we did about 10 miles of hiking on rocks the size of your fist! That part of today was no fun!
What was fun? Was the group of high school students from Madrid that we met! Had an opportunity to chat with them and play with them a little bit 🙂 I offered a prize of a Texas lapel pin to anybody who could tell me something about Texas; BIG cows won a Texas lapel pin
Buen Camino
Brenda and Ken
To our chagrin, this particular Albergue has a firm check out time of 8 AM. It’s not the time that bothers us. It’s the fact there is no sunlight until 830 to 8:45 AM; this leaves us starting on the trail with headlamps on while traversing stone laden terrain without our morning coffee.
after stumbling around in the dark and finding ourselves nowhere near a café, or a fruit stand, literally absolutely no services for the first 4 miles, out of nowhere alongside the trail was what seemed to be an abandoned home, but beside and in front of it was a marvelous selection of fruits, nuts, cereals, and most importantly, coffee!
The proprietor was not present, but a couple of very nice young pilgrim ladies who had spent the night outside on cots we’re filling in and had the tables along with fruits, cheese, coffee, and more perfectly arranged for an “honor system“ stop for Pilgrims.
Like something straight out of the 60s it was a friendly, comfortable stop based on community spirit and trust.
Combine that with a couple of friendly cats and a puppy dog who couldn’t stop fetching his ball and bringing it back to anybody willing to play and it was a fun and friendly hour or so spent on the trail.
After an hour or so of playing with the cats and dogs and snacking on the sweets and treats, we headed on towards Cathedral Astorga.
weHave heard and read much about this cathedral and the architecture, artistry and history behind it, but nothing we read began to match the beauty and majesty of seeing it in person.
Although we have seen numerous, almost uncountable numbers of, churches in our travels; walking through these grounds and visiting Astorga was truly a breathtaking experience.
The grounds themselves were developed in Romanesque fashion in the 11th century and the current cathedral and related buildings followed along in the same space in the 13th century. It’s truly a site not to be missed if visiting Spain and rates up there with some of the most beautiful things we’ve seen in all of our travels in Europe.
What else can we say?
Buen Camino
Brenda and Ken
With only 11 miles ahead of us today and mostly level terrain we opted for a late start and hit the trail about 8:30 AM.
The day started with me almost wishing that we were back on the desert! Although we no longer had the dull, monotonous terrain, we spent most of the morning hiking a very nice trail that was within spitting distance of a major highway!
A lovely country road would seem to be perfect for hiking! But the reality is, it’s only about 6 feet off a highway with cars and tractor trailers zooming by!
For the first 7 miles or so it was so loud we couldn’t carry on a conversation! The traffic noise was comparable to walking along an interstate highway and then, as often happens on the Camino, things changed dramatically.
A sign points a different direction, you’re on a secondary trail and the sounds of the city, the highway, the traffic the deafening roar of tractor trailers simply disappears.
We stopped at a small café for lunch and as we were leaving, we heard a couple speaking in English and decided to stop and chat.
Tienda and Ben
She was from Sweden, he was from London, and for both it was their first Camino, where they met several weeks ago and fell madly in love! Just another story of people who meet on the Camino and form a lasting relationship (we hope).
Leaving the lovebirds , we saw the signs for “Hospital“, which is a place as well as a town. We walked a mile or so further, and we were greeted by a lovely town and the most beautiful Albergue we have ever seen!
Outside of the most beautiful Albergue
THE ATRIUM
GARDEN
This morning the windchill factor is in the 30s, 46 mile an hour wind gusts and Brenda has been under the weather for the past three weeks. I’m not gonna subject her to hiking 9.7 miles with congestion and a low-grade fever.
since it’s very hard to make reservations and we have already made reservations for the next several days, we will take a cab today to our next stop and use today to catch up our blogs and try to get some extra rest.
At the moment we anticipate being back on the trail tomorrow, if plans change we will update the blog accordingly.
Those of you who have pledged by the mile, of course you can feel free to amend your pledge. Accordingly, we certainly understand.
Well we can’t honestly say this was as huge an improvement over the desert as we had hoped!
much like the desert there was very little elevation but instead of the empty landscape and deafening silence there was miles of asphalt bordering the highway with only a mile or so of wooded paths.
it was nice to have multiple places to stop and have coffee and not having to worry about conserving water! It was also nice to once again have numerous pilgrims to chat with along the way.
Max was one of the more interesting ones during this stretch.
Max
As is the norm when meeting, passing or being passes on the Camino a pleasant “Buen Camino” is exchanged; our chance meeting with Max was no different. pleasantries exchanged and on we went.
