The phrase for today is “Pick & Choose”. Pick the spot to plant your trekking pole and choose where to put your foot so you can take the next step.
Today’s walk started out on the road. Technically the camino also runs along the road as well as the parallel path. We decided to do the first 3 miles on the road then switch to the path to save ourselves a mile. Well it may have saved a mile but it added an hour and a half to our walk.
Pick & Choose
The path
Keep your eyes on your feet and the path and be careful. But never forget to stop occasionally to enjoy the view.
It is cold, windy, and wet today. The higher we go in elevation the windier it is but I’m told it’s better on the downhill. The temperature is in the 40’s but I’m dressed more warmly so it’s not too bad. I added a second jacket to my daypack so I have a fleece and a rain jacket. And Smartwool makes a dandy pair of socks 🧦 that can double as mittens.
Now the sad part of the day. Today we walked to Cruz de Ferro (the iron cross)
This is where pilgrims bring a stone from home to leave it at the cross. It symbolizes a prayer, hope, concern, or thanks. What makes me sad is that this feels like a sacred place and many pilgrims run up to the cross to take a picture, waving their trekking poles like they’ve just ascended Mount Everest.
Hopes and prayers
My stone
My stone is the small black one on top of the white stone in the center.
I love Astorga! I forgot to mention that we visited the chocolate museum. I didn’t have a picture but I did buy postcards to send to the grandchildren.
At one time there were 51 chocolate makers in Astorga. It is the chocolate capitol of Spain.
Today was quite different. we are off the meseta and back into the mountains. A 400 meter climb beginning in cold rain and ascending into plain old cold. It was the first time I thought, “I want to go home.” Of course it didn’t help that I was wearing shorts, a tee shirt, and a light rain jacket. Silly me 🤪. I made it 8.5 out of the 12.5 miles but then my foot hurt and I just wanted to lay my head down to sleep. So we took a taxi and I took a two hour nap.
There was a very bright spot early on. This is one of the tiny churches along the road with nothing else around it.
Our room is incredible! Very medieval. It was also cold but we sorted that out quickly and now it is toasty.
Outside the room
Our room key
Beef stew cooked 5 hours-delicious
So the day started out not so good but ended up very cozy and comfortable.
Today we are taking a taxi to Astorga. My right ankle has been slightly swollen this entire walk and frankly we were really worn out last night.
Yesterday was a 16+mile day and today is also 16+ miles. It’s the difficult part of planning the camino. Our time is limited so we have no days off. Walking everyday can be a lot on the joints. I’m sure 800 years ago pilgrims would simply stay in one place until they healed. Today with reservations, schedules, and more that doesn’t work for us. So today is a taxi stage. We are off to Astorga.
The reason I’m a little sad 😢 is because Astorga symbolizes the end of the meseta. While the paths along the highway aren’t the most pleasant they are flat and when I’m not struggling to go up hill or carefully watching my feet going down I am free to let my mind wander about. Will there be another camino? What will life be like when Glen retires? Any more grandchildren? What will my life be comprised of? So many thoughts.
Sunrise over San Martin ☀️
In Astorga we experienced a new kind of adventure or at least I did. My right foot has been bothering me and since we are in town for the day it seems a good time to see a physiotherapist for a treatment on my foot/ankle. We went to a couple of places and none could see me before Friday. There are lots of pilgrims needing physiotherapy from the waist down. So we finally settled down in a cafe and I tried to make phone calls. Communicating in a foreign language is difficult at best and impossible over the phone. I actually had to interrupt a woman having coffee with her mother to see if she could interpret.
I finally got an appointment for today. This clinic had an amazing feature…if I didn’t understand the guy he would do something and a digital voice would answer my question. Bliss!
After an hour session of massage and manipulation the physiotherapist taped my foot up, told me to not carry too much weight, and to let the discomfort guide me in walking.
Yesterday I was insulted by my watch. After two days off my watch said, “It looks like you took a day off. Try to close at least one ring today.” I do not need a digital object to make remarks about my movement or lack there of. My watch never says, “Hey you’ve been working hard for quite some time. Take a day off and rest. You’ve earned it.”
Apart from the watch today has been a good day. Although it was cool and somewhat windy, the sun was out and we made it into Leon, the halfway point. There are little towns dotted along the way so plenty of places to stop for a drink or a snack. However the actual walk into Leon is rather tedious. Léon is a big city so it’s all city walking. Not very attractive.
Léon
The other good thing that happened today was totally serendipitous. I went to the front desk for change to go to the laundromat. A French couple was checking in and they spoke no Spanish or English. The clerk only spoke Spanish and English. So I stood up and said, “I speak French.” I was able to translate the clerk’s English instructions (and some of the Spanish) into French so the couple could check in. Two minutes earlier and I would have gotten my change and been gone. I was really glad to help. I guess my word to describe today is helpful.
Buen Camino
One of our stops
I hope that’s not the guest house
If you’re not ordering food, the bathroom costs 1€
I’ve never seen one of these!
My stamp for today
We are staying at a Benedictine monastery made into a hotel. Lovely 😊
We have taken a few days off the camino to rest and recover. It is harder this time around and with a janky (that’s a medical term) ankle and general exhaustion we elected to skip two stages of our Camino.
