Day 14 - "And on the 14th day they rested!"

Where We Are Tonight:  Burgos again!                    Miles Hiked Today:  just a few around town

Steps Taken Today:  8,127                  

Blister Count: K's almost all healed (knock on wood), P holding steady

Spanish Word of the Day: descanso (rest)

What We Learned Today:  Even a pilgrim needs to take a break.

After coming into town half-dead last night, we decided to look at our schedule and reevaluate.   We know how many days we can spend on the Camino (giving us ample time to recuperate in Italy afterwards before we fly home!) and we have a rough idea of how long we can walk each day.   So we made out a tentative schedule and found out that we have a couple days of wiggle room.  So that means A DAY OFF!!  

We are so tired and a day off is so needed.   We had an awesome day: sleeping in, taking yet another shower,  getting our clothes washed by a real laundry service,  walking around playing tourist, and eating in quaint restaurants.

Burgos is a wonderful city full of life and energy.   Their main cathedral is spectacular;  it rivals other Gothic structures like Notre Dame in size and splendor.

We walked through main plazas, tree-lined parks and many shops bustling with life.  This is a place in which, like all we've gone through so far, I need to spend more time.   The town is also home to the famous El Cid, a local war hero and strategist.   It was an awesome day off!

"Anything worth doing is worth doing slowly"

―Mae West

Stage 13 - Ages to Burgos

Where We Are Tonight:  Burgos                      Miles Hiked Today:  14.9 (23.9 km)

Miles Hiked Overall:  179.0 (288.0 km)            Miles to Santiago:  306.0 (492.5 km)

Steps Taken Today:  41,536        

Blister Count:  K's are all healing as are Pam's...but Pam has one more

Spanish Word of the Day:  asfalto (asphalt)

What We Learned Today: Walking across hot asphalt for hours is soul draining.

Early this morning we passed the half million step mark in our journey.  That is 500,000 steps!  Or, just imagine marching and saying "left-right-left right..."  and repeating that two word sequence 250,000 times.  That probably explains the blisters and sore feet.   Only about another million steps to go before we get to Santiago.  That's depressing.  Enough said about steps.

Today we climbed one more rocky hill and now we're basically in the meseta - a drier, flatter plain that doesn't have much cover at all to hide from the sun.

We're already feeling the crazy heat and so are now thinking that a daily ice cream is not out of the question.

We didn't fully understand the severity of the sun until midday when we came to the outskirts of Burgos.  There were supposed to be signs leading us to a non-traditional Camino route into town (since the Camino route takes you through the industrial area into town and is far from beautiful or interesting or peaceful).  As with the last time we came to a city, the usually very-helpful Camino signs and arrows disappear in all of the other road signs and distractions and it.becomes very hard to know where to go.  So, we missed the turnoff and bumbled our way into town via lots of hot asphalt. It was hours of soul-draining walking.

Here I am at a resting spot near Burgos...so exhausted.

Today we met pilgrims from Mexico and San Diego.  So far we we have met people from 4 other states (California, New Mexico, Washington, & Tennessee) and 28 countries (Germany, the Netherlands,  Ireland, USA,  Spain, France, Italy, Scotland, Sweden, Brazil, Australia,  Korea, Canada, Greece, Palestine, Guadalupe, Great Britain, Venezuela, Belgium, Singapore, Romania, Ukraine, Hungary, Colombia, Bulgaria, South Africa, Japan & Mexico).

"It always seems impossible until it's done."

― Nelson Mandela

Stage 12 - Belorado to Ages

Where We Are Tonight:  Ages                      Miles Hiked Today: 17.2 (27.7 km)

Miles Hiked Overall: 164.1 (264.1 km)          Miles to Santiago: 320.9  (516.4 km)

Steps Taken Today:  50,037                         Blister Count: K's are all healing as are Pam's

Spanish Word of the Day: mosca (fly)

What We Learned Today: If a bottom bunk is available,  grab it before someone else does!

We started off today extra early...for us,  anyway.  If we get on the road by 730, we celebrate.  Other people leave by 5; that's just insane if you ask me.  We left early because the two obvious places to stay tonight after a decent day of walking did not accept reservations and are pretty small...so we are competing with everyone else for a bed.

We continued 3.7 km past San Juan to Ages

Here is Pam drying her clothes on her backpack as we walk.

This type of Camino is what is killing my feet!  Loose and sharp rocks on the path. ..enough already!

