November 8th 2016

It is likely that this blog post will receive little attention on this auspicious day back in the States. I am lying in a corner bunk in a small village just west of Astorga called Rabanal del Camino, population 50. There is no wifi in the bunk room. We are exhausted and happy to have our boots off. The other side of the Atlantic is vibrating to a very different frequency. I'll check in on the election later at the attached bar but I most looking forward to hearing the local monks chant tonight at 7pm.

As we were packing up to leave this morning we encountered a French family that was hiking the Camino together. What they are doing is beyond my comprehension. The family includes the parents and 6 children, ages 10 years to 3 months! I asked them where they had started and they told me at their home, in Toulouse, France! That was back in early September when the three month old was only a few weeks old. They are pushing two baby joggers and carrying a full sized French flag. This morning in addition to readying themselves the father was trimming adult-sized ponchos to fit each child and the mother was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for 8. I simply don't understand how they are doing this. An even more interesting question might be why. I haven't gotten there with my limited French but I may try if we see them again.

Also staying at our albergue last last night were two French twenty-somethings who are skateboarding the Camino. They carry the boards when they have to but then when there is a pavement option they whiz by. One has a Yoda hat and the other dreadlocks. They are the odds-on favorites to be voted coolest of the Camino 2016.

Today's stage was 13 miles with 1200 feet elevation gain that occurred slowly over the entire stage. We are staying at the high point of the stage and tomorrow will climb higher into the mountains. We still can only see the snow from a distance but sure enough we are heading into it.

Let it Snow....

We were enjoying a delicious picnic lunch with the pueblo perro, outside the only open store that we had seen in 10 miles, when an old man approached. He asked if we were peregrinos heading to Santiago. Sí, señor. His next sentence contained the word nieve four times. We were heading into snow! "How much?", Clare asked and he bent over marking a spot 6" above his ankle. We shrugged it off like battle tested peregrinos. What would a pilgrimage be without a little snow. The snow would come after our ambitious targeted sleep stop for the day, Astorga, when we would head back up into the mountains.

I'm proud of my crew. We got it done today. 31.2 k (19+ miles) and we are in before 4pm. This gives us plenty of time to do ALL of our laundry again as the bites continue. The only things that I am carrying that are not currently in the washer or dryer include my Goretex raincoat (which I am wearing), my pack, toiletries and electronics. I hope this round kills those little suckers! While an annoyance, bed bugs are not going to stop us.

We had dinner last night with Padrecito Freddy from Colombia. He has been studying in Rome for the past 3 years and will be heading home soon. In this in-between time he is is doing the Camino from Leon to Santiago. He is on his first stage, a newbie filled with enthusiasm and smooth skin covering his feet. Oh how things will change. He is doing the Camino for the personal experience and for his parents who are both 81 and in poor health. We are nearing the final third of this pilgrimage. I felt we might be entering the spiritual stage until this morning.

This morning we started out with a 6 mile dead flat, dead straight section through corn fields. The sunrise was brilliant red but difficult to capture. We took it in. It was the one bright spot of an otherwise monotonous section that reminded us that we were still in the mental third of the Camino. My feet were even questioning whether we had completely left the physical stage of the first third of the Way.

At about the midway point through today's walk we crossed the medieval bridge where in 1434 Knight Suero de Quioñes defended the bridge against all newcomers, eventually collecting 300 broken lances!

http://wisepilgrim.com/poi/puente-de-orbigo

Towards the end of a long stretch without services we approached an oasis. A true oasis. It was staffed by a friendly Australian and she offered us to help ourselves. She had coffee and juices and rice cakes and organic peanut butter and homemade preserves. There was inside seating where they were roasting chestnuts and outside seating in the sun with a wide bench which allowed a fully laden pilgrim to sit without de-packing. We stopped briefly and felt the positive vibe. It was strong. We then continued on dropping off the ridge into Astorga. We could see the snow squalls in the distance beyond. After laundry and a shower we hit a gear shop. I secured warmer gloves and a ski mask with brim. Clare scored a fluffy Buff neck gaiter. It should get us over the pass tomorrow. We shall see.

