Hornillos el Camino to Puente de Itero (San Nicolas)

Well it has been a few days since I have had decent WIFI so I have a bit of catching up to do. As I write this I am sitting in Bar Las Cantigas, in Villalcazar de Sirga, sipping some vino tinto (red wine) and having a small dish of Salada Russo (potatoe salad) and pan (bread), since at 5:00 pm it is too early for dinner and the bar has only pinchos - little dishes of savoury food. The selection is quite limited (this is just a small village of s few hundred people at most) and I took the potatoe salad really out of curiosity. I think there are anchovies in it - it has a great flavour and a bit of a bite. The bar is quite a happening place with both locals and perigrinos enjoying the Sunday afternoon. It is the only thing open in town and it has free WIFI.

Yesterday, the 23rd, was a spectacular day for walking. The sky was blue, the wind moderate and the temp just perfect for walking. As always there was an uphill bit as you leave town and then the walk was straight through fields of waving barley, wheat and silo grasses. I made very good time for this first 10 km and reached my breakfast spot at Hontanas in short order and stopped for my morning coffe and a bocadilla. This town seemed to be built in a gully between two hills - one road through town lined with houses and uphill every way you looked.

Looking down on Hontanas

Can you see the little dog sitting on the donkey?

After that it was more of the same beautiful fields of grain and pretty much flat for another 5 km when I reached the ruins of San Anton and the Archo (Arch of San Anton).

Castrojeriz from a distance

The town of Castrojeriz is a long sprawling town which winds around a major hill at the top of which is a ruins of a castle. I could see it in the distance, probably 5 km away as I walked the tree lined road to the east side of town. I had decided to walk through the town and carry on, since it was only 12:30 and I had found it pretty cold sitting around yesterday afternoon, so I might as well carry on walking to the next Town and Albergue. At this point Inhad walked just over 20 km.

I stopped to eat my Naranjen (Orange) and stopped to chat with a Norweigen lady who was walking with her daughter. She was at least 3 hours ahead of her and was just sitting in the sun and passing the time,

I wasn't so happy when I saw the ridge I had to climb after I left the town- and over 10 km yet to go before the next Albergue!

The sign says it all. 1050 m with a 12% incline! I was pleasantly surprised with my stamina as I was able to march up the hill without really any discomfort. I guess I am getting fit!

The view back to Castorjeriz was spectacular!

Then down partway - only 350 m but an 18% decline!

The walk though the Meseta on the other side of the hill was awesome. Pretty soon I was at the Puente of the Rio Pisuerga and found the Ermitage of San Nicolas - the original building had been restored and was now an Albergue. I was pretty tired having done 30.6 km (altitude adjusted), so when I was offered a mat on the floor of the alter, I didn't have to think for more than a second before I said yes.

The Albergue was manned by 3 very happy Italian gentlemen and they set about making us 16 pilgrims comfortable while they made dinner. The Albergue was a donativo (which means you decide how much to pay) and it included both dinner and breakfast. I took a walk to check out the Puente a few hundred m down the road.

What a beautiful field by the river!

At 7:30, before dinner we aall gathered at the alter sitting on chairs I a semi circle. There was a ritual foot washing ceremony and they went from pilgrim to pilgrim, one man pouring water over the pilgrim's foot held over a copper bowl and the other Hospiltalero dried the foot while the 3rd recited a prayer that asked that our feet be healed and that this night would give us strength to continue our journey. It wa very touching as the prayer was recited in our own language.

Dinner was a feast of salad, pasta, salami, cheese and fruit accompanied by ample vino tinto! Lots of chatter between the Perigrinos while the Italian gentlemen were perfect hosts!

After dinner they dragged mattresses up to the alter and we made up beds for us "overflow" pilgrims. There were 6 bunks at the far side of the room for those who arrived earlier.

I slept wonderfully, glad I had decided to stop here at this Albergue,

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Burgos to Hornillos el Camino - May 22

Date posted: May 22 without pictures internet too slow.

Will post pictures when I get a better connection

Today was another very cold and windy day, with the threat of rain all morning. Fortunately, I like to walk quickly, at least when my body isn't complaining and this keeps me warm. I caught up with Franziska (the Swiss woman I walked with yesterday) and Chea, a woman from Texas, toward the end of the days walk. We are all staying in Alberge El Far in Hornillos el Camino.

Spent about a hour walking out of the Burgos suburbs, a good deal of it through parkland. The way today was pretty uneventful, through fields and across a diversion at a highway overpass construction sight. We passed the villages of Villabilla and then Rabe de las Calzadas, where I stopped for my bocadillo, and then a bit of a climb from 800 m up to the Alto Meseta, at 950 m and then down again to Hornillos, pop. 70. As you can imagine there is not much in this town.

The Meseta is the high agricultural plateau which runs between Burgos to Leon. Pretty boring walking, I am told. It will probably take me until May 29th to walk the Meseta and arrive in Leon at which point I will need to make my way to Zamora for my Hospitalera posting. I may just bus into Leon on that last day to skip the industrial lands and have a bit more time in the City.

Today's distance was 21.7 km adjusted for the climb. I could have kept walking but I wasn't sure if my feet wanted to walk the 10 km further to the next Albergue and my walking companions were definitely not into going further, so I decided to pack it in here. The Albergue is a private one, a converted house with two dorm rooms of 5 bunks each. The bathrooms are nicely done, but poorly designed and 2 are just not sufficient for 20 people. There is one bath/toilet on the main floor and on the second floor a bathroom with a toilet (not enclosed) and 2 showers, which makes it awkward for 2 people if one wants to use the toilet in privacy. Seems the prices are creeping up - this Albergue is 9 EUR and dinner, which is served in the Albergue, is another 9 EUR. We will see what the dinner is like.

The best part of the Albergue is they have a sheltered garden with some lounge chairs. The Spanish sun is hot when you are out of the wind, so we enjoyed an hour of relaxation in the sun with a cervesa (beer) while we waited for the showers to free up.

Tomorrow is another 20 km walk through the Meseta.

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