Backpacking Bill

We are planning a late start today as we have a relatively short walk. We scheduled short days here due to the anticipated steep climbs. Expecting a chilly morning with temps climbing to the mid 60’s by afternoon.

Went to a small cafe for lunch. It is run by a German guy and his wife. He started singing the Monty Python “Lumberjack” song in the kitchen. I joined him. He came out of the kitchen and we sang what we could remember of it together. A Canadian guy came charging in and asked,  “Who’s singing the Canadian National Anthem?” If you don’t know it, you will need to look it up on YouTube because I don’t know how to add a Link. Probably in bad taste to include it on this family oriented blog.

The owners wife made the tumeric tea and gave Tina the recipe. This is the most healthy thing we have had on the Camino. It will certainly wake you up.

We are staying at a really nice place tonight. And, the view from the common area is spectacular.

Tina’s Thoughts

We are now 4 weeks in and 2 weeks of walking left. There are many days when I wake up and think “I just want to be in my own bed and I DON’T want to walk today.”. However that’s not an option.  We’ve come this far and there’s no going back.  So our routine of getting ready for a day’s walk, continues.  We take it one day at a time and generally by the time we take our first steps, I feel energized and ready to go.  Along the way there are ALWAYS Camino fun surprises awaiting; a beautiful sunrise, an enlightening conversation, an interesting village or enterprise that pops up out of nowhere or a singer like the one below who was using his gifts to welcome us into Astorga.

The Camino has been an amazing adventure; a metaphor for life.

2 more weeks.  Buen Camino!

Reading ahead a bit, I learned that Astorga is the Chocolate capital of Spain. They were making chocolate here before Switzerland and Belgium got into it.

It will be chilly this morning but there is no rain in the forecast. In the distance I saw mountains. We will be entering more hilly terrain; the end of the Meseta.

The guy behind the bar is the fellow who makes the wine. He has a vineyard in the hills on the Camino behind the town. He uses Gewurztraminer grapes. He also grows his crop organic.

I understand that a major earthquake in Lisbon led to a lot of damage to the Cathedral here in Astorga. That is why there are many miscolored stones that were used in the rebuild.

This is scheduled to be a relatively short walk today, 6.1 miles. It looks like we need to vacate our lodging in San Martin del Camino by 8:00 am. Perhaps we can stretch that by staying for an extra cup of coffee.

I believe we have gone from the area of Pintxos to the area of Tapas. Each area doesn’t conscious calling the snack served at a bar by the competing name.

The mornings seem to be darker later. It’s 8:00 am and it seems pitch black outside.

Hospital de Ôrbigo is the town before the one where we stayed. They have this great bridge and, as we later found out, a field where they still have jousting matches. I didn’t get a photo but it is the green patch to the left of the bridge.

Villages de Ôrbigo is a small remote village. There was only one choice for dinner. There was only one other pilgrim couple eating so we sat with them. They were a lovely Brazilian couple now living in Portugal. They had spent a long time working in the US so they had good English. They were able to give us some pointers for our time in Portugal.

The forecast says that we are going to have rain today. That will not be fun.

We started the day by going to the Cathedral for the morning service. It took place in the chapel. A fellow pilgrim, Francesca, came to the same service. Francesca and Tina walked the final several miles together into León. Francesca is an attorney living in Madrid but originally from Chile.

The route leaving León is the least picturesque portion of the Camino to date; Just the decaying part of the beautiful city of León and busy highway.  It was a 16 mile day so we  took a city bus to the outskirts of the city then resumed our walk. 

There was not much to photograph on this section of the Camino. All the pilgrims we spoke with agree that this was the least scenic day.

When we got to our lodging, we met two of the guys from Tampa that we met on the first day. We had a great lunch together. Tina and I shared a pulled pork Sandwich on a black bun. I read that the black comes from squid ink mixed into the batter. I have never heard of that before. I don’t think I will try it at home, it would freak people out.

A group of us who had met previously on the Camino got together for dinner. A gal from Philadelphia, me, Tina, a guy from Germany and a gal from The Netherlands

Tina’s Thoughts

We have had many long mile days on this first portion of the Camino.  On one recent day we covered 25 miles…I knew I could not walk that far and when I scheduled it, I was hopeful we could find a ride for a portion of it and we did!  Thankfully there are host families, taxis and buses that will help out in situations like this. These next couple of weeks ahead are much more manageable (many days under 10 miles) in terms of distances traveled.   We look forward to a bit slower pace! 

As one can imagine walking across a country is quite different than driving through and stopping at the most beautiful and touristy spots.  On this walk we have seen the good, the bad and the ugly.  It all has beauty in one way or another but the middle part of the Camino walk so far has taken us through many small and dying Spanish villages with populations having dropped from thousands to hundreds. There are many run down and decaying buildings and in some cases we do not see anyone in these towns.  For many, the seasonal Camino Pilgrims are their only source of income. It has given us a glimpse of a  part of Spain we wouldn’t otherwise have known about.

Buen Camino!

It’s 11.5 miles to Leon. A lot of flat terrain but there are threatening clouds.

We found out from another Pilgrim that we are known as the Pilgrims that hold hands. That, I believe, is not a bad reputation.

Some of Graham’s friends traveled to León to walk with him for a couple of days. They are to meet him at the bridge

Met Michael from the UK again. We had lunch with him and another Pilgrim, Nilah,  from Seattle

We started the day in Sahagún with a visit to the Convent of the Virgin Pilgrim to get a half Camino Compostela. Although the website says that they open at 9:30, they don’t open until 10:00. Well, we were questioning the value of a half Compostela anyway.

The service was a Catholic Mass all in Spanish and Latin

Sahagún is the official halfway point. However, we actually passed halfway mileage wise somewhere before that. This is going to be a relatively short day of 9.5 miles.

