Camino de Santiago Frances

This morning I woke up in my comfy hotel and repacked and organized my backpack before meeting one of my Camino friends I’ve been walking with the past few days downstairs for breakfast. Elana from Bulgaria was diagnosed yesterday with tendonitis in her ankle so she is staying off of it, per the free ER Dr’s orders. Ahh… universal health coverage… (Drop by any hospital and they will do what it takes to get you better for free…)

It’s interesting how people you meet on the Camino disappear over the next or previous hill because of a difference in walking pace or a meal stop and then magically reappear days later. Yesterday, in the Burgos plaza, I ran into a family from New Zealand that Dorothy and I met in SJPDP the evening before we started the Camino. When I arrived at my albergue this afternoon, here they are again! You never know who you may see again, and who you may not. Sorta like life I suppose…

Back to my Camino, I started a bit late (nearly 9am) walking out of Burgos. It really is a pretty town so I spent a little more time walking around. Leaving town there were a number of art cutouts representing Peregrinos in different styles. When I reached the village of Tardajos there was a festival going on where people were dressed in costumes including the (adorable) children. I asked a local and was told it was an annual local celebration; ‘La Virgin de las Aguas’. (The Virgin of the Waters.)

Passing through Rabé de las Calzadas there were several murals celebrating the peregrinos and one that confirmed I am between 1/3 and 1/2 the way to Santiago. Yea! One step at a time…
A few minutes later I passed a small church with a couple of elderly folks sitting on the front porch and a sister in the doorway. I motioned to see if it was ok for me to take a photo and she motioned me in. Once inside she gave me a tiny gold medallion with a hug, then wished me “Buen Camino” and stamped my passport with an image of the medallion and a Peregrino. It instantly became my favorite sello (or seal) for my pilgrims passport. It was very sweet and a moment I won’t forget.

Today I entered the Meseta. It’s a large fairly flat area in Spain that you walk through on the Camino between Burgos and Leon. Many peregrinos actually skip over it entirely and take a bus to Leon because of its reputation for being hot and visually dull. I would agree with the ‘hot’ description (and I’m here before the really hot months), but I would definitely not call it dull. So, speaking of ‘hot’, I became the coolest peregrino around by putting on my official hiking umbrella with a mounting attachment for my backpack. I may (or may not) have looked cool, but I was cool, and that’s what counts.
As I walked, I continued past wheat and barley fields and a gazillion wildflowers lining the pathways. Before long I entered Hornillos de las Camino (my shelter for the evening.) As soon as I arrived at my albergue, I dropped off my backpack and then went to the square for a glass of wine.
That evening at the albergue they served up a great pilgrims dinner including a good salad and the largest iron skillet I’ve ever seen full of Paella. After a great dinner, I was off to bed.Leia mais