Sept 14: an uneventful day

Sunday was rather uneventful.  We hiked 24.5 km from Calzadilla de los Hermanillos to Mansilla de las Mulas.  One point of interest along the hike was the Roman road that dates back over 2,000 years that we traveled on.  The second picture in this set is of a section of that road.  Not all of it was always there, and the parts that were there were pretty bumpy on the feet.  Still, it was pretty cool to walk across something that has been in use that long.

The first picture is from dinner on Sept 13.  We stayed in a bed and breakfast called La Casa el Cura.  The owners were very nice.  Actually, the husband (Leo) was quite a character.  He had a ton of energy and lots of stories.  And he was also the cook, and made an excellent dinner.  The people in the picture on the right are Don, Kim and their son Spencer.  They are from Charlotte, NC, and they have travelled all around the world, so they have great stories to tell as well.  We have bumped into them multiple times, and probably will continue to, as we seem to be on the same itinerary.  The woman on the left is Melena.  She is from Brazil, and this was the first time we met her, but she joined right in with all of the frivolity.  As fate would have it, we ran into her again on Sept 14, at the place where we were staying (as were Don, Kim and Spencer, all unplanned).  Unfortunately, the place was fully booked so she had to find another place to stay, but I wouldn't be surprised if we ran into her again.

The third picture is of one of the entrances into Mansilla de las Mulas.  It is called the Arco de Santa Maria.  And the fourth picture is of a large section of the wall that used to protect this village.  The wall and the entryway date back to the 12th century, so again, pretty amazing that these things are still standing.  One other event that was of interest from Sunday: as we were on the outskirts of Mansilla de las Mulas, we came across a group who was racing their dogs out in the open fields.  The dogs looked similar to greyhounds, with perhaps a slightly smaller chest.  When Linda asked what kind of dogs they were, the person she was talking to (who owned one of these dogs) said they were Spanish dogs.  He didn't provide any breed name, and when Linda suggested Greyhounds, he adamantly said "no", that they were Spanish dogs.  Anyway, watching them race was really interesting.  They were extremely fast, and it was all done in a wide open area.  They chased after a piece of cloth that was wrapped around some straw, and there was a truck with a winch that pulled this stuffed thing across the field.  Linda took a video, but I don't think I can upload it to the blog because of the amount of memory space it would require.  I originally had 4 pictures for the Sept 13 blog, but could not upload it at 3 different places because of a "network error".  When I deleted one of the photos, then I was able to upload, so I guess there is a pretty low threshold for how much I can put out there at one time.

Sept 15: Leon's Cathedral

Today we hiked to Leon, which is the second largest city we will visit on the Camino, after Burgos.  There are a lot of wonderful churches in Leon.  The main cathedral rivals Burgos' cathedral in terms of taking your breath away when you first see it.  It isn't quite as large as Burgos' cathedral, but the front has a bit more of an imposing presence, and what makes it special is: 1) the inside is all one large area, whereas Burgos had a bunch of mini-chapels built off of the main sanctuary, and 2) the stained glass.  When we took the tour of the Leon cathedral, they said that the only other cathedral in Europe that had more stained glass was in Chartre, France.

The first picture is the front of the cathedreal in Leon when you first walk into the main square.  The second photo is of some of the stained glass in the church.  The audio tour said that most medieval churches with stained glass are oriented with the altar pointed towards the east.  That way, when the sun first comes up, it will hit the stained glass behind the altar first and cast that light down on the main area of the church.  And the windows that are on the southern side of the church will often have darker colors in them than the northern facing stained glass because they will get more direct sunlight, and thus the colors can be deeper and richer (if it was lighter colors, they might be washed out by the sunlight).  The last picture is of a doorway within the church that leads to the choir area, which is right in the middle of the church.  Both Burgos and Leon had the choir right in the middle of the church, perhaps because of their overall size.  Anyway, the carvings that were in this entryway or doorway into the choir were pretty amazing.  Through the entryway to the choir, you can also see the altar and the stained glass that is above it.

One other interesting fact about the cathedral in Leon: back in the 1800's, pieces of the roof were starting to fall down into the main congregational area.  So they literally removed all of the stained glass (numbering them and putting them into separate boxes) and they removed the roof of the building.  Then over a period of roughly 10 years, they rebuilt the roof.  They said that when they finally removed the supports of the new roof and let the full weight of it go onto the buttresses, the building literally groaned but it all held.  Then they reinstalled all of the stained glass, and of course, there was a huge celebration in the city when the church was reopened for use.

Sept 13: bodegas for hobbits

Yesterday and today we came across some interesting bodegas, which are places where individuals sometimes store their wine.  These bodegas are built into the hillsides.  Actually, they look a lot like homes for hobbits.  The first two pictures are of these hillside bodegas.  You can see some of them are very nice looking.  You can also see that some have chimneys coming out of the top of the hill.  And we saw one that even had a large glass block cupola poking up out of the hilltop, presumably to let more natural light in.  We asked the owner of our hotel last night about a certain grouping of bodegas near the hotel.  He said some of them had been built big enough such that people could meet there to play cards, and there was even one that had a tv antenna attached to the chimney so the locals could meet to watch sporting events.

