Category: Camino de Santiago 5/2023 Page 4 of 9

Miles: 16.47/Steps: 36,063

Todays Selfie:

Isn’t the body an amazing thing. I have walked over 110 miles in the past 6 days. I have had the worst blisters that have all healed. I am positive I haven’t eaten enough calories or drank enough water that I should have, (not on purpose). I have used muscles I haven’t ever used before, the amount of time each day that I have an elevated heartbeat is sadly shocking, and yet it recharges every night and is ready to go every morning. It has made me realize how important sleep is and how magnificently we are built. The entire time on todays walk, I thought about ways to focus on self care. Treatments for my feet, stretches, hot showers, rest, food. I finished by 1pm today and was able to really refresh.

Todays second selfie:

There was even a golf course in a deserted town. And….there is a story about the deserted town. As I mentioned earlier, there are twice as many people doing the Camino as usual. Because of this a lot of alburgues are sold out and there is a struggle to find a place to sleep. This deserted town was 4 miles away from Santo Domingo and I booked it because I couldn’t find anything in Santo Domingo. On a whim I checked Santo Domingo 2 days ago and found a private room for $40. I was so happy that I gladly cancelled my reservation for this town. I had no idea at the time but it was a total ghost town. All of the houses were empty. Apparently the housing community was built but no one ever moved in. What a blessing! Again! Everything is just working out on this Camino.

I didn’t know it but Santo Domingo was in the middle of the Festival of Santo Domingo, a week long party. As I walked into town there was a choir singing and a statue being carried through the town with priests and other officials following the procession. It was as if they knew I was coming.

Santo Domingo has a great story about chickens. It goes back several hundred years so there are a few versions but you will get the basic idea:

A devout German couple was making the pilgrimage to Santiago with their eighteen-year-old son. When they reached Santo Domingo, a local girl took a liking to the young German, who, being a good Christian, did not respond to her advances.

Hurt and angry, she put a silver cup into his bag and accused him of theft. The town believed her and hung the innocent boy. His parents, although they were sad, went on to Santiago, where they prayed for their son. On their return trip, they again stopped in Santo Domingo, this time to visit their son’s body. To their surprise, he was still alive, and still hanging from his rope. (At this point I always wonder how they didn’t notice that part before they left, but it’s best not to ask a lot of questions about these stories.) In some versions of the story, the boy spoke to them and told them that Saint James himself was keeping him alive. The parents rushed to the town’s sheriff and demanded that he release their son.

The good sheriff was just sitting down to a hearty poultry dinner, and laughed in their faces. “That boy is no more alive than these chickens on my plate,” he said.

(See where this is going?)

Yep, the roasted birds sprouted back their feathers and beaks, got up, and started walking around the dinner table. Properly chastened, the sheriff rushed to the gallows and released the young German, who was pardoned and allowed to go home.

So in the cathedral there are several statues with the chickens and there is actually a chicken coop in the church that has chickens in it. They could be heard clucking throughout the cathedral.

I went back to the room to work on booking accommodations and got an early night of sleep.

Miles: 16.69/Steps 36,542

Todays Selfie!

Directions were good today. Lots of arrows/shells pointing us in the right direction.

There was a lot of rain and some small hills but nothing crazy. There were several beautiful murals along the way and of course a fair share of cats and dogs.

It also was a day of reunions. I’m starting to get to know a lot of people on the same schedule that I am on and it’s nice to see familiar faces. I met up with Dee again at breakfast and then she was in my alburgue. I also saw Orlando from the Gran Canaries, and my bunkmate Paul from the second night in Roncesvalles. My Italian friend Eduardo from the last 2 miles into Logrono also stayed in my Alburgue and there were several others that I haven’t really mentioned here like Audre from Lithuania! I also ran into Efren Gonzalez on the trail. I have watched so many of his videos on YouTube. It was almost like meeting a Camino Celebrity. If you haven’t seen his videos you should check him out…. Click here to get to his home page on youtube.

The Alburgue Cuatro Cantones hostel was beautiful. It had a pool and a big yard and it’s own restaurant. There was a lot of charm and it was very pilgrim friendly. Every bed had its own outlet and light and clean cloth sheets!

What a difference a letter makes. Again.

I was trying to book the Hostel Victoria and booked the Hotel Victoria by mistake. When I was going thru my bookings I realized it was south of Madrid and was non refundable. Lucky for me, the hotel manager at Cuatro Catones called them for me and got them to reverse the charge. She was the loveliest person and so helpful!

