The Final Countdown

We are down to the last 100km of our trek.  After we left Astorga and the Meseta, the scenery got better (mountains) but the walking got harder (also mountains).  Our trek out of Astorga took us to the town of Foncebadon, which up until a couple of years ago was an all-but-abandoned village just shy of the Cruz de Ferro.  The last six kilometers or so are a big climb, and it was slightly warm, so by the end, I was glad to see the town and our albergue.

We did not stay in Foncebadon two years; we had stayed further down the mountain in Rabanal del Camino, but the Cruz de Ferro is the highest point on the Camino, where we leave our rocks, and based on how difficult it was to coordinate that in 2014, I decided we'd better stay a bit closer.  Great decision;  Foncebadon has experienced a Camino revival and we stayed in a nice albergue with a really kind and genuine hostel owner.

The next morning we headed out early to the Cruz de Ferro.  It's been tradition to bring a rock from home that represents something you want to leave behind on the Camino and place it at the foot of the Cruz de Ferro.  We made it to the cross pretty early and there were some other pilgrims around, but we were able to have a few moments to leave our rocks and then pray as a group, mostly for an end to violence in the world and for our continued safe travels.

The descent from the Cruz de Ferro is NOT fun, but you are rewarded with the town of Molinaseca, which features the prerequisite Roman bridge and, more importantly for us, a section of the river which was turned into a swimming pool sometime in the middle ages by paving the river bottom.  We stopped for a few minutes to soak our tired feet in the cold water; I checked on the students who were having an impromptu pool party and we continued on to Ponferrada.

Ponferrada is an old Templar stronghold and features yet another giant castle.  Ty and I were not particularly looking forward to a night in an albergue, mostly because Ty has been having some trouble with shinsplints, and I had some Marriott points, so we treated ourselves to a nice hotel, then went into town to tour the castle and hang out.

We've met lots of wonderful people; a lot of American teachers, a group of students from Sewanee who are frankly firmly in the "Turegrino" category, and I met a group of Spaniards who were walking from Leon, and seemed impressed at my Spanish.  I'll take the compliment.

After Ponferrada we had another up and down day to the town of Villafranca de Bierzo, walking through vineyards and pastures.  Villafranca is the last big down in Leon before crossing the mountains to Galicia.  Again, I had some points to burn so Ty and I stayed in a Parador and the kids roughed it in an albergue.  Ty put the pools and sauna in the hotel to good use for his leg.

The climb out of Villafranca is rough, but we took it slow and easy.  It ended up being glorious, because this is the first time I've climbed to O Cebreiro and been able to actually see the landscape.  Every other time has been cold and raining.  In fact, I think we've been quite lucky in that we've not had any rain at all, which amazes me.  Galicia, when it's not raining, is fantastic.

We've spent the last two days in Triacastela for our final rest day.  A lot of the kids have expressed an interest in visiting Finisterre, but with only one rest day in Santiago, that's a bit tricky, so we've met as a group and elected to accelerate our walking to carve out an extra day in Santiago.  The Parador in Santiago was amenable to this change, so we will walk approximately 27km from here on out to get to Santiago on Friday.

Both the students and I experiencing this bittersweet section of the trail.  I think we are looking forward to being done with walking, but at the same time lament the end of this experience.  I'm reminded of the analogy that the Camino mirrors our life, and this seems apt.  I've known many elderly friends who, as they approached the end of their lives, were sad to be leave-taking, but anxious to finally lay down their burdens and move on to the next thing.  This seems an apt description for where we are at with the Camino today.

Goodbye to the Meseta

We have made it to the town of Astorga, which in past times was known as Asturica Augusta.  This has been an important spot in Spanish History for the better part of 2,500 years.  As usual, Romans built on a Celtiberian settlement, and remained an important center of commerce during the Visigothic period, the Muslim period, the medieval period, and is today an important gathering point for a number of pilgrimage routes.

More about Astorga later.  We left our posh monastery-hotel in Carrion de los Condes well before the hotel was ready to serve breakfast, but they were kind enough to pack a picnic for us.  The "picnic" turned out to be about 3 lbs of foodstuffs that I was grateful for, but not excited to carry.

The road out of Carrion is tough - you have nearly 11 uninterrupted miles of Roman road.  That's a long way to walk without services.  There is a gentleman with a semi-permanent setup about halfway through; no permanent structure, but a trailer, and he brings supplies out in his van and has tables and chairs set up.  It's not great, but it's definitely a bit of an oasis.  There are a couple of other of these oases that we've run into on the Camino, and they are run on a donation basis as a service to pilgrims.  We are always very appreciative of the kindness displayed towards us strangers.  Unfortunately, this particular gentleman is much more interested in running a business, it would seem.  Several of us had barely put our packs down to take a breather before he was over at our table telling us that we were in a bar and if we wanted to sit, we had to buy something.  This is certainly his prerogative, and I don't think any pilgrim I've met (except for the French ones) would begrudge him earning a living, but this is not exactly killing us with kindness.  As you might imagine his food is overpriced, and when I handed him EUR 1.90 for the Acuarius soft drink he informed me was EUR 1.80, he didn't bother to give me change.  I understand that we don't know people's stories and what they are dealing, but this seems to run pretty contrary to what the Camino is supposed to be about.  So, I prayed for him, drank my soft drink, dusted my boots off and continued on my way.