Return to Our Routes

No longer do we have bike shame. We don't have to hide our bikes around back or play off our helmet hair as just another bad hair day...or in my case bad head day. No longer do the Ks just click by. But we have returned to our bipedal roots and the challenges that walking upright brings. We are back on the Bierly recommended stages and should finish just in time if all goes well.

We started our day with Seamus shouting something about coffee and tea being on at 6:15am. Breakfast was coffee and a slice of bread. This is a pilgrimage after all. Seamus was pouring coffee and collecting black garbage bags of clothes from several pilgrims battling bed bugs. Their clothes were to be washed and dried HOT! Their bags and packs would be fumigated. Most would spend another day in Leon.

By the time we exited the Santa Maria the last of Leon's residents were finding their way home from last evening's festivities. Getting home late in Spain means 8 am!!

Getting in and out of the bigger cities requires traversing sprawl and industrial zones. It's not the most scenic walking but it was better exiting to the west than it was entering from the east. In a small suburb we stopped for a snack and it was wonderful! We decided to try the local torrija which was explained as having eggs, milk and cinnamon. We hit a home run. Think french toast without the bread.

We diverged on an optional route through desolation and pigeon hunters and passed a small memorial to a Belgian pilgrim who was killed under unknown circumstances recently. Seamus had told us all about it. That fallen pilgrim was not given the chance to finish his ninth Camino.

The clouds rolled in and the wind picked up. We could see snow on the distant mountains. The previously shed layers were reapplied and then some. It really got COLD! The weather has turned. We are now dealing with the cold rather than the searing afternoon sun.

I found my first mushroom but did not risk consumption although it smelled really good. Today's stage only called for 22k and that was a nice way to ease back into the boots. We are now under 300k to Santiago.

We are staying at a great albergue in Villar de Mazarife called Meson Tio Pepe. Tio himself just poured my cerveza at the attached bar. Life is good. Buen Camino!

The bikes are gone!😩

http://www.foodswinesfromspain.com/spanishfoodwine/global/products-recipes/products/more-about-products/4713581.html

The day got off to our typical start. We were thrown out of the albergue. It's nice to get a roof over your head, a dry bed and a warm shower for 5-10€. With that bargain comes the realization that you will be gone by 8am, or around dawn! This usually occurs under the watchful and inpatient eye of the hospitalero that is in charge of morning clean up. We were packing our bikes while mops and buckets were being shuffled around us in the international language of "why are you still here you slugs". We counteracted this invisible push out the door when my fully loaded bicycle crashed to the floor and nearly slammed into a double oversized glass door. That was a close one. We emerged into the rain and quickly ducked into a bakery. Never pass a bakery on a bicycle. Never ever pass a bakery on a bicycle when it is raining. This was our last day with the bicycles and it would be our greatest test to date. Intermittent rain, highs in the 50s and a fierce headwind most of the day. Morale sagged, and then it dipped and then it went into a Kamikaze death spiral. We trudged across the last bits of the Meseta pedaling full tilt less than 10mph. The walking peregrinos had blank stares after 6-8 days walking through nothing. We met one pilgrim named Andreus who decided not to speak through his 7 days on the Meseta. The Meseta will get inside your mind. It will chew you up and spit you out.

Eventually we did reach Leon. It is a lovely, vibrant city but it is not pretty getting into the city. The industrial outskirts are not featured on postcards, even as a joke. We saw some families gathering mushrooms and a shepherd moving his sheep/goat herd. I wondered if the sheep were eating the mushrooms as they grazed. One man showed us his haul. He opened his basket and picked out a silver dollar-sized mushroom with no visible stem. The thickness was 1-2 cm and the top was dark. The bottom was ribbed and white. Mushroom gathering here in Castilla Leon is huge. See link above.

