chickens and snuck them out in their drums. When confronted by the townspeople, the soldiers denied everything, but one rooster miraculously came back to life and gave a mighty crow from within the drum, proving the soldiers' guilt.

I'm not sure what else there is to say about this place except that there are about a zillion flies everywhere and they are driving me crazy!!!

We are entering the area called the Meseta which is know for its lack of shade and monotonous scenery. And it is about 230km long. There is a saying that the landscape of the Meseta is not found in the land, but in the sky with its diverse colors and expansive clouds.

This landscape inspired such notable characters as Don Quixote de la Manchs, and the spiritual and mystical St. Theresa of Avila and St. John of the cross. 

Technology Difficulties

I wrote a post but it is having trouble loading with the weak wifi. So stay tuned.