Day 17 - Castrojeriz to Fromista

This a long day for us going 26 km. It is bad day for me to have a bad sleep the night before. The feet were pounding rather than bouncing along the trail.

Getting away from Castrojeriz, we went uphill to the mesa and then downhill, all on concrete pavement. I don't think my knees like that. We stopped at Itero de la Vega. Nothing much available though. We were then onto a 8 km stretch of gravel and sand. Crunch, crunch, crunch... Like the documentary by one pilgrim on YouTube. Gigi sped away on us. I was trying to keep pace with Winnie until she had to shed a layer. I tried to keep in contact with Gigi if you can call 300 m contact. Then the sun came out. There was no one close enough to pull out my sun hat from my backpack so I had to put on the cap of my jacket. It was a choice between sun-burned ears or steamed brain. Then the sun was gone and the wind whipped up. Better not be a cold front that would bring rain or thunderstorm. No, there were clouds but they certainly were not rain clouds so we were safe. Gigi stopped and waited for me. No. She was just checking to make sure we were still there. She kept going.  Wait. She stopped to take a picture. But then she kept going. I gained 10 m. Crunch, crunch, crunch... She stopped to take a video of the poppies. That was going to take some time. I also stopped but only for a snap on my phone. She was taking another picture and I passed her.  I won!  Oh, it is not a race.  It did give me some psychological push to get through this stretch.

At Boadiilla del Camino, we had a good lunch and met the hospitalero who lived in London, Ontario for a while. What a small world.

Arrived safely in Fromista before 2 pm. I had emailed a request for reservation and they finally confirmed it yesterday. Today is Sunday though so nothing is open other than the restaurants.

Another adventure in pilgrim menu. We chose to go to el Apostol for dinner. We arrived early and used the time to decipher the choices listed in Spanish. It took us a while because unlike the usual sopa, ensalada, lomo, pollo, atun and merluza, we were looking at a list of 20 items from which we can only figure out two or three. After some frustration, we asked one of the servers whether there is an English menu. He said no but did try to help us. His description of the menu items are: 1st plate: soup, soup, rice, fish, fish, pork, fish, fish, fish, fish; 2nd plate: beef, beef, beef, beef, pork, beef, fish, fish, fish, fish. After a lot of Google Translate, we finally figured out: seafood soup, bean in marinera sauce, mushroom risotto, shrimp, prawn, ham, shrimp, scallop, scallop and clam for the 1st plate; lamb, lamb, beef, pork, beef, beef, squid, cod, hake and monkfish for the 2nd plate. Finally we got to sit down and the server does not know English either. We ordered using our new found knowledge and found that all the tables are using Google Translate. Foods came out of the kitchen, he announced the food and we had no idea what it was and just grabbed it so we can figure out later among ourselves. Despite all that, the foods are absolutely fantastic and well worth the slightly higher price of 15€. Desserts are not listed in the menu. After he told us in Spanish, we simply said bring us 4 different ones. And it worked.  Good food and good entertainment because it was so funny.

White Bean soup - lunch

Chicken noodle soup - lunch

Scallop au Gratin and Prawn Salad

Clam

Mushroom Risotto

Beef  Cheek

Monkfish and lamb

Beef with ham

Day 16 - Hornillos del Camino to Castrojeriz

It is not a race. You are supposed to walk your own Camino and the Camino will provide. But it is increasingly feeling like a race, in order to arrive at the albergue to get a bed. I suppose we may have been just lucky that we got beds in all but a couple of albergues three years ago without trying to book ahead. This time, it just feels so crowded I discovered the private albergues we previously stayed in were all booked when I tried to email ahead of time. Yesterday, the municipal albergue was full at 130 pm. Today, when we arrived at the municipal albergue at 1130 am, there are already 10 people ahead of us. However, there are still some spots left at 330 pm. That eases the anxiety somewhat. We walked about 20 to 25 km each day and can arrive early. How about those walking 35 km a day, how are they going to get a bed? The Camino is certainly less enjoyable when you have to worry about practical things like that.