Today we completed 23.7 km.  Other than the town of Sahagún, it was somewhat boring.  The one thing of note is in the past 2 days we have passed 3 different places that have all claimed to be the halfway point on the Camino.  We're not sure which one applies to us but we figure at least one of the three does, so that means we are officially halfway there (hurray!!).  The third picture is of Linda and I standing next to a statue of King Alphonso VI.  This statue was at the last of the 3 places claiming to be the halfway point on the Camino.  It is just outside of Sahagún, which also happens to be where Alphonso VI is buried.

Sept 12: the Camino community

One of the great things about this trip is the sense of community that you develop with the others who are on the Camino.  The first photo is a morning shot from Sept 12 looking down the Camino and all of the others who are on the trail.  Linda and I have talked about what a great feeling it is to see this line of people, all heading in the same direction, all with the same purpose.  It's a little bit like the start of a big race, like the Flying Pig or the Thanksgiving Day Race, when you see all of these people who are out trying to achieve the same thing.  But in the case of the Camino, there is no competition to see who gets to the finish line first.  The sole goal of everyone is to make it to Santiago, and we're all here to help each other achieve that goal.  Oftentimes the running community can be like that, too.  Each person just trying to achieve their personal best.

The second photo is from a lunch stop we made on Sept 12.  As we roll into these small towns, we all start looking for a place to eat.  It often gives us a chance to catch up with people we've seen on other legs of the trip.  Or to meet new people, because these places can become crowded and it's only natural to share some space at a table.  At this lunch location, we met a woman from Austria who is walking the Camino alone.  She's 60 and recently retired.  She told us that traveling the Camino has been a dream of hers for the last 10 years, since she met a friend who walked it alone.  She was going to walk the Camino a couple of years ago, but her husband got cancer.  He beat that, but then the following year, she got cancer.  She has now beaten that, so she is grabbing the opportunity to do the Camino now.  She said that these brushes with cancer (and death) have taught her to really appreciate every day and to pursue all of the things that she's wanted to do.  And her husband has been very supportive.  Actually, it's also been interesting to us the number of people who are married but are doing the Camino alone.  I'd guess that of the married people we have met on the Camino, at least 50% are doing it alone or doing it with a friend, but not their spouse.  Perhaps they like the time to be alone and think.  Or perhaps it's an oppportunity for them to prove something to themselves. There is a saying that each person has their own Camino.  There is no right way.  There is no wrong way.  There is just your way, that is right for you.

Sept 12: Real Monasterio San Zoilo

I had mentioned that I would try to include some pictures of the Real Monasterio San Zoilo where we stayed last night.  Attached are some photos Linda took.  The first photo is looking out on the cloisters from the hallway outside our room, looking at the church.  The second photo is looking down the hallway that our room was in.  The third picture is of the inside of the church.  The final picture is of the ceiling in the cloisters, and all of the inlaid carving that has been preserved there.  It appears the church sold half of the building to this company that then renovated it into a hotel + restaurant (actually, there are 3 different restaurants here), and perhaps in the process also helped renovate parts of the church.  But the church is still used for services, and there is also a museum that is attached to the church.  So the two groups have figured out a way to work together and help each other out.

By the way, we walked 29 km today (roughly 18 miles).  This has been our longest hike yet, and it went pretty well.  It took us about 7 hours to complete, including all stops.  Of course, it helps when there's a nice breeze, which we had this afternoon, and some shade along the way.  Also, it feels like it's not getting as hot as it was previously.  Early in the trip, tempuratures were getting into the upper 80's in the late afternoon.  Now it feels more like the lower 80's.  Hopefully that will continue or get even better as we get later into September.  A Spanish woman that we have met on the hike has said that it's been unseasonably hot here, so hopefully it's returning to more normal temperatures now.

Sept 11: Pilgrim sculptures

Today, we walked about 20 km and visited 2 very nice churches.  However, I feel like I've probably bored you enough with pictures of churches.  So I thought I would share some photos of Pilgrim statues.  For some reason, today we came across a bunch of sculptures of pilgrims.  The first picture below is on our way out of Fromista, where we stayed last night.  This statue was right before crossing a bridge over a major highway in the area.  I don't know if I mentioned this before, but Santiago de Compostela (our final destination) is made up of 2 words.  I know I mentioned that Santiago is actually a shortened version of San Tiago or Saint James.  Compostela is also supposedly a shortened version of two words.  Compo is "field" in older Spanish, and stela means "star" (again, in older Spanish).  The story goes that the person who found the remains of Saint James was drawn to some field by a bright light or star.  So the name of the town that was built around this burial place became Santiago de Compostela, and hence the stars in the first pilgrim sculpture below.

