DAY 13  — ONE YEAR LATER

BURGOS TO HORNILLOS — 13 Miles

Last year I walked through day 12 of the Camino from St. Jean Pied de Port, France to Burgos, Spain.  This year I’m starting where I left off with Day 13 of the Camino.

It was 7am by the time I finally woke up.  Dick was already up, it was light out and I thought, “Oh gosh, I’m late”!  I should have gotten out and started an hour ago, while it was still dark.  But wait!  I promised myself and others that I would take it slowly this time.  Last year I walked too far, too fast, barely ate anything and was dehydrated.  The result was muscle strain and tendonitis in my foot that resulted in my quitting the Camino.  So why would I want to go back?  Why would I want to try this all over again?  The only answer I have is that something was pulling at me, something was calling me back.  The Camino was in my blood and every fiber of my being told me I had to return.  And besides that, I had recently watched the movie “The Way” for the 4th time and I burst into tears the minute it started.

I got up and showered, purposely taking my time because Dick was going to make sure I took it easy and didn’t leave until later.  I arranged everything in my 18 pound backpack, gave Dick my iPad and charger, which reduced it by a pound, then added two pounds of water and a pound of Trail Mix, attached my camera and cell phone to one of the shoulder straps and put on my fanny pack.  And I didn’t do the math because at that point I didn’t want to know how much weight I had just added to myself.  I put on my trekking clothes and two layers of fleece jackets, my gloves, Smart Wool socks and running shoes and I was set.

A burst of cold air hit us as we walked out of the hotel.  It was 41 degrees with a pretty good breeze.  We walked a block and found a coffee shop by the river where we could get a cafe con leche.

Not only was it coffee but it came with a shot of freshly squeezed orange juice and a cookie.  What a treat!

I was nervous about walking today.  Our hotel was by the river but the Camino path was someplace else and I had to find it. Dick had decided he wasn’t going to walk with me at all this year. He was still having problems with his feet so decided to rent a car for this first week of the Camino. I would walk to the designated village (where busses didn’t go) and he would drive there and meet me.We finished our coffee, I turned on “Map My Walk” and we were off.

J

Dick walked the first couple of blocks with me before he turned around and went to get his rental car. It was 9am and I nervously walked along the river hoping to see other Trekkers but because it was so late in the morning and I wasn’t even on the Camino path, I didn’t see a one.

After about a mile I spotted it — that beautiful clamshell sign signifying the Camino. I turned left, crossed the river and then started seeing more yellow Camino markers guiding the way and more Pilgrims and Bikers. I was elated, I picked up my pace and was finally passing other Trekkers (Pilgrims), saying”Buen Camino” to everyone I passed.

After about 4 miles I turned to say “Buen Camino” to two people and realized it was the little blond and her mother who we had met yesterday at the bus station. So I started walking with them, and Carol, the Mom told me how she had arranged the Camino. The first two weeks she was on it she walked with her son. Then her daughter came yesterday and the son left. She’ll walk with her daughter, Leah for the next two weeks, then she’ll walk alone for the next week, then for the last week her husband will come and walk with her until they reach Santiago, the end of the Camino. What a great family adventure.  I was kind of jealous of her and wished my family could have come, too.

In no time at all we had walked 7 miles. We came to a little village and Carol and Leah wanted to stop at a store and I wanted to find someplace to eat. So we said our good byes. I kept walking expecting to see a bar (what we think of as a restaurant) but before I knew it I was out of town. So I walked to the next town and found a cute little place where I ordered a Chorizo and Cheese Bocadillo and a Cafe con Leche. I love the way they serve food here — the Bocadillo (sandwich) came with a tiny cup of chicken soup and the coffee came with a little cookie. There were some very loud Pilgrims inside so even though it was cold I chose to sit outside where a nice German fellow joined me.

Up until this point the Camino had been pretty easy — in and out of some wooded areas and lots of flat very green farmland.

But now we were going uphill, which was the worst for me, and it lasted for the next 4 miles. When I reached the summit it was a very steep downhill and I could see the town of Hornillos, my final destination for the day.

Boy did I truck down that mountain. And just as I was entering town there stood Dick. He had come to meet me and show me where we were going to stay. What a nice surprise! I was tired after walking 13 miles and couldn’t wait to take a rest.

We walked through town to the Hostel called de Sol a Sol. The rental car was parked across the street so Dick got his backpack out of it and we went into the Hostel.