Our albergue that evening was great and it was nice to relax.  The next day was a long day into the town of Burgo Ranero (Town of the Bullfrogs).  I have yet to have a good experience in Burgo Ranero, so I was somewhat apprehensive.  The kids found a fantastic albergue where, for EUR 12, Ty and I pretty much had a room to ourselves.  The wifi was iffy, but the albergue featured a huge garden with chaise lounges and umbrellas so we sat out all afternoon.  We also found a great little cafe in town where the folks working were so competent and joyful in their work that it was the polar opposite of our experience several days before.

The gentleman running the albergue was a slightly crazy (and less slightly stoned) Italian, who in typical Italian fashion was overly familiar, especially once he figured out I spoke Spanish.  As we were walking out of the albergue after dinner in search of ice cream he patted me on the belly and made a snarky comment about my physical condition.  I just looked at him, and of course Ty was rather amused, "I think he just patted your stomach."  I replied, "yes, and that made me inordinately uncomfortable, but we're in Spain and he's Italian, so it kinda comes with the territory, I suppose."

Our next stop was Mansilla de las Mulas, and by this point I think it was fair to say that we were all looking forward to a rest day in Leon the day after.  Unfortunately, by this point in the trip we had some kids who were dealing with some issues.  Dereck randomly started breaking out in what looked like hives.  Big ones.  Everywhere he had exposed skin.  Sebastian also seemed to have strained his knee, so we were having to help him along a little bit as well.

The walk into Leon was easy, and we had a couple of glorious rest days in the Parador.  We ate good food, and rested, and wandered around Leon, which is another Roman city that was the capital of the Kingdom of Leon until it was merged with the crown of Castile in the 1200s.  There are many Leonese who seem to think that once again Leon should be it's own kingdom.

We were sad to leave Leon, but had a short, hot 12 miles yesterday to the town of Villar de Mazarife.  This town is technically on an "alternative path" of the Camino, but we had such a bad experience in the "official path" town of Villadangos del Paramo that I made the executive decision to try a different route.

Great decision.  Mazarife is a much better town with more albergue options (though one of them is a bit sketchy) and generally happier people.  Unfortunately, summer has caught up with us, and this was our first day of 90+ degrees.  Few albergues are air conditioned, so sleeping last night was a bit of a challenge.

Staying in Mazarife also makes for a very long day into Astorga, which is what we had today.  We walked nearly 20 miles, and left quite early because the high today was projected to be about 96.  We made good time, though Sebastian got lost for 2.5 hours when he took the wrong road (don't worry, we found him), and were in Astorga by around 1:30.

Astorga has about 12,000 people and in ancient times was where several trade routes from western Spain (gold being transported to Roman Gaul, mostly) converged.  It was also important in the Catholic church during the Reconquest of Spain - the Bishop of Astorga was one of the most powerful men in Spain.

We have about 16 miles tomorrow, and we will finally leave the Meseta to begin the climb over the final mountain range into Galicia.  The day after tomorrow we will reach the highest point on the Camino, where we will leave our rocks, symbolizing something from home that we want to leave behind in Spain.  The kids, I think, are beginning to feel their time coming to an end, and they are anxious about that.

Middle of the Meseta

Well, we are mired in the Meseta, that flat, hot, dry part of Spain that gave rise to the saying "In Spain the rain falls mainly on the plain."  We are halfway between Burgos and Leon, staying tonight in an 11th century Monastery just outside the town of Carrion de los Condes.

The walk out of Burgos is much more pleasant than the approach to Burgos, and it was not overly warm but it was quite humid.  Ty and I have taken to walking together (I've nicknamed us the 'Old Guys Rule Delegation') and we wondered on several occasions if we were going to have to make a run for it to avoid a thunderstorm.  Thankfully, the rain held off.  We stayed in the town of Hornillos del Camino, in an albergue I had stayed in two years ago.  The proprietess remembered me and was glad that we had returned.  Unfortunately, most albergues are not air conditioned and this particular one was not set up to take advantage of the cool nights.  Plus we had a candidate for the snoring Olympics amongst us, thus we did not rest overly well.