The town had so many great Murals:

I decided to have a wander around the town. It was small but quaint.

I shared dinner with the Italian man (Edoardo) from the other day. Google translate was our friend and we made it work and it was really fun. After we finished the salad I realized that it had a bit of unexpected protein (an ant!). It’s ok! It didn’t eat much of the salad!

Big day tomorrow. 18 miles with rain and 2 big hills! Not sure that I have a reservation for a bed. Wish me luck!

Miles: 18.84/Steps: 41,247

Todays Selfie:

I was unsure of my bed reservation status for today so started the day at 6am in the dark to try to get ahead of the crowds. The weather is still bad and we had rain. The trail had very goopy mud and was rocky so it wasn’t kind on the feet. That said we walked thru a lot of forests that were really pretty. Some were very dense.

Today there were also several small gifts that I have learned to appreciate so much while on the Camino. A random chair in the middle of nowhere to sit down and relax, beautiful doors, Bruce Springsteen videos playing in the bar while I was eating my lunch, painted wood trunks along the trail just to make us smile, dogs that like to be petted, Camino friends sending texts to check in and make sure all was good, seeing the village you are headed to when you crest the last hill, getting one of the last beds in the Alburgue even if it is a top bunk of a 36 person room with a paper sheet and a stool to help me getting down. It’s been a good but long day.

There were two really big hills today and some beautiful scenery. My mind goes to all sorts of random places when I’m walking up them. Today I saw the funny side of things! I know my days of being invited to work at the Playboy Mansion are over (is that even a thing anymore?) but I want to give a huge shoutout to all my single friends who go on hikes for a date. I can promise you that there is nothing sexy about me hiking uphill. (Maybe that is why H doesn’t like to hike with me?) I am literally gasping for air the entire way. I can’t possibly hold a conversation because that would consume the small amounts of air I am inhaling. I sweat like a pig so if I was wearing makeup it would be smeared all over my face. I am also not going to lie (sorry mom) but profanity might possibly come out of my mouth and that’s not sexy either. “How much f*ing longer does this hill have to go?” “Can this f*ing hill be any steeper?” “Are you f*ing kidding me?”

So kudos to all who are successful at hiking on dates! It’s a good thing I’m not single and needing to hike to pick up a mate! Poor Caitlyn. I literally had to end a call with her this morning because I was about to pass out from trying to not pant into the phone! Haha

The alburgue in Ages was ok. I stayed at the Albergue Municipal la Taberna de Ages . I got one of the last beds and felt lucky to have it as I had reserved it on Whatsapp but they didn’t have any record of it when I arrived. I dropped off my shoes and found my bunk bed. Top bunk. At least there was a paper sheet.

I ended the day with drinks in the bar with Irish Pat and then dinner in the restaurant with Dutch Inez. I was in bed before 9:00pm. Blisters are all healed. Feet can walk 10 miles with zero pain. At that point I stop every 2-3 miles for a stretch and a massage!

Tomorrow is a 14 mile hike, all downhill into Burgos where I will stay with Nikki. Her accommodation has a bathtub and I have never been more excited for anything!

Miles: 18.39/Steps 40,260

Todays Selfie

I left before sunrise to be able to get to Burgos early. The sunrise was gorgeous!

The road was really rocky and hard on the feet and there were a couple of steep inclines but otherwise it was a good walk. There was a beautiful cross at the top of one of the hills.

I ran into Savina at breakfast today around mile 6 and we walked the rest of the way to Burgos together.

We did the river walk the last 5 miles which was beautiful but felt like it would never end.

I had a quick meet up with Ference and Nikki when I got into town because Ference was moving on and stuck around so we could say our goodbyes.

Nikki had rented an apartment in Burgos and invited myself and Annie to stay. Words can’t express the luxury of having a kitchen and private bathroom and sitting area. I took the loveliest bath and then went and got a massage. My body was really tired and appreciated the tlc. I am so appreciative of Nikki for sharing her space! It meant the world and seriously helped both my physical and mental state!

Nikki and Annie had cut up a lot of veggies for dinner and the plan was to come home, have dinner and then have a quiet night watching movies, doing face masks and relaxing.
We started with dinner.

Side note: Annie had met Father Mark from Australia earlier in the Camino. I am not sure if it’s a requirement of all priests or just a personal goal but he strived to say mass every single day.