Today was pretty mountainous...beautiful scenery.  These are the last mountains or hills we will see for awhile; the higher elevation and the slight breeze made walking perfect today.  The landscape and vegetation are changing.   For a long time today we walked through a forest of pine trees and it smelled SO GOOD!

Both of us love to look at all of the wild flowers that grow along the Camino.  We've taken photos of all of them, I think.  My favorite are the poppies and Pam's is the wild thyme.  It's funny to see all that grows wild here that we'd pay good money for at Home Depot.  We've decided that Spain has the most amazing variety and colors of weeds of anywhere.

It has also been very buggy today...the sky is literally filled with flying insects.   They can't be mosquitoes or I'd be eaten to death by now but that's what they look like.  They don't appear to want to bite...just annoy.  The word of the day is fly because we are noticing them more and more in restaurants and communal places.

This is a photo of me at a memorial remembering 300 people who were killed in 1936 during Spain's civil war when Franco was in charge.  Due to the horrible conditions of the rest of Europe at the time, Spain's horrendous situation has been somewhat overlooked in history but it was, in fact, quite bloody and dire in its own right.

When we arrived in Ages tonight we were more than 1/3 of the way to Santiago de Compostela!  That is simultaneously inspiring and depressing, depressing knowing we still have 2/3 left to do!

"Walking the Camino you can make yourself miserable or strong. But the amount of walking will be still the same."

―Unknown

Stage 11 - Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Belorado

Where We Are Tonight:  Belorado                    Miles Hiked Today: 14.2 (22.9 km)

Miles Hiked Overall:  146.9 (236.4 km)            Miles to Santiago:  338.1 (544.1 km)

Steps Taken Today:  40,989                   

Blister Count: same as yesterday but K has even more on the bottom of her foot and her little toe is completely covered in blisters

Spanish Word of the Day:   bocadillo (sandwich)

What We Learned Today:  They say that by now our bodies are supposed to be conditioned and our walking is supposed to be easier; they lie.

Today was another beautiful day.  We are once again putting on a lot of sun screen as the afternoons are hot.  But the late afternoon also brought an awesome breeze that kept us from completely burning up.

Can you see all of the pilgrims walking along, almost dwarfed by the wheat fields in the photo below?

Today was mostly just a long haul.  After staying in albergues the last few days, we treated ourselves to a small hotel tonight.   What luxury! 

“You don't quit walking because you get old..... You get old because you quit walking”.

―unknown

Stage 10 - Azofra to Santo Domingo de la Calzada

Where We Are Tonight:   Santo Domingo de la Calzada            Miles Hiked Today: 9.4 (15.2 km)

Miles Hiked Overall:  132.7 (213.5 km)                                    Miles to Santiago:  352.3 (567.0 km)

Steps Taken Today: 32,279                                                     Blister Count: same as yesterday...

Spanish Word of the Day:  sol (sun)

What We Learned Today:  Don't go into the first albergue you see in town just because it looks cool (and you're exhausted); it could be gross.

Today was another short day for housing reasons and also because there was a lot we wanted to do in Santo Domingo.  When we were watching TV while having breakfast, I was surprised to see that on the international news portion, they said that today was the primary in Oregon!   Good thing I voted before we left home.

Today was a beautiful day...it's been 2 days now without rain!  It starts off cold but soon we're stripping off our coats and enjoying the sun.   We walked through the most beautiful field yet, I think. As we came up a tough hill, there was a man selling fruit, cold drinks and souvenirs.   What a smart man with an ingenious marketing scheme!   I think all of us tired and hot peregrinos bought at least something from him.

We can now add the following countries to the pilgrim list:  Romania, Ukraine,  Hungary,  Colombia,  Bulgaria, South Africa, and Japan.  We also met 2 people from Seattle and another from Tennessee.

The first thing we wanted to do in Santo Domingo was to visit the cathedral because of the very famous Camino story that goes with it.  What a sight to see 2 chickens inside the church!   The remains of Santo Domingo, a huge Camino supporter in his time, are also in the church.  Here is the legend of the miracle of Santo Domingo:

      The most famous miracle, however, concerns that of the rooster and the chicken, which is said to
      have taken place at Santo Domingo de la Calzada.  The story goes that in the 14th century, a
      German 18-year-old named Hugonell, from Xanten, goes on pilgrimage to Santiago de
      Compostela with his parents. A Spanish girl at the hostel where they were staying makes sexual
      advances toward Hugonell; Hugonell rejects her advances. Angry at this, the girl hides a silver
      cup in the German’s bag and then informs the authorities that the youth had taken it. Hugonell is
      sentenced to the gallows, in accordance with the laws of Alfonso X of Castile.

