Life's a Stitch

Last night at dinner in Castrojeriz we saw what at first we believed to be a bumble bee, but it turned out it was a tiny hummingbird with bee like colouring. It was too difficult to get a good photo. Then C was feeling creative:

Started out this morning tripping over a nail sticking out of a wooden bridge. I know I've had my share of fall injuries, but this one came right out of the blue. I landed on my left hand and knee with a following forward head bump. The sound of head meeting ground is never good. Don't worry, you nurses following the blog, there were absolutely no symptoms of concussion. I think my new sweatband helped plus whatever divine intervention is provided by the Camino and the immediate administration of arnica cream by a trail angel.

The continued painful wrist prompted a visit to a pilgrim's clinic. The closest X-ray was 50k away, so they immobilized it and if it still hurts in Leon, a major city four days forward, I can have an X-ray there.

Makes you realize how quickly things can change in a split second. I am thankful that my Camino can continue.

We covered 25k (15 miles), climbing up and over onto the Meseta.

People report how tedious this section is, but living so many years in Nebraska has instilled in me an appreciation for the prairies.

Part 2 tomorrow.

We spent last night in a hostel in the village of Isar, a few kilometres off the trail, as Hornillos was totally booked. The hostel arranged for pick up and drop off to the Camino at no charge.

I'm finding while walking I'm afflicted with musical ear worms. Waiting for our ride, a Scottsman shared his disappointment in only seeing two wild animals to date. A squirrel and… No don't say it, I thought. Oh no here it comes, that F word that bores from my ear into my head… a fox. What Does a The Fox Say… Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring a ringading.

Today we covered 20.2k (12.6 miles) in 5.75 hours including time to explore ruins and churches. The first half was eerily shrouded in fog.

Big blue eyes, pointy nose, chasing mice and digging holes…

It started lifting as we approached Hontanas, where we stopped for a break.

We passed an interesting little hermitage dedicated to St. Bridget of Sweden, who did the Camino with her husband in 1342. It took them three years for a round trip pilgrimage from Sweden.

During the second half of our walk today the Camino passed right through the 14th century ruins of the Convent of San Anton.

What does the fox say?

Blogless Marsha once told me the cure for a ear worm is to listen to the song all the way through. As soon as I finish this post I'm off to YouTube.

Castrojeriz looked intriguing in the distance. C and I agreed to pass on hiking to the castle ruins far above the town.

Prior to checking in to our room we toured the Ex-Colegiata de Santa Maria del Monzano.

They had a display of 16th century works of art right out in the open, no barriers or protection from people.

Tomorrow is going to be a long one, hopefully about 27k. It's farther than we expected as we are still 1.5k from the centre of town.

We agree that if feels like we're getting stronger. Today's 21k (13 miles) felt like a normal day, the beautiful weather helping.

Breakfast in Burgos was at Cafe Mayor where a slice of Spanish tortilla (similar to frittata, but flipped in the pan rather than baked), a piece of baguette and an espresso cost 2e.

We walked through the university where we saw this St. James the Pilgrim statue.

On we went into the countryside where we caught a pilgrim snoozing by a stream.

The terrain is starting to turn into Spain's Meseta, the high plains of harvested fields that will go on for days.

They say when you enter the Meseta your thoughts turn inward. I guess you're not as distracted by the scenery.

As it got later and warmer C appreciated my mantra, "ice cream, ice cream, ice cream."

I mentioned we stayed in a boutique hostel. C was entertained by the bathroom's square toilet, complete with square hole, and the shower with six sprays. I know what we went through trying to find a replacement seat for a grey toilet, I can only imagine when it comes time to replace square toilet seats.

We spent the afternoon at the Museum of Human Evolution where we could view the actual 900,000 year old remains of Homo Predecessor found at Atapuerca. We were pleased that admission was free for us seniors.

We walked back toward our hostel, through one of the city's gates, admiring the expensive children's clothes in the shops. Oh to be a rich abuela in Spain.