The next day took us to the town of Castrojeriz, which is a town I happen to like, generally, though I did not care to stay in the municipal albergue again, as we did two years.  The municipal is fine, but it has a bunch of bunkbeds in one room, and when too many people show up they simply throw mattresses on the floor.  So, I found a private albergue that turned out to be pretty nice (no bunk beds), and had a fantastic kitchen, plus a deal with the restaurant around the corner for a special deal on the pilgrim meal.  I do find myself wondering about some of these albergues.  Most of them have some interesting features - suffice to say you can tell that they were definitely reconfigured to house the maximum number of pilgrims with relative comfort.  I often think "I wonder if this is up to code", but ultimately have decided that as long as the place seems well-cared for and clean, I will try not to ask too many inconvenient questions.

Castrojeriz is, like most Spanish towns, an interesting one, with quite a history.  It's most notable feature is an old ruined castle on top of the hill overlooking the town.  It's a medieval Christian castle from 10th century that was captured from the Muslims during the Reconquest.  The 10th century fortress was built on the ruins of a 1st century Roman Fort which was built on the ruins of a Celtiberian 'Castro' or walled village from some time before that.  Now, Castrojeriz mostly caters to pilgrims.

On the way to Castrojeriz you walk through a ruined monastery they've built a road through, that served pilgrims from the 13th century to who knows when.  It's always an interesting thing to me when I see something like that and wonder what the people who built whatever thing I'm looking at and who passed it by over the years would think if they could see the world today, and it makes me wonder what pilgrims 500 or 1000 years from now will think about our time in history?  I find myself hoping that we will acquit ourselves well in the stark lens of hindsight, but given what seems to be going on in the world today, it is hard to be hopeful.

We stayed last night in the town of Fromista.  On the way in, Ty and I chatted with three other American pilgrims, Greg, Joe, and Julie.  It was good to spend the walk with them and I learned that we have many things in common.  This was for me, a godsend, because I have been feeling a bit of homesickness the last few days, odd as that may sound.  While I love this country, and the group of people I'm with couldn't be better, the fact of the matter is that I am still coming up on a month outside of my normal routine and social circles, both at work, and in my personal life.  And while I embrace this opportunity to have a different perspective on my life, and am grateful to be here, the fact of the matter is that my life is pretty good, and I like, and I miss it.  I miss talking regularly with friends, both near and far, I miss binge-watching Netflix, I miss working in the garage and in the yard, and yes, I even miss going in to the office and my colleagues.  So, it was good to have a taste of home.

Fromista is a neat town.  I know that's a shocker.  It has a church (another shocker) that is widely considered the best example of pure Romanesque architecture in Spain.  Again, I did not wish to repeat my experience of two years ago at the Municipal albergue, so we stayed at a private one instead.  Again it was very nice, but it was clear that the proprietors were only interested in running an albergue as a business propisition, and not as a service to pilgrims.  This was a bit disappointing to me because I do believe you can run a profitable business (especially an albergue) and yet still display empathy and interest for and in your customers.

The place we had dinner, however, was a different story.  We had spent the afternoon sitting in the plaza outside the church drinking Sangria in the hot summer sun, which is a very Spanish thing to do, so I wanted to do something different for dinner.  We went back to the place we had my birthday dinner in Fromista on the Camino two years before.  The gal working the bar and who waited on us remembered me and we struck up a great conversation.  She was so excited that I had pictures in my phone of the restaurant from two years before.  I ended up giving her my card, and she said she'd email me.  We'll see...

Tomorrow will likely be a difficult day; it's not overly long (16.5 miles) but the first 11 are broken up only by a guy selling refreshments from the back of a pickup truck.  The good news is that the temperature should drop about 10 degrees tomorrow, so hopefully we will have a good walk just the same.

The Curse of San Juan, Rest Days, and the Meseta

We are coming up on the end of our first long rest break, in the town of Burgos.  It's been an interesting and varied week, and I find myself mentally gearing up for the next stage of our trek: eight flat and possibly hot days to Leon.

We left Logrono relatively late, because our hotels include breakfast in our stay, and it's hard to pass up a breakfast buffet, even if it means delaying your departure and potentially walking in more heat than you would like.

Our first day was a longer one - nearly 18 miles that took us to the town of Najera, which straddles a river.  Najera is an interesting place; the old town, where we stayed is very quaint.  The approach, which takes you through the industrial and modern part of town, is not.  This was the students first exposure to the not-so-picturesque parts of rural Spain and several of them commented on that fact.  I'll admit I heard words like "sketchy" and "shady", which I happened to agree with.  But, true to my role as Director, and General Ambassador of All Things Spanish, I simply replied with the snarky comment that we couldn't all live in uber-attractive parts of the world, whereupon I could see the wheels start to turn.  Evil mission accomplished.

