Hornillos del Camino to Castrojeriz and Beyond: The Wonderful Meseta

July 5th.  The walk today from Hornillos del Camino to Castrojeriz was wonderful.  I think I am going to become a Champion for the Meseta.  I really don’t understand why so many people have written or spoken about it in such negative ways.  For me, this is the perfect landscape.  What I love about it is how open it is.  We can see so far in every direction.  It reminds me of hiking on Exmoor or walking in the Quantock Hills in Somerset.  The terrain is extremely varied and in some places the path circles around the side of the hill giving it a decidedly alpine feeling.  We saw new wild flowers today including a lovely yellow thistle that I have never seen before.  We also discovered that the crackling sound we always hear in the wheat fields is made by hundreds of tiny bird - obviously having the feast of their lives!

We are now in Castrojeriz - a very old town with a long and varied history.  Its origins are pre-historic but it also has an interesting Roman past as well as a Moorish one.  The entire village, much of which is in very bad repair, is currently being renovated.  All of its old buildings are being restored to their original state (we later discovered that Castrojeriz is a World Heritage site, which explains the frantic building activity).  Our hotel is in one such (already renovated) building and it is quite lovely.

July 6th.  Today, walking from Castrojeriz to Fromista was also very beautiful.  About 4kms of the walk were beside the Canal de Castilla and we saw bulrushes and teasels as well as more yellow thistles and white periwinkles.  The town of Fromista is quite modern and has a central market and lots of restaurants and outdoor cafes.  That said, it also has a very old (looking as if it is about to fall down) church.  Our hotel is very modern and has some interesting designer furniture in the lobby - quite different from yesterday where the hotel in Castrojeriz was furnished in the traditional Spanish style.

Tomorrow we walk to Carrion de los Condes - about 23 kms (Stage 16 on the Camino map!).  We have now covered over 300kms and will soon be getting to the half-way mark!

Burgos to Hornillas del Camino: The Dreaded Meseta

July 4th.  Today we left the hotel around 6:15 am and headed for Hornillos del Camino.  We are about to begin walking across the dreaded Meseta.  So many people have written about it being flat, hot and boring but they have forgotten to mention how beautiful it is.  First, it isn´t flat at all but a series of rolling hills as far as the eye can see.  Comprised mostly of wheat fields, grassy stretches and stark rocky hillocks, it is a glorious patchwork of green, gold and black with brilliant splashes of red from the poppies dotted throughout.  There are even a few trees!  The small houses with their light-coloured walls and dark-red Spanish tiles provide a beautiful relief in this curious landscape.  Personally, I am looking forward to walking across this Meseta.

I think we are going to lose our German friends as they are going ahead to Hontanas today while we go back to Burgos (by taxi).  We will return to Hornillos del Camino tomorrow morning (also by taxi) to continue our walk.  We are already out of sync with several other people due to our extra day in Burgos.  Such is the Camino!

An Observation: While it is important to be physically fit to walk this Camino, I think the real secret is mental toughness - that is the ability to put one foot in front of the other for hour after hour and kilometre after kilometre for the bigger goal - even when one feels like stopping!

A Comment on the Auberges: Auberges - Camino-type hostels - can be found in almost every town along the way.  Most people walking this Camino choose to stay in them as they are very inexpensive (5 - 10 euros a night on average) and readily available.  That said, I have heard that they are very crowded with 50 or even 100 people in a room - although if one is lucky, there may be smaller rooms with 4, 8 or 12 people.  I think one of the main advantages of staying in an auberge (other than the cost) must be the camaraderie and friendships people make staying together night after night.  However, a few days ago we were sitting in a cafe listening to a group of peregrinos discussing and comparing their many bites from the bed bugs that often infect these places.  On hearing this, I felt very relieved to know that I would have a clean and bed-bug-free hotel room waiting for me at the end of every day!

That is all for now - more later!  Thanks to all of you who have sent comments/messages.  They are very encouraging

Atapuerta to Burgos: Sheep, Sheep and More Sheep

July 2nd.  We left Atapuerta early and immediately began our steep climb up the Sierra Atapuerta.  We were soon slowed down, however, by hundreds of sheep that were being moved from one pasture to another.  This produced a cacophony of sounds - sheep bleating, sheep bells ringing, sheep dogs barking, shepherds shouting and even a distant train chugging its way across the plain below.  At the top of the plateau we were rewarded with a magnificent vista in all directions.  There was a large labyrinth on the plateau - the second one we have seen on this walk.  Roxanne took some time to walk through it to the centre.

We are now in Burgos - a beautiful city with an enormous Gothic cathedral.  The streets are narrow and very clean (they are washed every morning) and we have found a wonderful restaurant that does amazing things with vegetables (eggplant, asparagus, zucchini, mushrooms, pimentos) and goat´s cheese.  Also the vino tinto de la casa (red house wine) is exceptionally good - and at 11 euros a bottle we can´t go wrong.