Picked up some crochet tips from a local:

Had a nice dinner of real paella, vs the pre packaged kind sold at some places, and a veal steak. Walked back past the cathedral to the hostel at dusk.

This time it was a planned day of "rest," not weather induced. I put the word rest in quotes as we spent most of the day on our feet. We started with mass at the Cathedral de Santa Maria, a UNESCO world heritage site.

It was supposed to be a mass cantada (with singing), instead there was no music, it was held in a small side chapel, with only 14 people in attendance. I was hoping for the cathedral experience, but it wasn't meant to be. We spent three hours touring the magnificent complex.

Most cities have a dog catcher. Well Burgos has a municipal pigeon catcher. When he spies a group of pigeons milling about the plaza he sends out a huge net fired from a small canon, trapping the birdies underneath. You're loving this story, aren't you Lynn? She's my friend who has a loathing for pigeons since a bad experience in London as a little girl.

The catcher then fetches the birds by hand and stuffs them into cages in the back of his van. Who knows where they go, maybe they become meals for pilgrims. I'd better look up the word for pigeon in Spanish.

We had tapas for lunch. Each of these yummy morsels costs 2.10e. There's a mini veal burger with carmelized onion and arugula, salmon over mixed seafood and zucchini wrapped around cheese and peaches.

Burgos, part 2 tomorrow.

During a break in the storm yesterday we hiked over to the Atapuerca Museum where, in the high winds, I gave my best Homo Antecessor impression:

The weather broke last night leaving us with a good example of post storm clouds.

Today was a replay of windy hiking, heavily clouded over with thankfully only a few sprinkles of rain, but the morning temperature was 8c (46f). It was a steep cold climb up a rocky path to the summit if the Sierra Atapuerca.

Prior to this point there was a semblance of an old rocky road that looked as if no vehicles had travelled over it for years. Alas, along came a car. Eventually it stops and the driver emerges in his plaid boxers and a jacket to pick acorns off one of the oak trees that looks like a holly with acorns. These trees cover the region and we wondered why he would bother to drive up that treacherous road. This photo of the Holm Oak with edible acorns was taken on one of those hot days long past:

The descent was not as steep and we could see our destination, Burgos, in the distance.

We went 700 meters off the path to view a burial mound from between the 4th and 3rd century BC. It's staggering to think way before the centuries of pilgrims there were hunters and gatherers roaming these plains.

To give you a sense of size, that's C on the right of the mound.

Our lunch break, 3.5 hours in and 2 to go shows one tired Pilgrim with a lemon beer:

Most of the hike into the city was in a park which was hit hard by yesterday's storm, trees and branches down intermittently throughout. We arrived at our "boutique hostel" in Burgos where we will spend two nights. Smaller than a cruise ship cabin, not bad though for $47e per night.

The storm continues at full force and we are glad to have cabbed to our next stop at Atapuerca, home to the prehistoric caves where the earliest human remains ever were discovered in Europe and dated back to over 900,000 years. If the storm lifts we hope to get to the Unesco site. As we left Villafranca we saw a crowd of pilgrims huddled together at the bus stop, a rainbow of ponchos.

We are hanging out unofficially in a cottage that's part of the alburgue where we have reservations for tonight. A departing pilgrim let us in and we've gotten comfy in the common room with a cup of tea. It feels a bit weird to be squatters.

C's been working on his journal while I've finally taken out my art supplies.

Thought this would be a good time to talk about some of the people we've met along the Way. Someone reported that there were people from 58 countries registered on one day at the Pilgrim's Office.

I liked the message this French pilgrim was carrying:

We met a man, about age 70, who is doing the entire Camino in 20 days. Unrealistic? This is his third time. He's carrying a pack of 9.6 lbs as opposed to our fully loaded packs of 22 and 27 lbs. He's drilled holes in his toothbrush handle rather than cut it off in the style of ultralight hikers.