      The parents sadly decide to examine their son’s body, still hanging on the gallows, but suddenly
      hear his voice –he tells them that Saint Dominic has saved his life. His parents quickly make their
      way to Santiago de Compostela to see the magistrate. The magistrate, who is at the time eating
      dinner, remarks: "Your son is as alive as this rooster and chicken that I was feasting on before you
      interrupted me." And in that moment, the two birds jump from the plate and begin to sing and
      crow happily.

We got all of our 9 errands accomplished in Santo Domingo...that was awesome!...and even had time for a helados  (ice cream) before having dinner and drinks with quite a few fellow peregrinos.

“There was never a pilgrim that did not come back to his own village with one less prejudice and one more idea.”

―Chateaubriand

Stage 9 - Navarrete to Azofra

Where We Are Tonight:   Azofa                    Miles Hiked Today:  13.5 (21.8 km)

Miles Hiked Overall:  123.7 (198.3 km)         Miles to Santiago:  361.8 (582.2 km)

Steps Taken Today: 38,378                          Blister Count: 1 (P), 1  huge + multiples on bottom of foot (K)

Spanish Word of the Day: ampolla (blister)  L

What We Learned Today:  A cold Coke is nectar of the Gods after a long, hot walk.

Today started off with walking by the freeway for a time.  Then we got back into walking by farm after farm growing those wonderful La Rioja grapes.  Through this region, they have marker signs every kilometer marking the distance to Santiago.   The first sign was interesting  (if not depressing) but it's hard to walk and walk and walk and not very often see the signs marking off only 1 more kilometer!   The good news is that we're under 600 kilometers to go!

The rest of the day was uneventful except for going through a cute little town of Najera.

We stopped today in the small village of Azofra.  The town may be small but the albergue is the best we've seen so far...rooms of 2 with no bunk beds, a nice front patio for resting,  and a washer and dryer!   Wow!  The other thing the village has is a great pharmacy who helped me with my continued blister issues.  I got more medicine and bandages so hopefully it will help.  It feels like my entire left foot is one big blister now.  When I was reading all of those Camino books and when reading so many Camino websites in preparation for this trip,  people were always talking about their feet and showing photos of their blisters...and I thought,  "Gross!"  But now that it's my reality,  I'm going to have to share...sorry.

"There are no tourists on the Camino, just pilgrims who haven't found their way yet".

―Chico, volunteer hospitalero at Albergue St Nicolas de Flue, Ponferrada

Stage 8 - Logroño to Navarrete

Where We Are Tonight:  Navarrete                      Miles Hiked Today:  8.1 (13.0 km)

Miles Hiked Overall:  109.7 (176.5 km)               Miles to Santiago:  375.3 (604.0 km)

Steps Taken Today:  24.674                               Blister Count:  1 (P), 3 (K, all but 1 doing better)

Spanish Word of the Day:  pinchos (appetizers)

What We Learned Today:  Plan ahead - even though it's not always possible.

Since yesterday was so long and then very frustrating with the whole finding-a-bed fiasco, we decided to give ourselves a small break today.  Another reason to take it easier today is that K is having blister pain and P is having back pain.  So, we only walked a few miles to a cute little village called Navarrete.   

We actually had.some time to sit around, walk around the town a little and sit at a bar for dinner....which was AWESOME!  We don't get to play tourist very often on this trip.  At the bar, we decided to forgo the typical pilgrim menu, which consists, typically, of a starter like a salad or soup or pasta, a main dish of some meat and potatoes or veggies and then a dessert.  Spain is famous for its appetizers  (called pinchos in this part of Spain) so that's what we went for.  Below are the pictures of our 3-course meal.  FABULOUS!

We can add the following countries to the list where pilgrims we've met are from:  Great Britain, Venezuela,  Belgium and Singapore.   The cute little old man from Singapore stood at the top of a hill and cheered us on as we climbed up today.   At the top we thanked him for his support and we started talking.  When he asked us where we were from and we said, "Oregon", and his face lit up.  He said his daughter went to U of O and they both love it there.  He said,  "I love Oregon State Ducks!"  We straighten him up on that one small detail but that was way cool.

We see a lot of graffiti and some of it is even written for the pilgrims.  When we've had a particularly hard day we will try to keep the following sign in mind...

"Your soul knows the geography of your destiny and the map of your future. Trust this side of yourself. It will take you where you need to go but it will also teach you a kindness of rhythm in your journey"

― John O'Donohue