Day 20: Hornillos to Castrojeriz

I had another nice 20 km walk today. I walked the first 10 km with Catherine, then walked on my own for a while. The day started very chilly, in the 40s, but soon warmed up to the 70s. I didn’t bring a jacket, and so far layering my sweater and sun shirt has been sufficient, but if it gets much colder, I’m going to have to buy a jacket in León.
Castrojeriz is a Bonitos de Espana, or a beautiful town of Spain. It has a couple of nice old churches, one of which is the tourist information center and a museum now. There is an old castle at the top of the hill that is now in ruins, but I can see that this was once an important, thriving city. It’s pretty quiet nowadays, and I didn’t see any children or families out and about. I think the pilgrims passing through keep a lot of these towns going.
Catherine and I had a nice dinner with Veronica, who goes back home to the Netherlands tomorrow. She plans to come back next year to finish the Camino. I’ve actually met a lot of people who do the Camino in sections, when they can take a holiday from work. It’s much easier for Europeans to do the Camino that way than it is for those who are coming from far away places like Alaska.
Tonight we talked about how fortunate we are to be able to walk the Camino. We are healthy enough and have the time and resources to do something like this, and we all felt grateful for it. ❤️Read more