Day seventeen El Camino

Today, a first! Our actual mileage, 15.93 was less than the quoted mileage of 16+ miles; GyPSy does not lie!

The meseta is dry:





barren:



flat:




vast:



and thrilling to walk through, especially in the morning hours before the sun starts to cook you despite thick slatherings of sunscreen carefully applied. It is exciting to be in a huge space that does not overwhelm.

Entering a new province. Definitely picture worthy:




Just me and my shadow:





Ian said that if I did not hurry up and snap this shot, he and Tanya would fall asleep:



Ahhh--sheep!




and shepherd--again. Only different sheep and a different shepherd:




This fellow needed a nibble:



Bye!




Sometimes, if you want a drink, you have to turn the wheel:





Peanut butter sandwich time:




Not the Great Glen Way, but a significant canal runs through these parts:




Again we are staying at a charming, modest hostal rural. Plain as it is, there are the necessities: enough hot water, large bath towel, comfortable bed, bright sun streaming into the room, and it is hot enough outside for laundry to dry on the window sill in less than an hour!

Lace panels on the windows:





Packing that fifth pair of socks was a good idea after all:



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Location:Frómista

Day sixteen El Camino

No mileage quote for today because although Ian and Tanya walked (12 1/2 or so miles) I did not! That is correct. I actually said, "I cannot." Taken ill by some food poisoning-like ailment, only not that bad because it wasn't painful, I could not even consider walking this morning.

As luck would have it, the guy who was driving us back to Hornillos so that we could continue from there to Castrojeriz, was also transporting our luggage, so he dropped Ian and Tanya off and then drove me and the bags to our hotel for the night. Not only was he awfully kind, but the owner of this place let me go straight to my room (at 9:00 a.m.) where I took a hot bath to stop the shivers and then fell into bed. A few hours later I felt much better, and now am back on my feet, ready to tackle the trail again.

Sheets and towels drying in the yard of the hotel:





For those people who cannot get enough of cats, here is one, much better fed than most we have seen, with blue eyes





I don't get it either:




Since there are no momentous photos from the day's walk, some observations (more detailed than previously covered) will substitute.

Weekends: From Saturday afternoon until Monday, everything shuts down. It is like shabbos in Jerusalem except without the siren! Just try to get something in a shop; no es posible.

Albergues: A surprising number of people have had great difficulty getting accommodation. The albergues fill up extremely early in the day, and even if walkers have the means to stay at any grade of hotel, those are often full, too. Their options are to sleep on a church floor, if a church floor is available, or outside, and this without a sleeping bag. Sometimes they call ahead to the next town and try to book there....if they can get transportation. That accommodation might be an issue during the summer months would not be surprising, but in late September, who would think?

Coping with the 8:30 dinner hour. Just about every town has at least one restaurant that serves a "peregrino" dinner. This is a fixed price meal consisting of three courses, bread and wine. The main difference between it and a regular, later dinner is the limited choice, and, of course, you are locked into the three course and wine thing. The first course will include a choice of salad or soup, sometimes a pasta dish. Second: a meat and either chicken or fish, sometimes a vegetarian option. Third: flan, ice cream, rice pudding or some other like confection. Portions tend to be small. No one has complained that the house wine is inferior.

Going to the bathroom en route: There is little shelter, but if one is desperate, one can usually find a spot after a bit. Also, any town that sells food and drink, even the smallest establishment, will have servicios; they are always spotless.

Is the walk difficult? No, it really isn't. Weather makes a difference on any long distance walk, and we have been lucky, very very lucky. We walk at a decent pace, which allows us several afternoon hours at our destination to freshen up, do laundry, rest, organize for the next day, and still see something of the town we are are in. It's a lovely life!


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Location:Caastrojeriz

Twelfth day El Camino

From Santo Domingo to Belorado, 14.5 miles, a "short" day. Not one of the most scenic so far, but not difficult, either.