The man inside told us our room was on the third floor, then he took Dick’s backpack and carried it up for him. What? I just walked 13 miles with my backpack, Dick just walked across the street with his backpack and the guy carries Dick’s backpack up the stairs while I trudge behind??? Hmmmmmmm.

We had an attic room which was clean and comfortable but sparsely decorated.  There were no windows but there was a large skylight in the ceiling so we got a lot of natural light.  And we paid the same price for this room as we paid for our beautiful room last night in Burgos.

After a short rest we went out and toured the village which had a population of 60.  We ran into Carol and Leah and just said quick hellos.  We found a cute place for dinner. They offered a set menu (Menu Del Dia) of appetizer, main course, dessert, bread and all the wine you could drink for 9 Euros each. Dinner was fabulous. We started with big fat white asparagus with aioli and pasta with chorizo in a red sauce, followed by thinly sliced steak and French fries, then dessert of chocolate mousse topped with mounds of whipped cream. We ate it all.

I think I’m going to get fat on this Camino!

 

A year ago when I left the Camino because of a foot injury, I promised I’d be back.  And here we are, in Burgos, Spain, back for another try at the Camino de Santiago de Compostela.  I walked almost 200 miles last time and have another 300 miles to go before I finish.

Things have gone much more smoothly this time.  To get to Spain we were flying standby and easily made all of our flights — in fact we were upgraded to Business Class thanks to our lovely daughter-in-law Tracy.

During our layover in Newark I saw another woman with a huge backpack and immediately knew she was doing the Camino.  She was about my age, was from Carlsbad (not far from where we live) and this would be her first time on the Camino.  She had decided to avoid that awful first day from St. Jean Pied de Port to Roncesvalles.  Smart lady!  We talked for about 45 minutes but I never got her name.

After landing in Madrid we made a mad dash outside to catch a shuttle bus that would take us to Terminal 4 where we were told we could catch a bus to Burgos.  On the shuttle bus we started talking to a young blond girl with a huge backpack.  (We Trekkers are so obvious to spot!).  She was also doing the Camino and starting in Burgos where she would meet her mother, who was already trekking. She seemed kind of lost and couldn’t speak Spanish so I was able to ask someone where we should go and the 3 of us made it over to the ALSA busses. She had a ticket but we didn’t and we had to go back inside the terminal and get in a long line of people. Dick noticed other people were walking up and crowding in the line. We only had a few minutes before the bus was going to leave so Dick shouted out “Burgos” and the cashier called us up to the front of the line. We made it to the bus with minutes to spare and boarded it with the blonde girl. When we arrived in Burgos her mother was so excited to see her and was clicking photos of her as she got off the bus.  We all said brief hellos but never got each other’s names.

By now it was 2 p.m. We checked into the beautifully restored, early 19th Century Hotel Fernan Gonzalez.  The room was huge and beautifully decorated with period furniture. The cost — $45.00 a night.

J

Dick laid down and slept for the next 2 hours. We were starving when he woke up so we went to find a restaurant in Old Town.

And guess what! They were all closed. Siesta time is from 3 pm until 7 pm. So we went into one little bar that was open and advertised that they had food. I had a glass of wine and Dick had a beer and the cost astounded us. It was 3 Euros. The same thing had cost us $30.00 on our layover in the Newark Airport. We asked the guy if we could get some food and he said the restaurant would open at 9 pm! We were ravenous because we hadn’t eaten since dinner on the plane the night before. We walked all over Old Town but couldn’t find anything open except for bars and coffee shops — and none had food.

Finally at 7 pm we went to a great place where we had eaten twice before last year.  And to our surprise the waiter showed us some things on the menu that we could actually order.  The food was  scrumptious, a huge Caesar salad with bacon, cheese and tomatoes and an Ox Tail Burger smothered in gravy, with French fries, and of course wine.

It was almost 8:30 by the time we got back to the hotel. I fell into bed and was sound asleep in 2 seconds. Dick fell asleep shortly afterwards. Being jet lagged I woke up at 1 am, wide awake and two minutes later my laptop started jingle jangling. It was our son Ricky, Face Timing us from Denver. He didn’t realize the time in Spain and we ended up talking to him and his daughter Ali for the next 30 minutes. We went back to bed and Dick started snoring about 20 minutes later. But I couldn’t go back to sleep.  I laid awake worrying that I had to start my trek in a few hours and how I’d be able to do it with so little sleep. At 4 am I finally drifted off to sleep wondering what adventures lay in store when I would awaken in a few hours.