After breakfast at the albergue in Hornillos del Camino, we walked the meseta for 11 km to Hontanas before stopping for coffee and perhaps a second breakfast. Hontanas is small but the main street is lined with albergues. Those missing out in Hornillos del Camino could breathe a sigh of relief when they got to Hontanas. We passed San Anton with the magnificent stone arch. The walk was fairly easy.

Castrojeriz is quiet other than the bar and the alimentacion close to the albergue. Bought foods for lunch at the alimentacion and went back to our favourite picnic table at the albergue terrace. The hospitalero was so nice that he brought out the umbrella and set it for our picnic table. Another good experience at this same albergue. Too bad that they don't have the clothes spinner for our clothes anymore.

Based on the recommendation of the shopkeeper of the alimentacion, we waited until 7 pm to have our pilgrims menu at la Meson de Castrojeriz. We did not even asked for the price. It turned out to be an excellent meal for 11€. It was well worth the wait.

Hontanas

San Anton

Lunch at the terrace

Beef Stew - Dinner

Tuna - Dinner

Day 15 - Burgos to Hornillos del Camino

The walking itself seems to be not as tough as that 3 years ago. In the latter part of the walk today, I went in front of the group and nearly did a solo walk for 10 km. The legs didn't feel tired although the blister is not helping. I spent a lot of time looking up and enjoy the scenery. Of course it is different at every turn and there is no way to describe it (unless you are Tolkien). You really need to have first hand experience.

Walking into Hornillos del Camino knowing that our preferred albergue has no available beds. Not surprisingly, the other private albergue is also full by 1130 am. We walked to the municipal albergue and there is already a lineup. We have no problem getting beds but by 130 pm, the municipal albergue is also full. Some of the pilgrims proceed for another 10 km to Hontanas. We saw  more than a few pilgrims scrambling to call either a taxi or to book beds somewhere. It is certainly not nice to have no bed when you arrive at a municipal albergue before 2 pm. There is no indication or information about the putting up with overflows in the gym next door.

We are starting to worry about the two 26 km days before getting to Leon as well as in Leon. So I emailed the albergue in Leon we stayed at last time. There is already no bed available for one week from now. Crazy stuff.

We are back to cooking ourselves. We still remember the chicken dinner from last time so we essentially tried it again. This time with a gas stove at the albergue instead of the microwave. After starving until 730 pm last night before dinner, today we finished our meal at 630 pm and ready to bed. 

Day 14 - Atapuerca to Burgos

There is a Chinese saying. 'Can see it, but not right away'. Something you can see or imagine but cannot reach or have immediately. It applies to hope and dreams. It also applies to Burgos. We saw Burgos in the distance from Alto Cruzeiro early in the morning. Three hours later, we came upon the same smokestack and we are not even in Burgos yet. In both cases, it needs time and perseverance. Burgos' Municipal Albergue is in the old town in the far side of the city, and it is a big city. We finally arrived a little after noon when the lineup was slowly being processed.

This is also a good place to replenish our medical supplies and take out some cash from the ATM. We ventured to the market, Mercado Nortel Municipal, to try to buy groceries for tomorrow's lunch and some fruits. The market has everything but the albergue only has a microwave. I do understand that if there is a full function kitchen, there will be 160 people trying to cook there. We found a restaurant for lunch on our way back from the market. Gigi made the wise move to go for a busy place with lots of locals.

Our next stop is Hornillos del Camino. We stayed in Hornillos Meeting Point last time and like to go back. Again, it is good and likely to be popular so with due diligence, I emailed them to reserve 4 beds two days before. But no luck, all the beds are already gone. We will try the municipal albergue. Gigi found out that overflow will sleep on mats in the gym. If it has to come to that, we will take it. At least we will be indoor.

On our way to dinner, we had a surprise meet-up with Yoss and Nanette, the Dutch couple who we met the first day up the Pyrenees. They spent an extra day in Pamplona and managed to catch up with us. A pleasant surprise.

Alto Cruzeiro

Lunch