There is a change in the character of the Camino, there are more trees and vegetation along the trail. The change makes it more interesting.

These small cellars cut into the side of a hill began to appear. Evidently this was at one time a place that had a lot of vineyards. I noticed very few now.

Irene is from Argentina. She came into the restaurant shortly after we sat. People on the Camino seem to have very interesting histories. Irene has a daughter in Italy who she is going to visit after she completes the Francés.

We also said goodbye to a delightful couple from Ireland that we had met. Their group came into the restaurant as we were finishing our dinner. The guy is from the Canary Islands. After dinner the Irish group was going to the local Irish Pub (named the ” Temple” after the bar in Dublin). We were not about to join them as we are going right to bed. The Irish group was going to leave the Camino in León.

Evidently one can get a half Camino Compostela in Sahagún. May stop at the Convent in the morning to see if we can get one.

Tina still communicates with a number of pilgrims that have proceeded ahead of us.

Tina’s Thoughts

Walking everyday 10 miles or more is hard (for me at least).  Getting a good night’s sleep helps so much.  The night in Lédigos we did not.  Walking into Sahagún was tougher for that reason.

There is much goodwill between and amongst pilgrims.  It is heartening to see how strangers from all over the world have bonded on this walk. 

I have enjoyed the fact that there is almost no political talk on our journey.  Having said that it seems almost everyone we have met says the same thing; There is much dissention in their countries and  the cost of living since COVID has made it very tough for young people to get out on their own.  This includes people from Amsterdam, the UK, Spain, Italy, France, Argentina and Australia. 

Today is our daughter, Emma’s birthday. Happy Birthday Emma!

Well, our lodging last night was very nice. Much nicer than the converted chicken coop we are staying in tonight. No private bathrooms means that I will be doing a lot of commuting during the night. We didn’t wash clothes yesterday because this place has laundry facilities. One machine for the whole place. However, the dinner was good.

One positive for our stay is that we had dinner with John and Helen, a delightful couple from Pennsylvania.

We survived the small bed and had a surprisingly good sleep.

I have come to learn of some of the things that have motivated people to do the Camino. Many young adults have recently quit their jobs and came on the Camino to gather their thoughts as to their next career move. Last night a fellow at dinner refused to let the hostess set another Pilgrim at his table, he wanted to be alone. (We benefited because he was set next to us, he was a delightful guy from Switzerland). A great many others are wrestling with some kind of trauma or disturbing issues in their livesI have encountered some of the latter group talking together. I guess my point here is that the Camino  isn’t just a holiday for many pilgrims. It remains a place of healing as it was in medieval times. 

So, why am I walking the Camino? Good question. I suspect that it’s not very profound. Today I would say that I am trying to figure out what it is that I need to figure out. Once I determine what my goal should be for what’s left to do in my life, I can find a path.

I don’t expect that there will be much to photograph today. And, it is going to be another long walk.

When we got to Carrión de los Condes we learned that they were having a pilgrim concert at the church across from our hotel. We attended. It was actually really good. Especially the Bach and Handel. They also had Latin chants that I didn’t understand at all. They were, however, lovely

At dinner everyone seemed to descended on the same place for dinner. The restaurant at our hotel. We must have encountered 15 – 20 people we knew.

Reflecting on today reminded me that the Camino is not all happiness and community. It is also a time for reflection. Today both Tina and I recalled independently the passing of our mothers. For both of us it was a time of sadness because neither of us were present at the moment our mothers passed. Tina and I are both extremely blessed to have had great Moms.

The fact that we were both feeling a bit down was probably the reason I was questioning “why am I doing this”? Why not stop here and go to Portugal and forget all this Camino bull. Don’t think I am going to do that – not today at least.

Days are starting to all look the same. Didn’t take photos leaving Castrojerez.

Many avoid the Meseta. However, Tina and I are enjoying it. It’s an easier walk and, although the terrain is flat, there is beauty in the landscape. This morning we elected to put our ponchos in our travel bag because the forecast was for no rain. That may have been a mistake because it is looking like rain.

The flat terrain lets one think more about life than an achy exhausted body. The other advantage we have is that this is a cool day. It would be, I am sure, a much different experience if it were 95°F + which it was this summer.

The Camino follows the tow path of the Canal de Castilla for a few miles. This canal was built to transport grain to market. I understand that it was nearing completion in the middle to late 19th century. This was about the time that railroads were starting to be built. The canals had a short working history. Like the canals being built in the USA about the same time. Technology changes and those that abapt don’t wind up in the dustbin of history.

After their short life as a working canal, it was used for irrigation (for which it is still used) and for mills. There are some tour boats as well.

Tonight we had the Pilgrim meal at our hotel. Tina had salad, chicken with french fries (every meal has french fries) and flan. I had Castilian soup ( garlic soup) trout with french fries, and ice cream. Wine is included. We met a number of fellow pilgrims that we know from the trail. One group was from the UK, a group we met yesterday. And, one fellow shares an interest in Robert Burns. He and I (to the great shagrin of Tina and his wife) shared quotations ad nauseam.

We also discussed Spanish lisp. In Castilian there is a definite lisp. Gracias is pronounced “Grathias”. This is proper Spanish. The legend is that King Ferdinand or King Peter of Castile spoke with a lisp. Evidentially there is no historical basis for this. It likely evolved from the “s” and “z” sounds from ancient Castilian.

Tina’s Thoughts

Today I felt thankful for many things, including,

The cooler overcast weather

Continued beautiful landscape

The crosses along the Camino that remind us of God’s grace, love and mercy

For Bill.  I wouldn’t want to be walking with anyone else. He has been a helpmate in big and little ways along this journey. 

For all of you back home whom we love.

Buen Camino