We left Reliegos around 7:30, heading for Leon for a 2-night stay. I was hoping to get some medicine at a farmacia for my cold which was still lingering. Livija was with us today and stayed with until we entered Puente Villarente where she decided to stay, hoping I think for Alex to catch up. We stopped after about 6 kilometers for breakfast at El Jardin del Camino in Mansilla de las Mulas for breakfast. I had my usual tortilla and coffee, along with a chocolate pastry. We were still sort of on the famed flat meseta, but Leon would be the end of that boredom. Although, I found out that Raresh really enjoyed it. Maybe he liked the ability to forget about everything. Anyway, after breakfast, we continued on, with a new member from Australia. ... read more

Last night Raresh and I ate dinner at the Restaurant Los Canarios because they had the best selection of the places we had to choose from. We were joined by David, an American who worked in Las Vegas for 10 years while living in a motor home, saving 70% of his income. He now travels around the U.S. living out of his RV, taking occasional jobs transferring boats. He has sailed from Washington D.C. to Pensacola Florida, and across the Atlantic. He is doing the Camino for one of the same reasons I am... he saw the movie The Way and was hooked. I ate chicken soup (soap de fideo), breaded hake, and a delicious homemade pastry. Raresh and I left the albergue alone around 7:30, heading for Sahagun. Alex and Livija wanted to stay a ... read more

First, let me apologize for the photos. I didn't realize the lens was dirty until we had been in Carrion de Los Condes for a while. We left the albergue around 7:30, heading towards our final destination of Carrion de Los Condes, about 20 kilometers away. Since the dining area of the albergue wasn't open and we weren't sure which if any of the four small towns ahead had any place to eat, we stopped at the Cafe Bar Puzzles for a light breakfast. I had my heart set on a delicious looking fruit pastry, but there were only 2 and Raresh and Livija ordered them while I used the bathroom. I ended up with a big glazed doughnut that was pretty good. After a few kilometers on the Camino, we passed through the little town ... read more

We left Hornillos del Camino at what has become our usual time of 7:15. It was to be a long, featureless 10 kilometers to our first stop at Hontanas for breakfast at the Albergue Juan de Yepes. After my usual tortilla and coffee, and a shoes-off break, we got back on the Camino. It was another 6 kilometers of nothing to see until we reached the ruins of the 15th century Hospital San Anton. Adjacent to the ruins was a welcome rest area with a friendly guy named Angel, who was offering a nice piece of cold watermelon to any and all who entered. We took a short break, then started the last 2 1/2 kilometers to our destination of Castrojeriz. We had decided to try for the municipal albergue, although they only had 25 beds. ... read more

We overslept a bit and didn't leave the Albergue until after 7am, and decided to eat breakfast at the only place open in Ages, El Alquemista. After a quick meal of normal tortilla de patatas and coffee, we headed to Atapuerca, only about 2 kilometers away. Atapuerca is a famous World Heritage site where I think they found the remains of the oldest humans. Since we weren't tourists, we had a long day ahead, and it wasn't open that early, we continued on to Cardenuela Riopico, another 6 kilometers along. We made our first stop there at Bocaterio San Miguel. Besides the usual coffee, I couldn't resist a delicious looking cream filled long John. At this point, it was getting close to noon and we still had almost 14 kilometers to go to Burgos, so we ... read more