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Published: October 12th 2015
Photo at start of day from Hornillos
left to right; Miguel, Karen, Heather, Ariana, Nick, and Margie9 September 2015, Wednesday. stage 15
GPS 13 miles 5 hours 35 minutes walking time. 7 hours duration
Fitbit: 28682 steps, 59 stairs, 12,53 miles
Miguel, the proprietor of Hotel La Consulta de Isar served breakfast for the eight of us who were staying at the hotel at 7 AM. The couple from Dubuque Iowa, Nick and Margie Gindorff, Ariana and her client Heather, from Calgary, John and Mary Daly from Dublin and the two of us. Bread and jam, scrambled eggs, cheese and ham are the "standard fare" I have learned after asking everywhere for onions and peppers.
After breakfast we are driven from the town of Isar about 3 km north of Hornillas del Camino to the far end of Hornillas where we begin our climb out of the valley back up to the Meseta plateau. We are walking and talking with Nick and Margie so the first 6 plus miles pass quickly. The terrain is rolling hills with barren grain fields showing only the stubble after harvest. Soon we arrive (well after 2 hours and 20 minutes of walking) in the quaint village of Hontanas. A new albergue and restaurant that shows its great
The Meseta
Dry, brown terrain with vast views of windmills, road and a cross. care and polish bids us to stop and have fresh squeezed orange juice and cafe con leche. The stamp says Albergue y Cafe Juan de Yepes, Hontanas. The toilets are also necessary by this time so we stop for about 30 minutes before proceeding on. Heather soon arrives but no sign of Ariana. Ariana is developing a business of bringing clients on the Camino. she provides rooms and food for about $5000 and offers spiritual counselling, and other face to face services. She has stated she has over 7000 followers on facebook. If you have time check her out: Ariana Rose Brackenbury, Inspirational Wisdom Guide. Ariana@wisdomofthecamino.com.
During our walk and talk today we learned that Heather owns and trains quarter-horses for cutting competition. In her other life she is a stock analyst and owns her own company. Margie is also following the Paleo diet - note nothing on that diet for breakfast but the eggs! - is a Montessori teacher with her own 13 student school. And, Nick is a retired 5th and 6th grade teacher who attended seminary and studied to be a priest before deciding on a different career, marrying and having a family.
Most notable
are the ruins and arch of the convento de San Anton from the 14th Century. It goes over the Camino road and there are two niches in the wall of the arch where bread would be left for pilgrims who passed by too late to enter the convent.
And, also notably, we find out a little more about the two little boys and the big dog! They do have a mother--who is traveling with a heavily loaded donkey, three boys and the big dog! All kinds of stories abound--she is from France, she is from Belgium. Yes, she has a husband with her, no, that was just a gentleman who was walking near her and then eventually turned away to have lunch! The story that is common is that she has taken the boys out of school for a year and they are on the road! The boys are freshly scrubbed and very independent. The dog is enormous---no one is going to bother the mother, who is quite attractive. We see them several times later and I have often wondered about their camino. Those little boys will, undoubtedly, grow up to be very self-reliant young men!
And next,
as we entered Castrojeriz, is the Iglesia Santa Maria, ex collegiate Church of Our Lady of the Apple, which dates from 1214, 801 years ago when it was started. The church is now a museum with a modest one euro entrance fee but one altar is particularly special as it contains a statue of St James as a pilgrim on the Camino. It is also graced with a beautiful rose window.
We had studied the map on the edge of town before the iglesia but are still perplexed by the location of our Hotel, La Posada de Castrojeriz. I go ahead to scout out its location while Karen, Nick and Margie wait, sitting on a low wall. The maps are not to scale so what looks like places nearby may be more than a quarter of a mile apart. Brierley's, "A Pilgrims Guide to the Camino de Santiago" says, "Castrojeriz is a delightfully sleepy town with a declining population now about 500 who seem to be permanently occupied with siesta except during the garlic festival which adds a bit of seasoning to life."
This little village is very interesting! It is one long street with a few streets
Two of the three boys playing with a local puppy
From the mother, the donkey, three boys and a dog group. dangling off the main and tumbling down the hill. And looming over all this confusion is the hilltop castle (castillo) established in the 9thc., now in ruins. At one point we are gathered on the corner and an ambulance comes along and asks the proprietor of the cafe about some address--address you say? The proprietor is giving him directions and gesticulating with his hands and I am sure that the driver had no more idea of where to go in the maze of little dead-end streets than we did! Margie and Nick were to have rooms at an establishment just down the street but all at once they are sent over to our hotel. So, since we have found Mary and John in the reception area we all decide to out to eat. Mary and John always pop up as we arrive. They are always relaxing, chatting or reading as we huff and puff in. They have already washed the day's dirt away and appear not to have traveled the same distance as we have! They have done segments of el Camino with friends previously and this is their final trip.
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