We've found our way to the Albergue Santa Maria in the old city of Leon. It is a 132 bed old school no-nonsense place run by Benedictine nuns although our hospitelero is a man named Seamus from Ireland, now living in the Canary Islands. Not having the strength to put this all together we headed into town to return our bikes and have a look about. The bicycle shop was closed as expected but the burger shop was open next door. As instructed we headed into the burger shop and somewhat smoothly keys were pulled off a hook and a restaurant worker was helping us roll our bikes into a dark storage building between the two stores. The bikes were out of our hands and hopefully not being smuggled to Morocco which is what the return transaction seemed like.  We wandered the old city and found the Cathedral. It had beautiful stained glass and was also started in the 13th century like Burgos. It is quite similar to Chartres. It is not as impressive as Burgos but is beyond my wildest imagination for what a town of 5,000 could have attempted to build back in the 1200s. After the Cathedral we revitalized with merienda at Valor. The Spanish take their chocolate VERY seriously.

We finished off the night in the bustling city center near the Cathedral winding up in a Mexican restaurant because most kitchens were not yet serving food at 8pm. We just missed the pilgrim's blessing at 9:15pm. Amy was not happy but we feel blessed just to be here.

Camino Magic Strikes Again...this time in the form of bicycles!

We really enjoyed Burgos but I feel a little tainted. Tainted by luxury. We stayed in a hotel instead of our usual albergue. It had a spectacular view of the cathedral but it was directly on the Camino! Inconvenient if one is trying to keep Camino cred. I found myself looking away from my fellow pilgrims because I was in a hotel with a private bathroom with soaps and wifi in bed. My opulence was shameful. I walked the other way when I saw a scallop shell or walking staff approaching. I didn't want to be found out.

I have a love love affair with the bicycle. It started when I was 4 or 5. I have loved everything about them ever since but I never TRULY appreciated them until now. I ride 200k all the time. No big deal. Eight to 11 hours and I'm done no matter how difficult the course. Walking is a whole different thing. 200k? Do you have a week to spare. You will have blisters and possibly a stress fracture and top it all off with some itchy bites that may or may not be bed bug inflicted. You will be wrecked. Trust me, I am a doctor.

Before heading out for our night of tapas tasting I tapped around on my phone and successfully rented 3 bikes for two days to cover the next nearly 200k to Leon. We would later confirm this by a phone call which I'm happy we made. The Bicigrino store is virtual. What that means is some guy is sitting on his couch with a laptop and he receives the orders. Then he calls around to the closest shops to the order and sees if bicycles are available. When we called to confirm our reservation which was already fully paid thanks to PayPal, Señor Virtual acted like this was news to him. Rent bicycles in Burgos for tomorrow? It may not be possible on such short notice. No mind that he had already accepted our PayPal payment. He would call us back. He called around and found a shop. They would have bicycles for us in the morning. No delivery like the virtual shop advertised as I typed my hotel address in for the third time to rent the third bike. Pick them up at 10am at Veloub bike shop across town. What about our luggage? No problem. We have special racks that accommodate the luggage.

At 10 we arrived at a boarded up bike shop. They've moved. We moved onto their new site. We were briefly fitted and then shown how to bungee a full sized pack to a regular rear rack. Put it on sideways and strap it like crazy is the basic instruction. I was skeptical but it works pretty well. We got off to a bit of a shaky start due to traffic and old town layout but soon we were on a bicycle path and zooming out of town. I felt the wind in my beard and a grinch-like grin twisted into my cheeks. K's were clicking off like never before.

Was there a wee bit of guilt as we zoomed past pilgrims limping along laden with heavy packs? Yes, but it didn't last since this was always our plan. We didn't have quite enough time to walk the entire Camino Frances. There is a long flat section know as the Meseta. We are in it.