An hour or so later he was taking a break roadside and when he greeted us in English, asking where we were from, we stopped and chatted.
We introduced ourselves and answered his question and asked his name and where he was from as well as where he started the journey; and then things got interesting.
Max said “on the Camino I’m cut known as Max and this time I started in France”.
Wellllll, this led to some questions!
”May I ask… “currently known as?”
”This is my 16th Camino and I have gone by many names”… we didn’t know what, if any, questions we should ask!
”16 Caminos?”, “Yes, 6 the entire way and 10 partials”!
although there was quite a few additional questions and answers that went back-and-forth, the end result was, he is from Brazil and has traveled all over the world, including the USA, but after his last visa expired in the US and he over stayed; he has been asked not to return. So now he lives on the Camino, traveling back-and-forth from town to town revisiting many times the places he likes, and on several occasions going back to where it all started.
When asked why so many times, he simply stated he knows the Camino, but he doesn’t know himself. He continues to travel the Camino, looking for his purpose, trying to find his soul and looking for answers.
You just never know on the Camino
We did find some less challenging, but just as unique, items on this leg of the journey. One of which was a huge bronze Neanderthal type that Brenda immediately fell in love with.
we are now over 300 miles with less than 200 miles to go; just a walk in the park
Buen Camino
Finally got off the desert on the Camino, and entered the city of Leon!
What a beautiful city filled with architecture beyond belief, one of the most beautiful cathedrals I’ve witnessed any place in any of the countries we visited and for the first time did a tourist scavenger hunt!
Typically, we’ve got extra time in the city of any substantial size. We will either take a walking tour or we will take the hop on hop off, trolley to see all the places and then get off the trolley and walk back to the places we found interesting.
Since we leave on the next leg of the Camino tomorrow, we decided not to take any chances and found a planned tour, which kind of forces you to find out things about every place that you stop; it was a new experience, but we promised each other will repeat when we can.
The highlight of the Leon‘s scavenger hunt was the cathedral of Leon! Lots of other stuff you’ll see, but I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen as much stained glass,  León Cathedral has a frame which contains 130 windows, together with three large rose windows, a number which is only surpassed by the 176 windows of Chartres cathedral!
In addition, we found multiple examples of wonderful art and architecture including a bronze lion coming out of a sewer manhole!
Buen Camino!
I am now the proud owner of a pair of Quechua MH500 WTP Trail Shoes and with over 100 miles on them and still time to go on the Camino I am very happy. (And will never, ever recommend topo to anybody)
The first is “The Body”.
The next section, which we are now on, has the “ Philosophical/spiritual” name of “The Mind“; but it’s commonly known as “the Desert”.
We broke The Meseta” into daily sections based on distance and terrain but quickly found the only real difference in each section was availability of beds and food, everything was the same!
Out of Rabé and out of the comfort of villages and friendly faces
Our coldest day yet on earth the Camino! On the road just before sun up and greeted by fog, cold and multiple cold and lonely travelers accompanying us on the trail.
The wind blew enhancing the chill already provided by the low temperatures and the dampness. Brenda with knit ski cap and gloves and me with four layers of thermal shirts to keep me warm.
Today there was time to get used to the trail; from the very start it was an uphill climb and the first 2+ miles was over what seemed to be razor-sharp rocks .
It was three hours or so before we finally could stop someplace to get a hot cup of coffee and shake off some of the chill.
as we left the small café, the sky began to clear and we he sun brought some degree of warmth. finally bringing the feeling back to our fingers!
As we walked, we discussed the options for the days hike.
Estrella, our hostess from last night highly recommended an alternate path which would take us off the Camino and through a wooded path rather than the standard route which led through an industrial area.
She was clear that it was not well marked at the onset, but once you were on the trail it would be relatively easy to follow.
There was some confusion between us as to understanding at what point we would get off the standard trail if we decided to take the alternate route.
About 5 miles along the trail as we rounded a curve and crossed a small river, we saw a whole group of pilgrims going down a side path. We stopped and checked our GPS, once again discussing the options, and decided to take a chance2 on the alternate trail; we’re very glad we did!
The recommended route, the official route, goes through heavily industrialized areas with lots of factories and commercial noise, and very little else to see except miles and miles of asphalt road.
The alternative route, (alternatively :-), took us through miles of forest and villages, which by now I’m sure you understand is much more to our liking.
The bridge to the alternate route
there was some great graffiti that Brenda could add to our collection. A great example of which is this wall art on the side of the bakery, which describes in details the process of making bread from field to market!