One great thing about this and other Spanish cities is that everything opens up at about 6pm.  The local people come out and mingle with the tourists and the peregrinos - even the children are out in the plazas playing and running around until quite late at night - no baby sitters for them!  There is a very communal atmosphere here.

We are here in Burgos for three nights although we will walk our 20 kms to Hornillos tomorrow.  Because there is no accommodation there for us we will be transferred back here and then taken back to Hornillos the following morning to continue our journey.  Our hotel is splendid.  We have a very large bedroom with a small sitting room off to one side and an enormous bathroom.  We even have a balcony and we can watch the tired peregrinos arriving with their heavy backpacks as they walk right past us on their way to the auberge further up the street.

There was much rejoicing here two nights ago when Spain won the Euro-cup.  We stumbled on the debris of what looked like an enormous party when we arrived yesterday.  The clean-up crew was soon out in force, however, and by mid-afternoon there was no sign of it.  I can´t help thinking that the joy of the soccer triumph must be somewhat dampened by Raffa´s early elimination from Wimbledon, though.  Such is life!

There are beautiful statues all over this city - not of historical figures but of ordinary people.  It really is quite unique.

Belorado to San Juan de Ortego and Beyond: Grey Skies and Cool Breezes

July 1st.  The temperature has dropped and it is now almost cold.  Today, Canada Day, we walked from Villafranca Montes de Oca through San Juan de Ortega and on to Atapuerta - a distance of 22kms.  This walk was a great improvement on some of our previous walks - not only because of the weather but also because of the scenery.  We crossed three small mountain peaks, walking first through a magnificent conifer forest and then a lovely oak forest.  Part of this walk was rather spooky - a large man in a Range Rover came up behind us and looked us over.  He did not stop, though, so I said thank heavens for wrinkles and frizzy hair!

Atapuerta is a very interesting place because the oldest human remains in Europe were found here (Homo-Antecessor, 900,000 years old).  The dig is still going on in the prehistoric caves that dot this area.  Because of this it is a UNESCO heritage site. 

Here, too, we had our best meal in Spain so far.  A lovely Eggplant dish which I know as the Moorish Imam´s Secret but is simply called baked Aubergine here.  It is made not only with eggplant but also with a variety of other vegetables and spices and topped with béchamel sauce.  Delicious!  We ate it for both lunch and dinner.  After being hungry for almost two weeks it was quite a treat.

Today we are in Burgos, a large city of 190,000 people.  I will write more about this tomorrow when I find a better computer.  This one is old and eats euros like there is no tomorrow!!!!

Santa Domingo de Calzada to Belorada: Much of the Same

June 30th.  Today´s walk was much the same as yesterday´s - mostly through wheat fields and potato patches!  We did see a rabbit - our first wild animal.  We also saw enormous storks and enormous stork nests perched precariously on the edge of the church tower in Belorada.  Not too much else to say about this day!

Najara to Santa Domingo de Calzada: Red Poppies and Emerald Green Frogs

June 29th.  Today´s walk from Najara to Santa Domingo de Calzada was completely uninspiring - with two exceptions: First the beautiful red poppies scattered throughout the wheat fields and second a pond full of enormous emerald green frogs jumping around in the sun.  The poppies were everywhere and hard to miss.  I found the frogs because I heard them croaking and followed the sound slightly off the trail.  They were a sight to see!

Santa Domingo de Calzada is another lovely old Spanish city with a cathedral in the centre.  Also, I found a supermarket and was able to buy cheese and cucumber and peaches - a welcome change from the restaurant fare!  Nonetheless, we ate dinner in the central square with some Camino friends - very nice!

So, who are we meeting on this Camino journey?  Well, quite a few Americans - mostly from California, a very sweet and friendly German man walking with his 16-year-old son, a lovely Swedish couple from Stockholm who assured us that Sweden was the best country in the world in which to live, a rather aloof French man from Lyon and a "crazy" man from Belgium with whom I had an intense conversation about GM wheat (I think I see it everywhere but he assured me that it was impossible because Europe has banned all GM foods - I am still not convinced!).

Logrono to Najara: Waiting for the Sunrise

June 28th: We left Logrono early to beat the heat but found ourselves sitting on the side of the road waiting for it to get light.  As much as we had disparaged the sun during the heat of the day, we could not do without it.  Finally around 6:15 we were able to start walking.  The walk through the vineyards and wheat fields was lovely with the green of the vines and the pale yellow of the wheat set off by the beautiful red clay soil of the Rioja.  The smell of the growing wheat was sweet and strong and sometimes heady and overpowering. 

Najara is a beautiful old town located between the Rio Narjarillo and some extraordinary red clay mountains.  These mountains, which are not really very high, are dotted with square caves that look identical to the ones in Petra, Jordon.  Most peculiar!

It is very hard to know what the local Spanish people think of the peregrinos.  Some think us foolish, some are charming and some seem to resent us - despite the extra euros we bring into their regions.

Tomorrow, our ninth day, we head towards Santa Domingo de Calzada - oh, there is so much music in these Spanish names!