We spent an extra night in a monastery converted into a 4 star hotel, The Real Monasterio San Zoilo. It was wonderful. The common areas of the hotel had Gregorian chants piped in. Very soothing. Last night we stayed in a truck stop. Apart from a few amenities both were great places to stay. Our room is new, clean, and has everything we need. The restaurant downstairs has a fine menu even if the place resembles a Stuckey’s without the pecan logs.
View from the room
Where are the pecan logs?
The snack/gift shop
So we head off today for a 12 mile walk and just to keep things interesting there’s a light rain this morning. The rain cleared up quickly and despite cooler temperatures with the sun out and our pace of walking it was very pleasant.
Today we are walking along the road. It’s not the prettiest paths, but it goes from Fromista to Carrion de los Condes. There is an alternative path that we took four years ago that follows the river. It is a more beautiful path, but longer. There’s no shade along the road but it’s cool and actually when I say there’s no shade what I mean is there no trees lining this road. There are however scattered clouds in the sky and they make a little patch of shade right underneath them It reminds me of when we lived in New Mexico, and we might be driving down the road and look over at a field, and there would be a single large circle of shade, and if you looked above, the sky would be absolutely clear except for that one cloud that was giving shade to that little part so today I’m grateful for the clouds and for the little shade they provide.
Upon arriving and checking in we went to the main plaza in town for a drink and met two Americans from Houston. Friends and work colleagues they bickered like an old married couple. We talked about how we each had caminos planned that were derailed by the dreaded covid. Then Mike reached into his pack and gave us a hand carved shell that he made.
Mike from Houston
The back of the shell
Does anyone remember going to Disney World or Disneyland and seeing the Monsanto 360° theater? Wherever you stood whether you looked ahead or to your right, to your left or turned around it was if you were standing in the middle of that place and everywhere you looked was what you would see around you if you were really there. It’s like that here on the camino and taking a picture or even taking a panoramic picture or even trying to to do a 180° video of what’s around me just doesn’t capture it. It’s so vast and so beautiful. It takes my breath away.
So incredible
Buen Camino
No way
I’ve seen deer crossings, but never a toro crossing
Fromista is one of my favorite stops on the camino. There’s not much to see except the church (which is beautiful) and the food is so-so. Even the Hotel Rural Oasibeth is a nice but not over the top outstanding place. Loli the owner of the hotel is the reason. She exudes hospitality like a freshly uncorked bottle of cava (Spanish sparkling wine).
Glen took this picture 4 years ago. Two years ago when I walked into her hotel I said, “Loli?” She looked at me quizzically and when I showed her the picture she hugged me and made a big fuss. She took me to my room personally and filled a basin with hot water and epsom salts, told me to sit and to soak my feet. It was such a kind gesture and I was humbled.
Today we walked in and again I said, “Loli?”. Again the querying look until I showed her the picture. “Carida!” She cried. She hugged me and kissed me multiple times. She speaks no English but was rattling off Spanish as if I understood every word.
We had gotten a stamp earlier in the day from a Pilgrim’s office on the way.
But before leaving Fromista I made sure to get a stamp from Loli.
The words I carry today from the camino are friendship and hospitality.
I’m amazed at all the plants growing out of this rocky area even in the midst of the harshest environment these plants are growing and thriving, even this beautiful little red flower.
What does that tell us about our own lives when we think that things are hard and impossible, and that nothing can grow within us or around us. Isn’t it true that something beautiful can still come forth in the harshest environments?
Buen Camino
Ancient ruins of a convent that has been transformed into an albergue
I love Burgos. When I was here two years ago I found an excellent restaurant. It was so good that I had lunch there on my first day and since I had a rest day I went back for dinner. A beef stew and a paella. Delicious. I also had an interesting experience that I blogged about. I’ll try to find the link but it is difficult doing all this on my phone. Click here to read that story. Hope this works.
We woke up extra early and decided to head out. The hotel owner was cranky yesterday so we didn’t really care to see her. As we walked we found it odd that no cafes were open. Then it hit us…it’s Sunday! Nothing we could do about that so we continued on all the way into Burgos on empty stomachs.
There is a military base outside Burgos. We heard revelry broadcast as the sun rose followed by the Spanish national anthem. Nice to hear along the route.
We were hungry but look at our reward…
Like a paella
Lovely bottle of Rioja red 🍷
And now after a shower and a clean change of clothes we are chilling at the laundromat.
Clean clothes are so wonderful 😁
We are only 10 days into this journey and already I think about the end and how or who I will be. Actually I’ve heard it said that the camino is about walk, wash, eat, sleep. That’s it. That all one does in the camino. It reminds me of a Harry Chapin song, The Circle Song.
All my life’s a circle, sunrise and sundown. The moon rolls through the nighttime, til the daybreak comes around. All my life’s a circle but I can’t tell you why. The seasons spinning round again, the years keep rolling by.
And like the laundry spinning around 😊
Buen Camino
Today’s stamp
I got today’s stamp at the restaurant where we ate. The owner told me it wasn’t an “official” camino stamp. I doubt the pilgrim’s office in Santiago will look that closely.
We did NOT eat here!
Entrance into the old city with the cathedral tower behind it.
One day I decided to go for a walk... 