Spain
Hontanas

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    • Day 17

      Hornillis Del Camino to Castrojervis

      October 16 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 57 °F

      It rains on us for the first 4 hours. The wind was blowing at us pretty badly, but everybody kept good spirits. In the afternoon, the good weather return.

      Tomorrow we are expecting rain all day. Most of the terrain is pretty flat, some roving hills.

      Check out the pics of some nice churches, not a shortness of them out here. And the socializing does continue at nitetime.
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    • Day 27

      Castrojenez (19.9km / 323.3km)

      May 9, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

      Today was an absolutely perfect walking day. It was cool and cloudy and flat! Just the odd little hill here and there. We walked between the hills for a change. There were fields and fields of poppies and other wild flowers and the usual green crops. We really are lucky with the cool weather as there was no shade from trees at all! We walked with a young American, John we met at church the previous day who had just quit his lawyer job and was walking the Camino before opening an independent book store and an older American lady that we met at dinner the night before. A very chatty morning!

      We have accepted it but the pressure on accommodation means we need to book ahead and therefore we can’t be spontaneous to stop at a place that grabs us. Our coffee stop this morning, Hontanas, certainly would have been such a place. The people were sooo friendly and welcoming and they had natural healing pools.
      We passed through (literally) the old ruins of San Anton - a hospital built to care for the early pilgrims. They have built a road right through the ruins.
      We had a brief rain shower just before we arrived. At dinner we caught up with a couple we last saw in Pamplona about 2 weeks ago which was a nice surprise.
      Castro (Caste) Jeniz is an imposing town with a castle on the top of the hill and 3 large churches as well as a convent of the Poor Clares
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    • Day 12

      12. DAY | 33 km

      May 10, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 9 °C

      The Sky is not the limit, it is the mind...

      Die Meseta hat mein Herz erobert. Endlich weg von den Straßen und Autos hinein in den Frieden. Ich wünschte die Menschen hätten nicht immer, dass Bedürfnis Dinge zu bewerten, denn jeder von uns ist einmalig und empfindet anders. Die Meseta wird gefürchtet man sagt: Sie hat kein Ende und kein Horizont aber genau dass macht sie für mich so besonders. Anfangs wurde ich in vielen Dingen verunsichert weil viele nicht mutig genug sind Dinge einfach zu tun und Zeit mit sich selbst zu verbringen, aber wir dürfen niemals unsere Ziele aus den Augen verlieren und Zweifel anderer unsere Zweifel werden lassen. Jeder kann denn Camino gehen und dass sage ich aus voller Überzeugung. Ich sah hier einen Fahrradfahrer mit einem künstlichen Bein, einen jungen Mann mit nur einem Arm, ganz viele alte Menschen und heute einen Mann welcher alle überholte weil er Knochenkrebs hat und sein Körper nicht lange ohne Bewegung kontrollieren kann. Aufgeben kann hier keine Option sein.

      Elli

      Il limite non è il cielo, è la nostra mente...

      La Meseta ha conquistato il mio cuore. Finalmente lontano dalle strade e dalle auto entrando pienamente nella pace. Vorrei che la gente non sentisse sempre il bisogno di giudicare le cose, perché ognuno di noi è unico e sente le cose in modo diverso. La Meseta è temuta, dicono che non ha fine né orizzonte, ma è proprio questo che la rende così speciale per me. All'inizio mi hanno insicurata in tanti, perché molti non hanno il coraggio di fare le cose e di passare del tempo con se stessi, ma non dobbiamo mai perdere di vista i nostri obiettivi. Chiunque può percorrere il Cammino e lo dico con piena convinzione. Ho visto un ciclista con una gamba artificiale, un giovane con un braccio solo, molti anziani e oggi un uomo che ha superati tutti perché ha un cancro alle ossa e non può controllare il suo corpo a lungo senza muoversi. La rinuncia non può essere un'opzione qui.

      Elli
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    • Day 19

      Hornilla to Castro Jeriz

      September 4, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

      Left Hornilla for Castro Jeriz at 7:30 AM. Approximately 25 km. Started off as a light rain that got harder about an hour into the hike. Rained the rest of the time. Beautiful countryside. Two very nice town passing through. No concerns healthwise. Another good day. Albergue is very nice.Read more