Not your everyday fountain (reminds me of that great bit in Judges 5..."He asked for water and she gave him milk..."):





Sheep, a sheepdog, and a sheepherder:





Unhappy kitty with a bad left leg at a cafe:






Sometimes the landscape is flat, especially where the grass has been cut for hay:





Fifth stage, as these things are calculated:





Ministry of Foment? No! False cognate! It is Ministry of Development, which makes much more sense:





Sunflowers:





This dog, when seated in the road, looked like Cerberus, so we, los tres amigos, lined up to pass him together. We felt rather foolish when he turned out to be a playful pup:







Orange berries so shiny that that look like plastic:




All God's critters gotta get to Santiago:




Stork nests, says Ian:





Blue in the States, red in the UK and yellow in Spain:




Not willing to wait for the Spanish dinner hour, we bought a few things at the local grocery store and had a picnic at our B and B:





Speaking of our B and B, which is old and lovely, but since no pictures came out you can't know, it is described as being in the old Jewish Quarter of which there is not a shred of evidence. Maybe this guy, dressed in armor, who, as you can see, means business what with his foot raised and his troops in the background and all, is reading the edict responsible for that....or maybe not:




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Location:Belorado

Fifteenth day El Camino

13.80 miles today. (You can see who is counting.) We arrived in Hornillos at 1:30, which gave us an hour to have a sandwich, a beer (alas, not I), and a rest before our taxi came to bring us back to Burgos.

On the way out of town, we came across this lady who looks a lot like the lady of a few days ago who was spouting water only this one is not:





If ever a crustacean was far from home, this one, yes, quite alive, was. He was not headed toward Santiago:





This here dog is accompanying his human. He seemed not to be objecting to those paw covers:





Fred and Marianne, from Austria, have been on our schedule, so we bump into them daily. They walk very fast, only here they are sitting:





Ian taking a picture of a pretty house in Hornillos:





With an arrow like this, you don't get lost:




Lots of rocks and you are going to see a cairn, 'cause people like to pile up rocks:





Beginning of the meseta:



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Location:Burgos to Hornillos

Fourteenth day El Camino + rest day

A short walk today, 13.19 miles, fairly pleasant, especially the last part along the river into Burgos, and fast enough so that we arrived before our luggage. We did start out with a small handicap, however, that being the first really bad breakfast of the trip so far. What constitutes a really bad breakfast? For one thing, the coffee was brewed or somehow concocted the night before and left to stand at room temperature. OK, so it was less dramatic than that; there was a microwave!

Complaining over...we began with a gorgeous sky (as seen from my room);






We have been intrigued by these little crocus-like flowers that grow from the dry earth with no apparent stem. The human footstep is their biggest enemy:




The Guardia is still around!





And so is the military:




Maybe this is not the best example, but the many falling-down structures in small towns have a kind of charm. Perhaps it is that their very materials are attractive..stone, tile, wood...the colours, textures, proportions, and shapes are warm and pleasing to the eye:





This couple may be the most photographed pair on The Way! They are carrying their packs on wheeled devices strapped to their waists:





Ian and Tanya had empañadas at our coffee stop this morning. The smell of the meat was too much for this pup! "Please, Mr. Ian, can't I have a bite?




Oh, I am so sad!




His tactics were at last successful.

Hand in hand in Burgos!





A view of the cathedral near our cushy hotel:





Would you believe that this is a bank? A bank!




We are ambling about Burgos, enjoying to the hilt, our first rest day. We had coffee at a marvelous pastry shop—there are so many marvelous pastry shops in this town—where they sell these almond studded, chocolate coated tejas ("tiles." See photo of dilapidated house above). So so so delicious!




The meringues are gorgeous, too:




A big bull in bronze (?):





A shot that does not do justice to these attractive shade trees:




This device is ingenious. It blocks the street to cars, but if you have a pass, you flash it in front of a sensor, the post sinks into the ground, and in you go. Then up rises the post again:




Wine is a big commodity:




We did visit the cathedral today, which was mind boggling. Gold, very much gold, silver, marble of many kinds, ivory, gems, intricately carved wood, stained glass, fantastic chandeliers, painted domes that seem to go up forever. Every inch reveals some sort of work of art from the tiniest detail to grand spaces.

Off again tomorrow to begin the first of three days across the meseta. Hear tell that it is F L A T without a tree for shade. Anyway, we are at a nice, if ever so slightly dreary hotel in Burgos with all the amenities, tomorrow night as well (taxi ferry from end of walk and back the nest day), so many comforts to look forward to.



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Location:Calle de Madrid,Burgos,Spain