Today we decided that we needed a rest day because both of us had sore feet. We had some time in the morning to take care of business before catching a bus to Leon. By doing so we avoid a couple of days of hiking along the highway. We did a bit of site seeing in town upon arriving. We had quite a challenge finding a place to stay in Leon because it was a Friday, but we ultimately found a nice place overlooking a park.
The morning was the coldest do far with the temperture dipping to 32 degrees. The day started off slowly because we were waiting till 10:30 to visit the post office. We had been wanting to lighten our packs for days but all the previous towns were too small to have a real post office. The postal women was very friendly and we were excited to mail 10 pounds of gear to Santiago. We had a long 21 kilometer day ahead and didn't get started till noon. We decided to add a kilometer to the day and deviate from the established path to follow the river rather than the highway. It was amazing. Most everyone else stuck to the road. The river was very scenic and well worth the extra distance. We finished late in the day feeling completely exhausted and sore. So we opted to check out the first pilgrim refuge was saw. It was a very old monastery that was quite charming. The people working there were extremely friendly and we got a private room for 14 euro. Sweet!!
We had a very windy but sunny day today! We traveled a while along an irrigation canal on a tow path that was very beautiful. A highlight was seeing a flock of sheep being herded down the camino. We are feeling a little sun and wind burned now. Also still feeling sore muscles and feet but hoping that settles down as we get used to the walking!
Our path today ....
Itero de la Vega to Formista.
Solomon and I arrived in Bilbao tired after taking the red eye across the ocean and trying to sleep! We saw Amsterdam from the window of the airport during our layover and finally arrived Wednesday evening after almost 24 hours of travel.
The city is sourrounded by Mountains with a river running throught the center. Absolutly beautiful!!!
The first day we had some food, strolled along the river and got a palmera chococalate dessert. All of which were on Lauries recommenation list-guidebook she made for our wedding present.
We started our camino hike today in the city of Burgos and ended in Rabe de las Calzadas for a total of 13.5 kilometers. Sol was still feeling a bit sick and we had little preperation so we started slow to get used to our heavy packs. We travelled out of the city through an amazing park and walked along the river for a while. Resting and reading some for the afternoon. Legs were tired but we arrived at a lovely little villiage and checked into a pilgrim hostal.
Day three complete! Here was our route for the day:
Hontanas to Ruinas de San Anton = 5.7 Km
San Anton to Castrojeriz = 3.9 Km
Castrojeriz to San Nic de Fitero (closed pilgrims hospital) = 9.6 Km
San Nic to Itero de la Vega = 2 Km
We walked a total of 21.2 Km today; the longest day we have done so far. The last two Km felt like 10!
We looked for a post office in Castrojeriz to unload some of our extra weight and mail it to Santigao. It was around noon when we finished lunch and I went to look for a post office while Sol watched our bags. The hours of operation at the post office were from 10:55 - 11:15. I guess we missed the 20 minute window so we carried lots of extra weight again today!!
Camino Day 2!
Rain was forcasted for today and did it come! We had a nice warm morning and hiked while the sun rose.
We started in the medieval town of Rabe de las Calzadas and hiked 7.8 KM to again another medieval village called Hornillos del Camino. By this time the rain was pretty serious and we busted out our super awesome $5 ponchos from Menards! Who needs North Face? 5.7 KM later we were very wet and ready to take our boots off and stretch in San Bol. This was not a town but a church/rest area for pilgrims. It was unfortunatly closed. We were on a high plateau with no trees so there was no where dry to stop so we pressed on for Hontanas, 5 KM down the road. The mud was so thick at this point that the mud was clumped to our boots and every step seemed really hard! Solomon was doing okay but I was getting pretty tired! We had a protein bar each and some toast for breakfast so we were ready to arrive, eat and get dry!
The first hostal we found took credit cards (we have almost no cash and most small villages dont take credit cards; but that is another story) and we checked in and got our first private room after listening to people snore for the last two nights. We have a beautiful room for only 35 Euros!
We also chose to buy a dinner at the 7pm pilgrim family style meal and at paella, salad, wine, pudding etc. It was delicious andn we ate with people from Texas, Finland, Mexico, Germany, Austria and I am sure there were more.