    • Day 26

      Castrojeriz

      September 13, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

      Piękne miasteczko, długie, wijące się generalnie pod górę i przepełnione średniowieczem, wąskie uliczki, południowa pustka, koty wygrzewające się w okiennicach, nie prowadzących do nikąd oprócz niebieskiego nieba i pustki po nie istniejących domach. Dotarliśmy do albergue Rosalia, spaliśmy tu w zeszłym roku i bardzo nam się podobała. Na rogu budynku w fasadzie jest wykuty sznur, oznaka, że kiedyś zatrzymali się tutaj członkowie królewskiej rodziny. Wiem, że się powtarzam, ale to robi wrażenie, że śpimy w miejscu, w którym kiedyś przebywali władcy Hiszpanii....
      Około 4 km przed naszym docelowym miejscem przechodzi się przez ruiny kościoła, który był zbudowany w kształcie litery T. Pozostały jedynie ruiny, ale robią niesamowite wrażenie, jeśli się pozwoli rozwinąć fantazji można zobaczyć cudne obrazy. Nie ukrywam, że jest to jedno z moich ulubionych miejsc. Do tego należy dodać, że był on pod wezwaniem Sw. Antoniego Pustelnika. Specjalizował się on dość skutecznie w leczeniu choroby zwanej gorączka Antoniego a polegała ona na halucynacjach, szale, bólach nóg i odpadaniu części ciała. Powodował ja sporysz powszechnie obecny na tamtejszych nie oczyszczonych zbożach. Leczenie było w miarę skuteczne i polegało na długim chodzeniu i piciu dużych ilość czerwonego wina. Choroba ta miała generalnie dwie formy, jedna właśnie gorączka świętego Antoniego z bólem kończyn i odpadającymi kończynami i druga polegająca na szale, halucynacjach i padaczce jak słusznie Mariuszek zauważył tańcem Sw. Vita. Sw. Vit jest 7 albo 12 letnim chłopcem męczennikiem który został ugotowany w oleju.
      Wiem, że to powtórka, ale bardzo interesująca i warta utrwalenia.
      W Castrojeriz zobaczyliśmy kościoł, który w zeszłym roku był zamknięty. Teraz do funkcjonującego kościół dołączyła się ekspozycja obrazów i rzeźb z XV- XVI wieku.
      Zadziwiają mnie czasami kombinacje jak są łączone święte postacie, np. bardzo rzadko spotykana figura Świętej Anny, Jej córki Maryi i wnuka Jezusa, czyli piękny zestaw 3 pokoleń razem.
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    • Day 19

      Rain In Spain Falls Mainly in the Plains

      September 17, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

      Burgos to Hontanas
      Day 16 - 31 Km

      As we found out today, especially in the Meseta!!
      We started out around 8am with a cloudy day. Lovely walk out of Burgos by the river. We encountered rain about 5km into our day but only a little. Again we were walking through fields of sunflowers and beautiful rolling hills.
      On the way out of the first little village called Rabes de las Calzades we encountered a beautiful little church. Here we were amazed by the lovely nuns who gave us, individually, a very special pilgrims blessing, along with a lovely pendant, which we will treasure. 💕 We were very overwhelmed by the dedication of these beautiful people ( and we both had misty eyes when we left. 🥺)
      Our next stop was at a pub around 10km away our destination for the night. It was a welcome relief from the rain so we stopped for a pilgrim meal which included a 🍷 . The rain persisted until about 2pm but by then we were cold and wet. The village we are staying at tonight was a very welcome sight after a 31km day. We had the best host ever, who gave us a wonderful night, gorgeous food and a fantastic atmosphere! Full bellies and ready for sleep 😴
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    • Day 16

      Day 13- Burgos to Hontanas

      September 18, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

      We traveled from Burgos to Hontanas today…our longest day so far at 31 kms or 19.25 miles. We have entered the Meseta which is a long and relatively flat plateau.

      The Meseta is about 180 km long and is reported to be dull and boring . As you will see from the pictures it is a rolling hill landscape of basically grain fields so far. I can see why people may say it is boring but there are still portions that create great contrasts and good pictures!

      We left early this morning and it was a bit chilly so we started in long pants and jacketed . By early afternoon the sun warmed us up but the winds kept us from over heating.

      We met several new friends today and also some that we haven’t seen in quite awhile. In fact 1 gentlemen we haven’t seen since day 2 appeared today and it was great to catch up and hear about his journey!

      On the physical front, not so good. My knee held up for the first 7 miles but after that it became a bit of an issue. As it was clear that the weight of a pack was aggravating things, at 15 kms CJ switched packs with me and as his is lighter that did help. We also began a more regimented system of rest periods . So I was able to make it the day 19 miles but there were periods where that was in jeopardy.

      Our new strategy is two fold. First , there is a service that will transfer your pack to your next location so that you only need to travel with what you need for that day so I will send my pack forward and will carry very little. If that helps the knee than we are good to go.

      If that doesn’t work then I will leave the trail and go forward to the next large city and rest the knee while CJ continues to walk the Camino and we will connect when he reaches that city. We will than try to continue together from there. If that doesn’t work then I may be faced with the decision to suspend my Camino and travel home.

      I will tell you that these plans and decisions are excruciatingly hard to work thru. Despite the knee , my experience has been and continues to be one of the most profound experiences in my life. To not walk into Santiago with CJ at my side is just to hard for me to accept so will do everything in my power to not have to leave the Camino without having finished. We have a long way to go and I am hopeful that I can modify my routine to allow my knee to propel me to the finish line! Some pain is ok, long term damage I will avoid…in the end I am hopeful that the Camino will provide!
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    • Day 21 -Rabe de Calzadas to Hontanas 18k

      September 19, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

      I was off at 6:50am this morning. Still dark with headlamp on. It was dark until about 7:30 when I could turn the light off. It was a cool experience to walk at that time. It was a foggy morning so it gave an even more eerie sense. Funny thing is, I feel completely safe on the camino, alone in the dark.