"Oklahoma" is a young woman with whom we've hiked, doing her doctoral dissertation on how modern forms of communication have changed the Camino experience. Her funding for the trip came through at an unfortunate time, she was married just three months ago.

We sat at dinner the other night with an 18 year old Korean boy, doing the Camino on his own.

We've encountered two Scottsmen hiking in their kilts. That could be chilly 😉

There's the husband of a couple from Michigan, who makes beautiful hand made kites from rip stop nylon, and each day on the Camino, flies one bearing the cross of St. James. They are celebrating their 68th and 70th birthdays while on the Way.

Well I think we'd better find out how to make this stay official lest I post from jail tomorrow.

Two weeks on the Camino, if this had been one of the first I'd have had serious questions about the rest. But we are encouraged because we already know not every day is like this.

Back to last night at the truck stop. The name El Choclatero is related to a Spanish song, not that they were offering chocolate at the bar or restaurant. The only thing on the menu made of chocolate was their very average chocolate con churros.

Watching truck stop culture was interesting. The drivers, all men, hung out in the bar watching TV. At 9:00 they filed into the dining room, each sitting at separate tables to eat dinner and watch more TV.

Overall the room and food were good, but there was one item out of place. A beautiful example of stained slab glass, presumably based on the El Choclatero song, particularly appreciated by C, who used to be in the business.

Today the weather looked threatening right from the start. Once again we battled a strong headwind which was like pushing against a wall with each step.

We stopped in the wind to take a picture of the hermitage of Our Lady of the Rock, built into the side of a cliff. I wasn't sure I could get a picture as the wind was blowing.

In the last couple of miles cold driving rain felt like little needles prickling our faces. Twice I felt like I could have been blown off the trail. Not to worry, it was about a 12 inch drop onto wheat stubble. I am using a backpacking poncho for rain gear and C is content with his rain jacket, waterproof backpack and shorts. After today, I plan on buying rain pants when we hit the next big city.

We arrived at our hostel soaked and cold and are now curled up in blankets for warmth. Tomorrow involves a 4k steep climb and I am encouraging discussion as to the wisdom of such activity in the rain and wind. Even pilgrims of old would have had second thoughts and alternative plans on a day like today.

Update: apparently northern Spain is experiencing an unusual weather event, aka a "weather bomb."

I guess that's our answer, no mountain for us today. Disappointing but sensible I think. These pilgrims have arranged a cab to the next stop.

The pain of pilgrimage presented itself in the form of strong, cool headwinds, taking us five hours to walk 11 miles (18k). The clouds hung low:

We had a brief stop in Santo Domingo to stop in at a beautiful, more simple church than what we've been seeing:

Had our first try of pulpo, slices of delicious octopus served in oil with paprika:

Stopped for a photo with an ancient pilgrim:

After five fours we dragged our bedraggled selves into the Hostel Chocolatero. Really a truck stop with clean reasonable rooms, it sounds like the kind of place kids might beg to stay on a road trip. Please, please, please can we stay at the Chocolate Maker's Motel?

Thank you to all who have sent positive wishes and encouragement. It really makes a difference.

Four hours of hiking with two steep segments on each end. The only issue was taking no break, trying to outwalk a threatening looking rain storm.

C checked out a crop of some sort of root vegetables and met a spider guarding the crops from marauding peregrinos (pilgrims).

Walked through a ghost town of new golf course condos that never sold, out in the middle of nowhere.

Still dry, we arrived at our Pension Casa Victoria to be told they were completo (full) and we were booked at the alburgue. Uh oh. After a few tense minutes we arrived here:

You just never know what you are going to get. Two lovely women provided a home cooked meal to 14 hungry, tired pilgrims from seven countries. Between dinner and dessert I ran out to get this picture as the sky was clearing;

It's been difficult for me without a camera, but the iPhone is doing a fine job.