Bercianos Del Real Camino, Mansilla de las Mulas, and León days 22-25

The three days walking to León have not been particularly memorable nor exciting. Unless you’re excited by walking alongside roads and highways. They have not been uneventful though. Before Bercianos we came to a junction that is very poorly marked. One way takes you on the main Camino, the other on an old Roman road which is longer with a 24km stretch with no towns or services. 50% chance of choosing the right road, 100% chance of getting it wrong! We figured our error out in time to take a cutoff that returned us to the main path, but it cost us about 2km in the end. It was already a longer day, and it was hot, but we survived.
We also passed a milestone. The town of Sarria marks the halfway point on the Camino. Passing through the gateway means we have more Camino behind us that ahead. It’s a good feeling and somewhat hard to believe.

As we plodded on we crossed paths with old and new Camino friends. This is really the magic of the Camino. Jose, who we encountered again, introduced us to Francisco and Gabriela. Francisco told us on a conversation with another pilgrim where he said that the Camino was about the stops, and that he agreed. I’m inclined to agree as well. It’s at the stops, along the way and at the end of the day, where you meet “old” and new friends and share moments from our Camino and our lives. Andie and I walked into a restaurant in Mansilla for dinner only to find Toby and Rachael waiting to be seated. The four of us shared an amazing vegetarian dinner (they’re vegetarians too) and great conversation. Toby is a teacher in England and when he mentioned an English researcher named John Hattie I burst out “I know about John Hattie! I’ve read several of his articles and his book”! Teacher nerds are the same worldwide. 

The next night in León they joined us again, along with several other pilgrims, at a Mexican restaurant with Jose and Dante that they’d heard about. The food was fantastic and the company fun. At Jose’s urging, we all loudly sang Cielito Lindo, much to our delight and that of the purveyors. It was an amazing night, and exactly what the Camino is about.

As I write this we are near the end of a rest day in León. Jose, Dante, and others walked on today, others also took a day of rest. We don’t know if we’ll cross paths with any of them ever again, but we all have shared moments with each other that are now cherished memories of our Camino. This is the Camino, perhaps we will see them again in Santiago, or sooner. Perhaps not, but we look forward with anticipation to those dear friends that we’ve not yet met on our journey. 

Life is good and the Camino is full of love and magic. 

https://youtu.be/TW5cpFIx9A0

Población de Campos, Carrión de las Condes, and Lédigos days 19, 20, and 21

Three more days on the road, similar landscape, rolling hills reminiscent of the palouse, but very different walking conditions. Mostly due to the weather. Monday was clear and warm, with a breeze but not too hot. 
We climbed a large hill out of Castrojeriz. It was “Orrisonesque” in its steepness in places, but the entire hill was only 1.25 kilometers long. The view from the top was almost worth the climb. On the way down we were passed by a group of Americans who were going through seminary. They were all dressed in black robes, with packs, and were singing as they walked. They looked hot and tired. 

Yesterday was hotter, and while we only walked 17km, it really took a lot out of us. Heat (with pardon requested from my students for the commonplace use of the word) really is the culprit for difficult walks. Most of the day was spent walking along a path that paralleled highways or along a canal. Not exactly a glorious walk. 

We are getting closer now, almost halfway. Today presented a challenge in the form of a 17 km stretch with no services, dead straight with a slight upward slope, through farmland. It is somewhat famous for driving people crazy, and were were concerned about high temperatures. I carried 3 liters of water and some fruit and cookies to sustain me. 
The walk didn’t go as planned. The morning started partly cloudy and breezy with temperatures in the mid 60’s, perfect for walking. We barely got out of Carrión when Jose and Dante caught up to us, so the next 9 km passed quickly and pleasantly with good conversation. Andie and I stopped at a rest area for a break and they continued on. We caught up to them at a new “bar” on the way where the owner was barbecuing sausages. The sky was looking ominous so we donned pack covers and jackets. Good thing because for the next 9 km we walked through a thunderstorm! Lightning all around us, and directly above. One bolt was followed less than a second by its LOUD thunderclap. The winds picked up and the sky opened and it RAINED. Hard. Very glad for my North Face jacket, it earned its keep today. All in all though, it was a pleasant day of walking, even with the tempest. The temperatures stayed in the 60’s and the walking was wet but easy. You just never know what the Camino will provide!

https://youtu.be/J13F_Knfixs

Atapuerca, Burgos, Hornillos, and Castrojeriz days 15-18

Spotty wifi and sleepy afternoons. So I haven’t been great about my blog. We’ve walked about 355km (220 miles), so far, about 44% of The Way. It’s hard to tell because different guide books, my iPhone app, my gps and roadside signs all disagree with each other. How far to Santiago? Who knows. 
Beautiful countryside, as usual, and the weather has been conducive to walking; temperatures in the 70’s and even some light rain. At night we’ve seen some thunderstorms, fortunately we’ve been inside.

In Atapuerca we found a wonderful restaurant that serves a gourmet 3 course meal to pilgrims for 15€. The chef is an artist; I had a goat cheese salad, curried lentils (he grows his herbs in his garden at the restaurant) and a tart lemon sorbet for dessert. Water and wine were of course included. It was a fabulous meal which we shared with our pilgrim friend Alice.