      The fog in the headlamp was kind of like having the static of the TV right in front of your face. At times it felt like I was in a movie where they were transporting me to a different time with the movement of the fog quickly around me. It is very hard to describe, but I did capture some of it on video.

      I felt great today during the walk. The plan was to go at least 18km, but was probably going to go around 27 if I could. I have a reservation in Boadilla Del Camino tomorrow which is a total of 47kms away. So I needed to do this in 2 days. I figured if I felt good, I would just keep going. Well, I did feel good, but I didn’t keep going as I came upon an albergue that I just loved. It is about 1.5km before Hontanas, so out in the middle of nowhere, only looking out into the fields. It was so peaceful and has a restaurant with great food. I stopped for lunch, but decided to stay.

      So, of course, this means that I have a 30km day for tomorrow ... YIKES! The place tomorrow is special though and worth the distance. 14 years ago I stopped there just for lunch. I wasn’t with Jörg as we were walking separately. I met the owner and when I told him I was from London Ontario, he said he had a friend in London and asked if I would take a postcard home with me. I did just that, I carried the postcard the rest of the camino and hand delivered it to his friend in London.

      When I made the reservation, I sent him the picture of him and me holding the post card. I reminded him that I delivered the card for him and he replied “Amazing, you made sooo special now”

      I warned him I might not arrive until late afternoon, so the good thing is I don’t have to worry about the bed, he knows I will be late. So I can take all the time I need. Today I forced myself to take a break every 5km and it really paid off. When I hit 18km, I still had no pains, could definitely go further so I am feeling pretty confident about tomorrow.

      It is pretty clear I am in the Meseta now. I must say, I really do like it. I just love the big sky, it is similar to the skies of Saskatchewan or southern Alberta. The app I use, called Wise Pilgrim, has the camino divided into three sections; Body, Mind, Spirit. The first part was the Body. It was the time you are building up the strength in your body. I just finished that section and have now entered the “Mind” section and it is pretty clear why. When all you see is endless fields and sky where the landscape rarely changes, there is nothing to grab your attention, so your thoughts begin to turn inward.

      I was thinking of Jörg today (like I do everyday), but today I was really focused on how his life was cut way too short. He had so much more to give, and he really loved to give! I know we were together 14 years, but it really feels like we were just getting started.

      I was also thinking about how we were different types of travellers but we complimented each other. I think what he loved most about travelling was meeting people and getting to know them and what I love about travelling is seeing the sights, the nature, the views and all the feelings those arouse. He absolutely loved the camino for the people. He would get so excited when he would run into someone he had already met along the way. I am the opposite. I am doing most of my walking alone and keeping to myself most of the time. Well, my extrovert personality won’t allow me to be completely alone, it is just my nature to try and talk to people, but I am not doing it so much now. I really look forward to my alone time.

      Ok, I have been rambling on enough today. That is what happens when you finish your walking day at noon in the middle of nowhere.

      TTYL
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    • Day 21

      Rabe de las Calzadas to Hontanas 18km 5.

      September 25, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

      Today we entered the part of the Camino called The Meseta. It is a long flat area of farmland, Corn, wheat and sunflower fields for as far as the eye can see. There are few shadows and the sun was scorching hot 🥵. This is the type of terrain that we have imagined the Camino would be like before we began. We find this section so beautiful and serene. They say the first part of the Camino is the physical challenge…and it surely was. The Meseta is now the mental challenge. We found the crowds have thinned as many people choose to skip this part, But for those that continue it is a time for reflection and soul searching. We think we are up for the mental challenge of The Meseta, as long as our bodies are.
      Ann is still walking in sandals, thank goodness for the flat terrain.
      We are staying in a modern albergue (although still in a very old building) that has a spa attached. Our fanciest one yet, but we still have to share a large room with about 25 others. At least the beds are comfortable and well spaced out.
      Had a lovely dinner tonight with people from Columbia and Germany.
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    • Day 4–5

      Small towns on the Meseta (plateau)

      June 3 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

      I have been walking through endless fields of wheat and barley. Some people don't like the Meseta, but I find it to be beautiful. These have been short segments for me, about 6 miles each day. Hontanas has a nice spring, with pools for soaking feet. There were also volunteers giving free food massages. Just before Castrojeriz are the ruins of the San Anton monastery. The Camino passes through the main arch. There is a functioning albergue there, which has no electricity or hot water.

      My next stop was Castrojeriz, which has the ruins of a hilltop fortress. It's a very long village, over a mile long and the roads wind all around, with many stone steps connecting them.

      Tonight I'm in the village of Itero de la Vega, population 190. I got a private room, as I didn't sleep well at the last albergue. The hosts are from Ukraine and the evening meal was Ukrainian food. It was the best meal I've had, so far.
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    Hontanas, 09227

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