My friend and boss, Paul, left us the next morning to return stateside.  The students and I have missed him, but I have a feeling he will not be sad to miss this next section of the trail.  We stayed that night in the town of Santo Domingo de la Calzada.  The students had a very nice albergue, whereas Ty and I, by virtue of my previous adventures in Spain, stayed in the Parador, which is a 16th century palace, on points I had accumulated.  I will admit, I felt a little guilty about this, at least until I went to bed that night and slept gloriously.

The walk to Santo Domingo takes you through some beautiful fields of wheat, rye, grape, and olive, and, in an odd juxtaposition, a golf course and high-end suburb.  Just outside the golf course as you crest a hill a young-ish man of about 30 had set up a stand where he was handing out fruit and drinks and accepting donations with a sign saying "Unemployment for persons under 30 in Spain is approximately 60%.  I can't get a job, so I am creating my own.  Thanks for your support."  His statistics are accurate, and it's a reminder that even though most of us in the US feel like things are better after the great Recession, Spain, and much of the EU does not enjoy that same sentiment.  I admired his spirit, and desire to not expect someone else to solve his problem, so I overpaid for some very delicious cherries, which are now in season here in Spain.

A further reminder is the suburb, which is all high-end row houses, most of which stand empty, though they are continuing to construct.  This section of the Camino is almost like walking through the set of The Walking Dead.  Eerie.

In Santo Domingo, the students offered to cook dinner for Ty and me, so we joined them in the albergue for a nice meal, which I very much appreciated.  The next day was shorter and took us the very rural bed and breakfast of a couple of friends of ours, Ana, and her daughter Ana.  We met them and stayed with them when I walked the Camino in 2011, and I have returned with each Pepperdine group.  They are very hospitable, and the students seem to enjoy having the whole B&B to ourselves with home-cooked food and a chance to relax.  Ana, the daughter, had just married when I was here two years ago, and I was very surprised to see that she now has an adorable baby boy!

The unfortunate thing about staying with Ana and company is that it makes for a very long day the next day.  The scheduled stop is in a small town called San Juan de Ortega that is in fact a wide spot in the road.  I have historically avoided this town because the only place to stay is a very spartan hostel run by the church/monastery.  It has large dormitories, no connectivity, iffy food, and questionable showers/toilets.  The alternative is to walk another 2.5 miles to the town of Ages, population 80, which has, believe it or not much better services.  The problem is that shooting for Ages makes for a 22 mile day, and even San Juan is 19.5.

So, we decided to make for San Juan, and give it a try, the thought being that though we would have a longer walk into Burgos (15.5 miles instead of 13) it would not be as difficult a day into Burgos because we would not have stretched to 22 miles the day before.

Good theoretical plan.  The walk to San Juan involves crossing a mountain range which was historically the most dangerous part of the Camino, due to bandits, and the last 7 miles is very remote, with no services.  Ty and I walked together, and we were both struggling.  We made it in to San Juan around 3:30, which is pretty late.  But we made it.

And the walk into Burgos was marginally easier, but several of our group started feeling rather poorly, and the approach to Burgos is awful, and you either slog through five miles of industrial park or a never-ending, but at least green and pretty walk along the river.  In transit, you pass the site where the oldest known remains of our human ancestors were found.  Atapuerca, with the remains dating to 1.2 million years ago.  How they know this, I don't know.  This is why I'm an accountant and not a scientist.

Burgos is a town of about 200,000 that straddles the River Arlanzon.  It has the second oldest cathedral in Europe, which is also the second-largest in Spain, being construction beginning in the 1220s.  It also has the ruins of an Arabic castle from the 9th century on top of a hill overlooking the old city.  Burgos was the capital of the old kingdom of Castile until it merged with the kingdom of Leon in the late 1200s.  It a neat town to walk around, eat in outdoor cafes, and generally take a break from walking with a pack.

Unfortunately, about half the group, myself included, have been battling food poisoning while we're here.  Remember what I said about avoiding San Juan?  Well, we're pretty sure that's why.  But at least it has mostly happened while we're in a nice hotel (15th century palace, actually) and have nice beds, and decent meals.  This is in fact part of the Camino too, and while I hate feeling bad, and having students feel bad, I'm rather philosophical about it.

Yesterday was my birthday, and even though I was battling The Curse of San Juan de Ortega, I had a nice day.  In true Spanish tradition, I took people out to lunch, the students were kind enough to get a big card for me that they all signed and a birthday cake at dinner.  It was great.

From here to Leon, the walking gets generally easier physically and harder mentally.  It will be flatter, but not quite the same picturesque landscape we've enjoyed so far.  It will likely be hotter, so we will tend to begin walking earlier in the day whenever possible.  I tell the students this is all part of the preparation for what God will do in our lives spiritually during the last part of the Camino.  For me, though I dread the increased monotony, I look forward to the mental challenge and to what God might have to say that I need to hear.