The second picture is a sculpture we came across along the Camino.  You can see it has a sign in front of it that says "Monumento del Perigrino" or monument to the pilgrim. The third picture is of Linda hanging out with one of her new pilgrim friends at a local eating establishment in Villalcazar de Sirga.  We actually ate lunch at another place in this town, but came across this statue as we were leaving the Plaza Mayor and thought it was a fun photo opportunity.  And the final picture is of me with a pilgrim statue near the entrance to the city of Carrion de los Condes, where we are staying (I'm doing a very poor imitation of the same pose as the statue).

By the way, tonight we are staying in an old monastery that has been converted into a 4 star hotel.  The monastery originally dates back to the 11th century, with additions/changes made to it up until the 16th century.  It's a really nice place, and they've done a great job of maintaining a lot of the historical look and feel in certain sections of the building.  This is not one of the Spanish paradors, which are old churches that the government has converted into high end hotels.  We stayed in one of those in Roncesvalles and will get to stay in another later in the trip.  This monastery is privately owned and actually has more of the feel of an old building on the outside and in certain sections.  But in the renovated areas it is definitely an upscale hotel with great amenities.  Usually, after checking in and showering, we head out on the town to check out the historical sites, but we agreed that tonight we would just hang around our hotel and check out everything it has to offer.  Perhaps I can post some pictures of the hotel later.

Sept 10: cultural differences

Before discussing some photos from today's hike, I wanted to share (or vent about)  some cultural differences that we've come across during the trip and are still tryng to adjust to.  In no particular order, they are:

- 4 of the last 5 hotels have not had air conditioning, which I know is the norm in a lot of Europe.  However, the rooms had no fans, either.  We would open our 1 window at night to try to cool off the place, but there was nothing to draw the air into the room.  Last night, we tried leaving the door to our room open for an hour or so before going to sleep, to no avail.  We still ended up with a very restless night due to the room being too hot.
- To compound matters, when we leave the window open, then we also get to hear all of the different noises from the neighorhood.  Two nights ago, there was a loud party down the street that went until at least 4:30am.  Some of the other people staying in the hotel commented on the noise as well.  While the hotel itself was really nice, it still ended up being the worst night's sleep so far on the trip.
- 2 of the last 4 nights, we have also had emergency exit signs IN our room that remained lit ALL night long.  Fortunately, we both kept the eye covers that were handed out on our night flight to Europe, so we can put those on, but still, why do we need a bright exit sign in our room?  It's not like we're going to get lost in a space that is essentially 10 feet by 10 feet (for anyone who has not been to Europe, the hotel rooms here are much smaller than hotel rooms in the US).
- Why don't they put a full shower door in their shower stalls?  90% of the places we've stayed in have a shower door that only covers half of the shower.  Which of course results in a lot of water ending up on the floor outside the tub.  In 2 of the places we recently stayed, I could see water damage to the bathroom door because of how frequently water was getting out.  The cost to fix the water damage will be way more than the cost to just buy a full size shower door.
- Why do they give you one long pillow (that looks like a big sausage roll) instead of 2 pillows.  If we had 2 regular sized pillows, then we could either stack them if they were too soft, or we could cover our heads with one of them if the noise outside our window gets to be too much.  Instead, we end up with one long pillow that's oftentimes uncomfortable and difficult to manuever.
- In all but the biggest cities, siesta time is alive and well in Spain.  From 2pm to 4 or 5pm, all of the stores, museums, churches, etc. close.  The only things open during this time are the bars (which probably explains why a lot of people have to get a quick snooze in before returning to work).  One time, we walked up to a store just as the owner was getting ready to close for siesta.  We asked when the store would open again and he said, "4pm, or maybe 5pm".  Given that punctuality is not considered a virtue here, we waited until 5pm to return to the store.  The one upside of the siesta is because nothing is open, it almost forces us to take a nap during that time because there is nothing else to do (and we could definitely use the nap, given the other sleep related issues mentioned above).

Okay.  Enough venting.  Now to the pictures.  The first photo is just after sunrise this morning at the top of the last meseta (mesa) that we had to climb and then cross.  The closest hill in the photo is right above Castrojeriz, where we stayed.  If you look real closely, you'll notice a bump on the top of this hill.  That's the old castle that I put in yesterday's blog.  Also, further in the background you can see some of the other mesetas that make up this region of Castilla & Leon.  Again, if you look really close, you'll see that there are wind farms on top of these mesetas.  Because they are elevated flat plains, they tend to have a fair amount of wind, and thus are good places to put wind turbines. We are moving into a new region within Castilla & Leon, so there are no more mesetas to cross.  While we didn't think the mesetas were too hard, they were very flat with no trees, so we tended to bake out there.  Bottom line, they are beautiful to look at, but I'm glad we don't have to hike any more of them.

The second photo is of the Camino as it ran along the Canal de Castilla, an 18th century canal that in it's prime was used for moving products by boat within this region.  And the last picture is of the locks that were used to move boats from one level of the canal to another (you see the lower level canal in the background).  Clearly, though, the locks are no longer in use (there are no doors to close).  There is talk about trying to renovate the locks and make them usable again, but given the state of the economy in Spain, I think they have other things that are more important to spend their money on.