Day 18 – Closing in on Castrojeriz

A morning wave from Mike in front

of last night's hotel near Hornillos.

Ready to head out at 7:37 AM on a 13-mile day.

Only 469 km to Santiago (291 miles).

Look closely. I am on the right, walking

due west with Goofy this morning.

We picked up a friend from Denmark named Randi.

She taught us about the keys to a pilgrim's soul.

(more on that later)

Iglesias, where the poppies are starting to take over.

Lovely red.

The three of us coming into Hontanas, 

6 1/2 miles from Hornillos, where we began.

 

It turned out to be a wonderful little town with 

a watering hole (bar with banana, orange Fanta,

danishes, and juice drinks). Also a church!

This is the bar. Everybody on the trail stops here

because it's the first one after 7 miles of nada.

This is the church. Everybody probably stops

here too, because it is small, cool, and nice.

Same church with major candle-lighting events.

Check out the famous pictures on the wall.

Mike lighting a candle. Dave lit one, too.

I'm guessing they're still not gonna make the wall.

(Sue)

Outside Hontanas is the tiny chapel of Santa 

Brigida, near the "spring of healing water."

Here is the humble exterior. Hope some

of that healing rubs off on Dave!

Back on the trail again. Dave's feet doing well.

He is one tough dude.

Dave had an epiphany when he found his true church.

Pirates of the Ca(ra)mino!

On the trail, left by some of our pilgrim pals

(4 couples) from Puerto Rico. Neat group!

Coming into Castrojeriz, we pass an old hospital,

used to help troubled pilgrims until 1000 AD.

Our destination from about 2 miles out.

Beautiful, tree-lined roadway into town.

And here's the other half of that view. Pretty sweet.

Castrojeriz is a 9th-century town.

Here's a little info on it.

Click to enlarge.

Iglesia de San Juan

A little alcove there. 

Choir seats.

We are on a royal journey.

Another half-mile to our hotel for the night.

Mike almost bought this shirt for Dave.

Hail on the window sill.

Hail on Dave's hand.

Hail-a-luia, there's even a video!

Two videos, in fact.

(We aim to please.)

Happily, tomorrow's forecast looks better.

Going on to Fromista tomorrow, 15 1/2 miles.

(Better take lots of breaks, Dave! –xo, Sue)

A story from Dave:

As mentioned earlier, we walked with Randi (below) from Denmark most of the day. Mike and I both have significant roots in Denmark, so this could be a relative. She's a very nice lady, also challenged with blisters, so our walking paces match up well. Randi's a social worker, now retired. Her husband still teaches, so she is traveling alone. It's her second time on the Camino, but first time across the meseta portion. She talked about her religion (Lutheran), and we shared aspects of ours. She knows a Mormon family in Denmark and has a good impression of Mormons in general, hopefully an even better one after meeting us. She carries a book written by a religious Dane for travelers on the Camino. It encourages pilgrims to focus on "seven keys to the pilgrim's soul." They are: spirituality, fellowship, letting go of worry, freedom, light load/lightness, "slowliness," and silence. Randi took out her book a couple of times to read it near the churches and spent quiet moments inside every church we passed. I liked her. Simpatico!

A story from Mike:

        As I was walking along the trail this morning, I was contemplating things that seem to be important in life when I came upon what might politely be called "manure" from a friendly neighborhood cow. Feeling vibrant from a good night's sleep and eager for the coming day, I gave the potentially odorous mess a wide berth without even thinking about it.

        Halfway into the daily struggle, I came upon the same situation. (Lots of cows in Spain.) By then, my legs were pretty tired. I'd put in a few grueling hours and was needing lunch badly; we get super hungry on the Camino. This time around, I didn't bother to go as far to avoid the mess. I simply was not willing to take many extra steps out of my way. That said, I did watch my footsteps enough to ensure that my boot only made contact with the hardest, driest clump before me.

         Later that afternoon, with the lowering sun beating down and our legs, hips, and bones crying out for help, I came across a final bovine gift in my path. This time, I was so exhausted I didn't even go out of my way. I walked straight through it and didn't care a bit.

         It's amazing how our priorities can change when we are physically and/or spiritually depleted. I couldn't help thinking how important it is to be aware of that dynamic. The more life is wearing us down, the more we need to pay attention to every step we take along its path, giving ourselves enough of what our bodies and spirits require to choose well. It's all too easy to get to that point where we are "beyond caring," and sometimes that really stinks! (So to speak.)

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