We took a rest day in Burgos. It was well received. One thing I remember about Burgos is that they seem to love to party! They don’t really even get started until midnight and go all night. Very loud all night. Didn’t sleep as well as we’d have liked, but oh well. We toured the cathedral (my second time) and it still defies description. We later hiked up to the Burgos castle (yes more hiking). It was very interesting and offered a spectacular view of the city.

We hiked on to Hornillos del Camino where we got another private 2-bed room in the hostal (we do that whenever we can. I’m old and I like my creature comforts) and discovered another wonderful restaurant! This one run by an Irish woman who walked the Camino, fell in love with a Spaniard and moved to Spain. A lovely place with homemade comfort food. Tomato lentil soup, curried vegetables, and bread and butter pudding. Well, after all, a pilgrim must suffer. We returned for breakfast and got to chatting with our host and walked off without paying! When we realized it about a kilometer later (you do NOT backtrack on the Camino) were were horrified. Thank goodness for Facebook and Paypal. We were able to contact her and send a PayPal payment. All’s well that ends well.

We have been meeting some great pilgrims. Alice is a 25 year old woman from New Jersey who is about to start medical school. We walk the better part of 3 days and the conversation helped the miles fly by. Last night we had dinner with Jill (English but lives in Northern Ireland, she spotted our hosts Dublin accent straight away), who we met in Orrison. So interesting to hear how other pilgrims journeys are unfolding. Today we walked about half the day with Jose and his son Dante. He retired from teaching 23 days ago. Came right on the Camino. He was born in Mexico and lives in Palm Springs. When I told him I was trying to learn Español he told me to have a conversation with him in Spanish and to not try and decode everything, just talk. We did just that for a few minutes, talking about the beauty of Spain, and it worked! I didn’t know all of the words but I understood. Amazing. Jose is a unique man and immmediately puts you at ease. At one point he announced “Dante and I are going to sing a Spanish song and then you and Andie can sing one in English”. So, I don’t sing, but we did and yes, I’ll post the video. Jose, a gift. 

Today’s albergue in Castrojeriz is delightful. The communal meal was a traditional Korean dish, bibimbap, which we ate, coincidentally, with a couple from South Korea. Delicious. Again, a pilgrim must suffer. 

Another two videos:

https://youtu.be/N24zKUZ6osA

https://youtu.be/JP6JbxsPid4

To Azofra, Grañon and Villiambistia days 12, 13 and 14

Finally at a hostal with good wifi (weefee) and available electric outlets. Don’t need to conserve electricity. The past three days have been relatively decent walks. The extreme ups and downs are behind us, for now. The path has generally been wide with sure footing, a welcome change. 
Yesterday was some of the best walking yet. Such beauty, a nice breeze, and moderate temperatures made walking truly a joy. 

 We walked through Santo Domingo de la Calzada and took some time to tour the church there. It is where Saint Dominic, founder of the Dominican order, is laid to rest. Look up the story of the chickens! We saw them.

About this time during the Camino your physical weakness start to make themselves known. We have heard of pilgrims we started out with who have dropped aside with bad knees, shin splints, and monster blisters. They’re all ahead of us, hmm. Maybe slow and steady wins after all. I am by no means left unscathed. I’ve developed two blisters; one on a toe that grew one last time on the Camino. I knew it was a problem spot so I’ve been wrapping it with paper tape every day, but it grew one anyway. It hasn’t bothered me but grew bigger every day, so I gave it the needle. I know, I know. A little Spanish antiseptic gel and bandage and Bob’s your uncle. The second is on the side of my right heel, which is a new spot for me. My insole has a worn spot right under it and I wonder if the pebble I picked up a few days ago caused it. It hurts to walk on it so I ran it through as well. Actually, Andie did that, a task I assure you she could have done without!

Last night we stayed at the parochial albergue in Grañon, which is where our parish priest, Fr. Kevin Codd, was a hospitalero for two weeks last summer. It was an amazing experience (read Andie’s blog for more: http://caminarasconmigo.blogspot.com), including sleeping on mats on the floor in a room of 16 people. 

Today we passed into the Provence of Castilla y León. 

It is very beautiful, waves upon waves of grain, interspersed with bright red poppies.  Except for the poppies, and the occasional medieval bridge, you could be fooled that you were walking through the Palouse. It feels a bit like home. We landed in the village of Villambistia at a hostal I well remember from my last Camino. I was feeling ill and I think I could have been convinced to quit the Camino. We stopped at this hostal to a break and I had a cup of hot, black tea. Maybe it was magic tea, maybe it was the Holy Spirit, I don’t know, but when I walked out I was a new man and never thought about quitting again. Andie found this place through Facebook, it’s not listed in the guides being only a couple years old. Imagine my surprise when we rounded the corner to see that this is where we had reservations! A delightful room with two beds and a full sized bathroom with shower!  It’s the small things when you’re a pilgrim.

We figure we are two days out from Burgos where we will take a rest day in a hotel and enjoy the city, including the amazing cathedral. Burgos was my favorite city on the Camino, after Santiago, last time. I am looking forward to it. 

https://youtu.be/aiHC2XVaRy4