Some take bus rides through the Meseta. Others ride bikes. We are on real mountain bikes with front shocks and 29" wheels. It is definitely the way to go. Even on these rigs we have to walk a little. The path can get quite rocky and rutted. The bikes carry the luggage well until you stop and try and dismount. Then it's like carrying a mattress solo up the stairs. The heavy packs sitting sideways on the rear racks try to throw the bike and the pilgrim to the ground on each dismount, occasionally successfully. Last night we stayed in a great albergue run by Eduardo who has been doing this for 21 years in Boadillo del Camino. We dined family style at a very long old wooden table that has presided silently over many a peregrino supper.

Today for the first time in 10 days we saw clouds. Then we saw what they were up to. We donned rain gear and then on cue the rain stopped. It spit off and on but nothing serious. We logged 60k and then packed it in to a municipal albeurge in Sahagún. It's a bit spartan but what do you expect for 5€? We also did laundry. I washed everything I have on hot and then dried it all. How did I wash everything, you ask. Old randonneuring trick. I wore Amy's skirt and my puffy jacket. The bed bug scare has brought me to desperate measures. Now sitting in an Irish Pub enjoying a Guinness. This is still Spain, isn't it?

Go Porrón or Go Home

We have done a 300k...without a bike! That changes tomorrow but more about our cheating later.

We had one ridge to get over and then we spilled down into Burgos. We came in along the alternate route by the airport first and the along the river which was really nice. We ran into Jonathan soaking his feet in the river. He joined us later as we took a chocolate break. Suddenly he stopped as his wallet was nowhere to be found. His pack was emptied on the grass and eventually the "money pouch" was retrieved from his crumpled pants pocket of the previous day.

Why have I not heard more about Burgos! I've visited many cathedrals but none better than the Cathedral of Burgos. Construction was begun in the 13th century and it will blow your mind. The chapels are ornate. The scale is massive. It is best appreciated if you walk to it... from France.

The cheating has begun. We have checked into a hotel just off the main square with a window looking at the face of the nave. You can take the pilgrim off of the Camino but you can't take the Camino off of the pilgrim. We did our laundry in the sink and it now is drying in the shadow of the Cathedral in the only open window of our hotel.

We may have arranged for bicycles tomorrow. We shall see. Tonight we wandered the small streets of the old town and sampled tapas. We had a blast. Am I feeling guilty? NO!! I walked here...from FRANCE. Have you drunk beer from a porrón? I hadn't either but that changed tonight.

We are now back at the hotel and there is a rumor that someone here has bed bugs 😳!!! Just a rumor though at this point. Buenas noches.

The pilgrim's diet

Can we talk about my favorite subject? Food! Our typical day starts out with a desperate search for breakfast that eventually finds us on the Way taking inventory of our chocolate supplies.

Eventually we stumble across a place that is open, usually in the next town. Today it was at a truck stop. We were desperate for a coffee. The proprietor helped us with the automated machine. We picked out our desired coffee puck and mashed the button. He heated the milk in the microwave and then poured the hot milk in a swirling motion into our small service station cups that said I used to be a barista in Madrid! Usually we find a more proper cafe/bar and order tortilla and café con leches.

Tortilla is like an egg fritada but can have many other ingredients. Often it contains potatoes and sometimes chorizo. Then we plod along until morale sags and we stop for a Coke and a smile, or some olives and bocadillos. Bocadillos are Spanish sandwiches that are usually way off on meat to bread ratio. The loaf is the size of my thigh and you can read the newspaper through the meat. Today I struck gold with a chorizo bocadillo that didn't spare the meat!

There are no other toppings other than occasionally olive oil. They are awesome fuel. Then we reboot and march on. Chocolate often provides the fuel to finish the stage. We rehydrate with a beer and blog.

Next meat is acquired often with eggs and potatoes in some form or other.

Then comes the flan or pudding and voila, the pilgrim retires to their top bunk with a satisfaction that only comes from complete exhaustion. Buen provecho!