Stage 17: Villacazar de Sirga to Calzadilla de la Cueza (24 km--22 degrees)

Sunrise on the meseta was a sight to behold with the Picos de Europa mountains on the horizon--our pictures do not do it justice. The weather was cool when we started out and both Betty and Laurel wore jackets. We have been lucky and not experienced the full wrath of the sun. A combination of an early start and a cool spell has kept our temperature in the mid to high twenties.

We made it to Carrion de Los Condes for coffee and then celebrated 400 kms from Compostela. The walk today was the flattest so far and followed a 2,000 year old roman road, the scenery was reminiscent of Saskatchewan. A small mongrel joined up with us and stayed until we reached the midpoint of our Camino--we celebrated with Karl, a young perigrino from Sweden.

From Carrion de Los Condes to the next town, in this case, our destination of Calzadilla de la Cueza, was a 17 km stretch. This is unusual as we usually see our next village while the last one is still in our rear-view mirror. We met a German pilgrim named Deiter who was hiking the Camino with his older son and walked the last five km together.

We checked into our hostel and had our favourite drink of Spain--agua con gaz (fizzy water) with lemon and ice. Betty just informed us that today (Sunday) is the celebration of San Martin de Tours, patron saint of the village, and so merriment and fireworks will fill our evening!

Stage 16: Itero de la Vega to Villacazar de Sirga (30 km--25 degrees)

Yesterday, after checking in to our albergue in Itero de la Vega and, of course, enjoying our usual cold drink on the terrace, we took a stroll around the sleepy little town.  In the town square, a  middle-aged Spanish man pleasantly approached us and asked us, in perfect English, if we'd like to know about an ancient column standing near us.  Naturally, we said "si," so he proceeded to explain to us that it is a "justice pillar" which was used in Roman and Medieval times to chain criminals, as a form of punishment (some links of chain are still soberingly visible).  Then, Jose Miguel, who is a retired school teacher of the Spanish language in La Rioja, graciously invited us to meet his 99-year old mother and 92-year old aunt who still live in adjoining family homes next to the town square...both ladies were spry and very sweet and they were bowled over by our photos of winter in Nunavut.  What a nice experience for us to meet the three of them in their typical village home, complete with cherry tree in the inner courtyard!

Today we arose at 5:00 am and started our trek at 5:25, in the dark, as we had a long road ahead of us (30 kms to Villacazar de Sirga).  Just outside of Itero de la Vega, we walked below the stars and admired red lights on the windmills on the hills, twinkling as the blades turned.  The trail was mostly flat and straight, and the weather, for most of the day, was a reasonable temperature, so we made good headway.  Part of our trail pleasantly followed the Castille Canal and another part followed a river.  We stopped for a while in Fromista to stock up on cash, fresh cups of coffee, groceries for a picnic lunch, and band-aids, blister patches, and a knee brace (the latter all for Laurel).  At 1:30 pm (8 hours after embarking), we arrived at our destination with very tired feet and legs, and very happily checked into our accommodation in a beautiful restored villa.  As usual, we showered, then downed our habitual ice water, then took our exploratory stroll about the village.  We decided to check out a restaurant beside the Romanesque church, in a building which had been a headquarters for the Knights Templar from the 12th century (the Knights had protected pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago, as well as on the pilgrimage route from Spain to Rome and Jerusalem).  We opened the door to see a large room warmly decorated with Templar and Camino artifacts and alive with the sounds and aromas of Spanish families noisily enjoying Saturday dinners!  We realized immediately that this was THE place for our supper, and what a delicious supper it was, served to us very hospitably by Luiz -- seafood soup, roast shank of lamb, beef steak, salad, lemon sherbet, vino, and coffee.  The best meal, by far, on our Camino to date!

Stage 15: Hontanas to Itera de la Vega (22 km - 24 degrees)

Good Afternoon blog followers,
I bought a new toy in Burgos--a lens that allows me to take close ups of flowers similar to the ones Laurel posted earlier. I realized as we were walking this morning that the Camino may impact how you view the world but it hasn't had much of an impact on what I choose to view. Enjoy my flowers!

The first part of our walk today was a gentle downhill to a picturesque village called Castrojeriz where we stopped to have a coffee. Laurel and I sang our best rendition of Happy Birthday to my sister Brenda as we let this village!
There seemed to be more pilgrims on the trail today and Jim walked much of today with a young man named Roberto from Rome. We also bumped into at least 3 more Canadians on Canada's birthday.

This 1 km climb was the most difficult part of the day for me. Laurel disliked the descent on the other side and Jim seemed to love both! The rest of the journey was beautiful and very reminiscent of the prairies. This is the part of the Camino that many find boring but not for these prairie-born pilgrims.

Stage 14: Burgos to Hontanas (24 km--24 degrees)

Burgos was exhilarating, exciting, and unexpected, everything but restful! I feel like we began today sleep-walking; how could we rest in a city that never seems to go to bed? As with Logrono and Pamplona, we took a cab to the edge of the city to begin our walk in a rural rather than urban setting. Storks on top of the Catholic Church welcomed us to the hamlet of Rabe de la Calzadas. They have taken up residence in most churches and seen to be in cahoots with the local parishes, protesting any notions of birth control.

Small towns soon gave way to the meseta, the endless plains of Spain, which, by the way, is not where it rains! This will be our terrain for the next eight or nine days. We walked most of the way without a break, then stopped just outside our destination and had a picnic lunch beside a shrine for Saint Bridget of Sweden. We have been eating like hobbits since starting the camino--breakfast at 5:00, second breakfast at 9:00, "elevensies", and lunch or tea depending on what's open!

The village dog allowed us entry into Hontanas and we checked into a wonderful hostel with three beds and a hot shower--who could want more? Two more pages of stamps fill our credentials. Only 456 km to go!

Burgos Beauties!

Touring the Burgos Cathedral.

Rest Day: Burgos (28 degrees)

Just a small sampling of the beautiful and varied traditional attire being worn by people of Burgos during the Festival of San Pedro and San Pablo

Some other scenes from our wanderings around Burgos on June 29, 2016

Wow!  We went out this morning thinking we'd have a quiet stroll around the Cathedral of Burgos, but to our surprise, instead found ourselves in the midst of the main festivities marking the Fiesta of San Pedro and San Pablo!  First, there was a parade of hundreds of men, women, children, and musicians dressed in amazing traditional attire and carrying fresh flowers, which they delivered to the Cathedral, where the blooms were placed into large trellises displayed outside the church.  Afterward, everyone (including ourselves) wandered about the town squares, narrow streets, and parks just enjoying the festive atmosphere and the show of culture, as well as some refreshments here and there.  Fireworks, as brilliantly seen from the balcony of our apartment, round off the evening on a celebratory note!  We had very fortuitously chosen the best possible rest day to be in Burgos!

More Great Knockers of the Camino!

I know that since this is my second instalment in this theme, that only the hardware nerds are tuning in now.