Now in Castrojeriz

Today was a lovely 20.89 km walk to Castrojeriz - starting at 8 am with a delicious 13°temperature and a little fog in the valley where Hornillos del Camino is. As we gradually rose on a very gentle gradient we emerged out of the mist, but the cloudless day remained cool and pleasant for a couple of hours! Such wide open spaces (must be amazing at night to see the stars here) and yet there is variation, and dips and little rivers...I never find it boring...there is stubble from fields of wheat, oats and barley, and still lots of dying and blackening sunflowers, not yet quite ready for harvest. And there are fields of what I now know is lucerne, or alfalfa. Just lovely. Stopped at the halfway point for a fresh OJ, and had lunch near the ruins of a convent just before approach to Castrojeriz. An easy walk, but we were hot by the time we got to the hotel...you see the town in the distance for several kilometres, and as it was early we elected to detour via the church - as the Camino directs us to...then it is a long walk to the actual town, which is a long thin strip at the bottom of a hill, on top of which is another ruined church.

So we are here and showered and washing done and all good. Many of the people we meet along the way are staying here and tonight we plan to have dinner with an American couple, Melanie and Jim. As we set off this morning we again ran into the Canadian sisters, Judy and Dorothy, who are also here, as well as 2 women from NY state and the Aussie father/daughter combo, Michael and Claire. We are all in a rhythm at the moment as these towns are about 20 kms apart, so we see the same people from time to time...there are also a group (or several groups?) of Germans and French, who are all becoming familiar. A good feeling of camaraderie.

I don’t know how strong the wifi is here, but am hoping! Amr is ecstatic that yesterday’s wifi was so good - he upgraded all his devices, downloaded everything he wanted to, caught up with his emails..!! It was unexpected, as it was a small casa rural. And our attic room, though very sweet, never cooled off as much as I would have liked overnight, despite Amr opening the skylight as wide as he could reach. However, no complaint, and good coffee in the morning! Amr says the wifi is acceptable here!! But I think I’ll send the words first, then try for photos and see how we go.Read more