ARRIVING IN BURGOS
A large city with an abundance of beautiful architecture, and well documented history greeted us upon our arrival.
Arrived in Burgos with seven open blisters on my feet and a reservation at the Marriott for a couple of days of touring and relaxation
The main road entering Burgos
A beautiful bouquet that Brenda was convinced was planted to greet us as we entered Burgos
A monument to the “Museum of Human Evolution”
Entering the city proper
THINGS OF BEAUTY
Some might say that that the high lights of Burgos are the awe inspiring examples of architecture found in the many buildings which have maintained their beauty and integrity for centuries. Others will simply say “visit any of the famous churches and cathedrals” or the “ museum of human evolution”; all of which are important and testaments to the great historical significance of the region. BUT let’s not forget the historical significance of another source of inspiration found in the region; vino!
introduced to the region by Phoenician’s over 3,000 years ago the Tempranillo grape has made an impact on wine cultivation and development for over 30 centuries!
The Tempranillo Grape of Burgos
During the Middle Ages, Cistercian monks were crucial to its proliferation and development, establishing vineyards and wineries for liturgical and commercial use. They also refined viticultural practices that continue to influence winemaking.
In the late 1800’s, phylloxera devastated French vineyards and wine makers fled to Spain bringing their cultivation and wine making techniques with them; bringing an already well established industry to a whole new level and establishing the Tempranillo grape and the Rioja region to worldwide acclaim
okay and then there is the history and culture(other reasons we decided to spend an extra day in the region).
The Burgos Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/316
Our typical day on the Camino has started, kinda like this;
Wake up-wash up-Pack up-Say goodbye-On the road
once in a while, I get a cup of coffee in our lodging but more often than not we wait until our first stop to have a cup of coffee perhaps a snack and Brenda has her hot tea. We didn’t anticipate this morning to be any different.
There was no place in town to get a cup of coffee so we traveled on to the next small community where we found a hotel hidden in a cul-de-sac that had a cafeteria that was open to all.
as we walked in the cafeteria, Brenda was a little shocked and commented on the fact that we could very well be walking into a hunting lodge! The walls were full of big game trophies mounted as far as you can see in every direction! A little unnerving being watched by all those eyes but we got our morning lift and headed on our way.
As we followed the trail, like most days, we saw local monuments and memorials, but today the ones we found stood out 
sometimes on the trail, the pilgrims, get creative and desire to send a message to those who follow behind. Often this is in the form of giving direction such as you see below!
and today we ran into a new sign that we haven’t seen before and many many trucks with hunting dog cages, and men with shotguns!
then we heard the loud voices of men, the dogs barking wildly, and finally the sound of shotguns! This is when we found out that we were actually sharing the trail with wild boar on the prowl!!
at Brenda‘s insistence, and my immediate agreement 🙂 we picked up the pace substantially and moved on past the scene of the hunt.
ATAPUERCA
As we arrived at town, where we would spend the evening, we were greeted by this sign referencing the areas designation as a UNESCO site. Along with the stone monuments, which we found extremely interesting. I had to translate the inscriptions with Google translate and we realized that the monuments were testimonies to citizens of the town who contributed in one form or another to the health and well-being of their fellow citizens
and at the end of the day, we entered a marvelous paved patio, which let us in into one of the most beautiful albergue’s we’ve had the opportunity to visit and at which we were greeted by our wonderful host Estrella!
We honestly can’t say enough nice things about Estrella. She made us feel at home. She was pleasant in every communication and she fixed us a fabulous meal, gave us a comfortable room and was a gracious host in every possible way.
Buen Camino
Today has been a shortest distance travel to date with only 4 1/2 miles walked. You would think that would make it a less active day, but that’s not the case.
First thing this morning, we ran into Dan and his daughter Victoria, who was 10 years old. Together (and with mom and Brother, who we didn’t get the opportunity to meet) we are walking the entire Camino together! Texas lapel pen and one of our cards made Victoria’s Day and put a smile on Brenda‘s face from ear to ear.
we ran into Lisa again, who was headed to the bus station to catch a bus to Bragos Where she hope to finally take some much-needed rest time and recover from a lingering cold.
what should’ve been a walk 2 to 3 hours ended up being well over four after we took a couple of breaks, and Brenda found more than plenty opportunities to expand her portfolio of graffiti!
Buen Camino
Thanks to the Innocent Eyes Project for their generous suppport of theMakena Children’s Foundation
Thanks to International Expeditions for their generous suppport of the
Makena Children’s Foundation
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