Tag: Camino Frances

Another fine day for us today – entering the Meseta part of the Camino (which Dave tells us means ‘table’, in recognition of it being a long, flat plain). We set a good pace, stopping for breakfast at a cute albergue along the way, complete with medieval-ish round table and lighting. We were joined for breakfast by Nick and Jim, a father & son from Alice Springs in Australia (or, as Jim so eloquently put it when introducing himself: ‘from the middle of f*#%ing nowhere’). These two were actually the first people I haven’t warmed to on the Camino – they didn’t seem interested in giving genuine or thoughtful answers to questions (as all other pilgrims have done), but were full of smarty pants one-liners and it was as if they were playing the roles of big-drinkin’, swearin’, stirrin’ Aussies from the desert. The dad, Nick, claimed this was his fifth Camino – although it sounds as though he does much of his walking by bus or taxi between main towns. I guess it takes all types and we have certainly met a lot of different folk thus far on the Camino, but these were two peeps I was not sad to leave behind.

Our walking group is six at the moment and it’s great to have company when you feel like chatting, but equally great to have time for silence and solitude when you feel like thinking. We’re going at a similar pace over these mostly flat days, stopping for breakfast (mostly for the hit from the cafe con leche) at the nearest town (which has sometimes been 9km away) and trying to walk as far as we can before the heat sets in.
We arrived at our destination – Castrojeriz – at around 1.30pm, which was really good going. It’s another cute town and we decided to have our main meal at lunchtime today (when in Spain…) so went to a restaurant for the pilgrims’ menu. I tried gazpacho, which was really delicious. As was the chocolate pudding covered in cream for dessert. We pilgrims have to keep up our energy!

Days 10 and 11 were pretty good walkin’ – around 25km each day and not too hilly. Walking in the heat and over a lot of rocky terrain is pretty tiring and we’re all starting to walk like cowboys by the time we slow down at our albergue, with a range of foot, leg and ankle troubles.
Without wanting to sound like a spoilt brat, the landscape has become a little boring – the sunflowers are a highlight as we pass through all of the golden fields.
We ended Day 9 at Redecilla del Camino – a tiny town, where Steph and I were the only ladies in the bar. Also at the bar was a peculiar little kid eating an ice cream and sporting a long rat’s tail hair-do. Other than that, highlights included finding out the nationality of the blonde supermodels we had seen at the previous albergue (Lithuanian) and another delicious Dave & Tom meal – chorizo and apple stew (with cider).

Day 10 saw us head to Villafranca Montes de Oca, where we were welcomed to the fantastic looking hotel & albergue by a nutty sort of chap who kept interrupting Dave’s translations. We met an Australian guy, Charlie, who sounded as though he was being held hostage by his German walking pals – only allowing a 15 minute stop on a 30km walking day. Made us glad that we’re walking fast, but taking time for photo stops, breakfast and lunchtime picnics along the way.
As it was lovely Tom’s last evening with us (before heading home to London) we had a great pilgrim’s meal at the hotel restaurant to celebrate our time together. Good wine, good food, good company – a great Camino experience.
Day 11 started in very thick fog, making the moonlit walk up and down the steep hills very interesting. We walked with Luis, a Spanish guy who could only converse with Dave (and with me via Dave’s translation) – he was looking forward to a bocadillo for breakfast at the first town we visited (“9 o’clock is a good time for a sandwich”). Steph was very excited to find some German Ritter Sport chocolate in one of the little shops on the way today. We finally found out more about the German family with whom we’ve been keeping pace for a few days – a javelin thrower & her archeology-studying, discus-throwing sister, their Mum and coach Dad.
We’re an imaginative bunch, so we do spend quite a bit of time making up back stories about the people we see along the way. It’s always interesting to find out the truth about people – sometimes as fascinating as we’d imagined, sometimes not.
Ended the day in Cardenuela, at a fantastic albergue with a large sunny terrace. We met Chris from Texas, an electric cigarette-smoking graphic designer travelling the world for a year. The guy who runs the albergue has just brought us a jug of sangria to enjoy while we sit around chatting. Life is good!

Day 8 was another pretty easy day – about 26km to Azofra. We pretty much had a whole albergue to our gang of five last night, with only one other German bike rider with us in our large dorm. Was great to get a good night’s sleep without snorers or loud talkers! It definitely makes a difference to how we feel in the morning, that’s for sure.
A beautiful sunrise this morning and a day of wandering through more beautiful vineyards – not too hot for the most part, which was great. One of our gang, Dave, had an ankle injury that looked like ending his Camino (this is his second), which made us all pretty quiet this morning as he had to walk on in immense pain. Fortunately, he seems to be feeling a lot better and it looks as though he will be able to continue with us.
This albergue is pretty great – small rooms of only two beds (with a door for privacy) and a large courtyard with a small pool/fountain – though practical pilgrims have made the courtyard into a washing area, with lots of lines of clothes blowing in the breeze.
We calculated an average of 25km per day so far, which is pretty good – we’re walking at a good pace, but stopping to enjoy the sights and food along the way. Hard to believe it’s a week since we left St Jean – sometimes feels like yesterday, but then this routine has become so familiar, it feels like we have been doing it for years!