Father Mark texted Annie and let her know that he was able to get a chamber in the Burgos Cathedral and he was starting at 6:00pm. We got our shoes on and ran/limped to the cathedral. He performed a private mass in Latin for 4 of us. It was really intimate and just amazing.

Afterwards, we invited him and Marie (his colleague) to come over to our house for dessert and wine. He had to make a stop before he could come over so we hurried home and had to clean up our dishes and laundry that was hanging up all over the house drying.

It was such a lovely evening with really engaging conversation. I would never have written that into a possibility of the script of what would happen on this trip but it was awe inspiring, refreshing and really special.
We ended the night with face masks after he left and had an amazing sleep with no snores or farting!

Miles: 14.19/Steps: 31,073

Todays Selfie!

I started the day with “see you laters” to Nikki and Annie and was on my way.

It was stunning to look at the cathedral on the walk out of town. I couldn’t stop thinking about the mass that took place inside of it last night and what other historic events have taken place inside.

I have completed 299 of 800 kilometers. The first third of the Camino is meant to be physically challenging, the second third of the Camino is meant to be more mentally challenging and the last third is meant to be spiritual. Let’s see how mental and spiritual I can get! Today starts the beginning of the mental section and is known as the Meseta. The Meseta is 180km of flat, hot shadeless fields, wide open skies and endless wheat fields between Burgos and Leon.

We saw tons of stork nests with their babies today. It is really difficult to get good pictures of them since they are on the top of buildings. This one was flying with their friend by the river.

I had a lot of reunions today! First was Sandy and Diane, the two ladies I shared a cab with from Pamplona to St Jean Pied de Port.

Then I ran into Lou and Sonia from the second night in Orisson and Jetti from a few nights ago.

Then I arrived at one of my most memorable churches and experiences of the Camino so far. I entered this church in Rabe de las Calzadas and there was a nun inside stamping Compostelas and blessing pilgrims She whole heartedly gave me a blessing for the Camino. She gave me the biggest hug and held on those extra few seconds which was everything I needed at that moment. She then gave me a necklace with a charm of Mary to protect me on the rest of The Way. It was just a lovely experience.

Some of the other pictures from the day:

I checked into the Hornillos Meeting Point hostel and was one of the first to arrive. Yay me! I would totally recommend this Albuergue! I got a bottom bunk with a cloth sheet and no one ended up sleeping above me. Woohoo! Ironically Orlando was my roommate and Eduardo stayed in the hostel as well! We had paella for our communal dinner which was amazing and then hung out drinking wine for awhile! I made friends with Sladiana and really hope we stay in touch!

All in all it was a great day!

Miles: 15.89/Steps: 34,796

Todays selfie!

39 degrees and windy!

The views for the morning were of mostly wheat and barley.

This tree was amazing! Firstly there weren’t many trees to be seen. Secondly, I don’t think my words can describe the noise the wind made blowing through its leaves. It was so loud and mesmerizing. I could hear it from far away and it was deafening when I was next to it. Thirdly….did I mention how windy it was?!

This fountain made me laugh for a couple of reasons. Firstly, who doesn’t love a fountain of a man holding his penis. Secondly, I don’t think I could honestly drink water that came out of a man’s penis even if it was a statue. Thirdly, it reminded me when I was much younger and went water fountain shopping for my mom with my dad for some gift giving holiday. We went to 10 different stores to look at fountains and most of them had the one with the boy peeing, mimicking the Mannekin Pis statue in Brussels. We laughed so hard about how mad mom would have been if we bought it for her and came close to doing it. If you know my mom, I am sure you can appreciate the giggle. Such a fun memory! In hindsight we should have bought 2. The boy peeing and then the real one….It would have been worth the effort.

I wasn’t expecting to see so many red poppies on the Camino. I’ve never heard them mentioned in any of the materials I researched but there were so many today. It was a sea of red and absolutely stunning!

I made it to my alburgue Albergue de Peregrinos Casa Nostra and had a single bed and a sheet! It was heavenly but the bed and floor squeeked so loudly and there was no heating so it was my coldest night yet. I guess you can’t have everything? I don’t think I would recommend this alburgue based on how cold the room was unless it was summertime. I honestly haven’t been that cold for a long long time. I should have realized when it was warmer outside than it was inside when I left for dinner.

We found a lovely pizza place! We had a great meal with some other pilgrims and called it an early night!