May 10- 20, 2010 Update

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Well I can see I am not cut out for this blogger gig as content is king and I have been a lazy writer for the last nine days. So much has happened in the last week it is difficult to summarize it all.

May 10, 2010
The next morning Bogdan and I walked on to Viana. One thing you will notice as you walk the Camino is that in addition to the steady stream of yellow arrows that mark the way, Pilgrims also leaves signs of their own as memorials or to supplement the yellow arrows in areas that are poorly marked. Bogdan and I had the biggest laugh when we came across the “manure” arrow that someone creatively thought to craft from fresh horse droppings and sticks.

May 11, 2010
The next morning we set off for Navarette. A couple of kilometers along the Camino we came across a Spanish Pilgrim who introduced herself as Sofia. In Logrono we stopped to take some pictures at the Plaza de Santiago and also to get some coffee. Bogdan’s feet began to hurt him so he lingered behind and Sofia and I walked on, but made sure to reserve a bed for him in the albuergue which quickly filled up.

May 12, 2010
The next day, I decided to take a bus forward to Santo Domingo de la Calzada as I did not have enough time to walk the whole way. I said goodbye to Bogdan and off I went. When I got to Santo Domingo it was very early and as I made my way to the albuergue, a young couple stopped me on the street and asked me how much money I had in my wallet. At first I thought I was being robbed but then quickly realized that they were just joking. They laughed and moved on. I came across a group of other locals who were dressed in like strange clothes, and they all reeked of alcohol. Suddenly it hit me that it was Fiesta time here and these young drunks had been up all night. After they got tired of hassling me, they would move on to the next pilgrim.

A special mass was being held in the church at 11AM and I decided to view the church before the mass started. There is a local legend that is too long to recount here but as a result of the church keeps a live rooster on display in the sanctuary in a cage. It is considered good luck for a pilgrim to hear the rooster crow and it crowed five times as I looked around.

May 13, 2010
The next day I walked with Sue and Velda to Belorado and we stayed at the local Parish albuergue where we shared a community meal of pasta, bread, salad and wine. The Swiss Hospitaleros were lovely people and made us feel very welcome.

May 14, 2010
I walked the next morning with Velda to San Juan de Ortega through the Montes de Oca, fresh snow still on the ground. It was a nice climb but I am glad it wasn’t colder or snowing. Velda got ahead of me as she is a very fast walker and I caught up with her at the albuergue. By the time I got there, it was absolutely freezing. We attended the church mass in the even colder church and then sat down for the traditional serving of “sopa de ajo” - garlic soup in the comedor. It was nice and hot but not filling, so we went to the Bar next door for dinner, where we were joined by Naito from Japan and Brandon from Seattle. You would think that Pilgrims were a novelty by the way the bar worked to accommodate the many hungry mouths that were coming in. There were only 6 tables and we were lucky enough to commandeer one in the bar area.

May 15, 2010
The walk the next day to Burgos was long and colorful for the first ¾ of the journey. I met a nice Italian doctor named Roberto and we walked together until Villafria where we decided to take the bus to the center of Burgos, as the industrial area was drab and unsightly. The last time I was here, the albuergue was on the outskirts of Burgos, but a new one was built right next to the Cathedral, and what an alburgue this was! The alburgue is six stories with an elevator and all the modern conveniences but not to my liking as I will take a small albuergue over a large one any day. The large ones are so impersonal and it feels like organized chaos trying to accommodate all of the pilgrims. The nice thing about the albuergue was its location and I was able to spend an hour and a half viewing the incredible cathedral.

May 16, 2010
Sue and Velda were staying in a smaller albuergue which only had 16 beds and this is where I lost track of them. I walked on alone the next morning toward a small albuergue I came across on my first Camino and was very interested in staying at - Arroyo San Bol. When I finally got there at 2PM, I was the first Pilgrim and thought I would have the place all to myself until two young Spaniards, Tana and Carlos from the Canary Islands showed up. The hospitalera, Judit who was from Hungary made us an excellent Paella and we sang songs until bedtime. I slept so well. One of the things I have noticed on this Camino is that the smaller albuergues that may feel cold inside are normally the warmest in terms of hospitality. I experienced this in Villatuerta, Belorado, Arroyo San Bol and the next day at the Monastery of San Nicolas.

May 17, 2010
The next morning I set off for San Nicolas. Word of caution to those prospective Pilgrims, don’t take alternative routes no matter how attractive they may look. After walking through Castrojeriz, and taking the steep climb over the meseta, I came to a fork in the road - Itero de Vega to the left and Itero de Castillo to the right (the alternative route). When I got to Itero de Castillo with no water left, I wandered around the apparently deserted town (it was siesta) until I came across an open door at the first aid station in the plaza. Pulling out my albuergue guide that stated there was an albuergue there, I called the listed phone number. It rang in the next room behind the closed door that had a sign stating they would be back by 6PM. Not wanting to wait 4 hours, I filled up my platypus from the water fountain in the plaza and set out. Suddenly a man on a motorcycle came by and I flagged him down, and asked him how I could get to San Nicolas. He was nice enough to show me the way.

If you ever get a change to stay at San Nicolas, I highly recommend it. First it is the closest you will ever get to feeling like a medieval pilgrim, because the monastery was built in the middle ages, and has no electricity. Everything is done by candle light. Run by a confraternity of Italians from Puglia who are very warm and welcoming, two things stood out - the delicious pasta dinner they made for everyone and the ceremonial washing of the pilgrims feet before dinner. After suffering through pasta with tomatoe sauce from restaurant pilgrim’s menu, it was so nice to eat a properly made sauce with pasta al dente.

May 18, 2010
The next morning I was off to Fromista and got there fairly early, which gave me time to wash clothes and enjoy an earlier dinner. The church here is simply amazing and is considered the height of Romanesque architecture. The albuergue bed was the most uncomfortable of the trip and so I had a restless night.
I was looking forward to the next day’s walk for two reasons. I wanted to visit the Templar church at Villacazar de Sirga and the next town, Carrion de los Condes is the midpoint of the Camino. When I got to Villalcazar, the church was closed so I ate breakfast at the bar next door. A bus of Spanish schoolkids pulled up and it was obvious they were there to see the church. They were wearing paper scallop shells around their neck, and when they saw me, a real pilgrim, they all came over and wanted to know everything about my journey - how far I had walked, how far I walked every day, how much my backpack weighed, etc. It was invigorating to feel the energy and enthusiasm these young pilgrims had for the Camino.

May 19, 2010
When I got to Carrion de los Condes, the albuergue did not open till 1PM, so I set out to view the Church of Santa Maria and the Church of Santiago before they closed for Siesta. The albuergue is run by a convent of nuns. It was a beautiful sunny day, so I sat in the plaza just to catch some rays and after siesta did a little grocery shopping for the next day. Pilgrims were abuzz about how difficult the first 17K would be the following day with no towns or facilities in between, so all were stocking up. It turns out that an entrepreneur set up a roadside stand halfway of the 17K and was selling drinks and bocadillos (sandwiches) to Pilgrims.

May 20, 2010
It was a long dry walk, and when I finally got to Ledigos, I welcomed the shade. It was only another 2KM to Terradillos de los Templarios, so I sucked it up and moved on in the heat and sun. I passed the private albuergue on the entrance to the town, as I wanted to stay near the center of the town, but had to backtrack when the intown albuergue was full. And here I sit, updating you on what has been transpiring for the last ten days.

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