The Happy Pilgrim

On Friday 29 May I left Burgos alone and, approached the Meseta with an open mind and heart. To be quite honest I haven’t been over fussing about anything much except the need to have clean smelling (dry) clothes! Many people “skip over” The Mesta as they fear it will be too lonely, or boring but I knew it would be beautiful as it actually offers wide open spaces and today and yesterday, clear blue (cloudless) skies. I was mindful of Suzanne’s parting advice on watching those signs out of Burgos, and was not interested in a repeat of the Lost-in-Logrono episode!  I found my way to the back of the Catedral de Santa Maria XIII, the second largest of Spain’s many amazing cathedrals. I knew I was supposed to go left because (that would be west and place the sun on my back)  but I went right to find a marker and reference point.

Sure enough, a few moments later  some other Pilgrims came along and helped me find my bearings. I walked in front of them and kept my eyes peeled for about 2kms and once, when I got a bit distracted I turned around they once again pointed me the right  direction.At some point they caught up with me (probably at a traffic light) and asked me where I was from. I told them Austraia and they told me they were from Madrid.  We chatted and I asked if they minded if we walked together for a while. They were brisk walkers (not too slow and not too fast). It wasn’t until later in the day (about 6-7kms before the end) that they suggested we slow down. I then realised they were keeping pace with me and I had thought I was keeping pace with them! I will be more mindful when I walk with someone again.

There is a wonderful story about Carmen and Raphael that truly warms the heart. Carmen was a retired school teacher and Raphael, a retired Doctor. Carmen spoke “survival English” which was considerably better than my “survival Spanish”! We were successful at some conversations and less than successful in others, which meant we chose our conversations mindfully. Amazingly I was able to glean that they went on the Camino once a year and this year they were walking Sunday-Sunday ending in Castrojeriz and stopping over in Hornillos (which was the same schedule I was following) except I went to a quaint B&B in Isar 3kms out of Hornillos.  Carmen enjoyed walking (and I have no idea how old they were but I guessed around early 60s but with retirement age different all around the world it is hard to konw). Their walking pace was strong and healthy. Carmen had experienced a fall and injured her shoulder so they were porting their bags and staying in albergues. Raphael carried a walking pole and had a blister but they appeared to be more than capabile of managing the Camino. I wanted to say to Raphael that if more people walked he would have less patients but it was too difficult and would have got lost in translation. I figured he knew this already.

We seemed to being enjoying the wide open spaces, the rolling hills and the big blue sky. Carmel loved the poppies (same as I do) and showed me a photo of herself with some of the Spring flowers in in her sun hat taken recently on thier week long journey. Every now and then we would stop for a photo and they would take one of me (and me one of them) and then Carmen wanted Raphael to take a picture of both of us. I asked if we could get one of the three of us and smiled broadly to discover that “selfie” is the same in Spanish! We walked with a French man for a short time (Pasquale) and he and Carmen sang some lovely songs together and I found myself warmed not by the sun but by the magic of the Camino. There were songs she sang that I sang along in English (or just hummed if I couldn’t remember the words). I wasn’t 100% sure (because of the language) but Carmen taught little children in junior school and I wouldn’t have been surprised if she taught singing. She was involved in a community choir (like Nuala in Ireland) and went to many concerts but was also involved in communtiy theatre including a local verion of Aida.

When Carmen asked me if I sang much I was embarrassed that I do not (singing brings such joy). But both Carmen and Raphael were very impressed when I played them some of my favourite tracks in my iPod play list “songs that remind me of Spain”. They laughed at the Ricky Martin song Cup of Life (La Copa de la Vida) – Music of the World Cup and sang along to the whole song Guantanemera.  They were impressed and pleasantly surprised that I even had Placido Domingo’s version of Nessun dorma. I welcomed Carmen’s singing along and the joy of sharing some of these beautiful songs with her. It reminded me of a conversation I had with Nuala a few days before when we walked together, Nuala is involved in a Community Choir and they sing songs together from all around the world. It's such a leveler and a way to bring equality and harmony.

People passed us and we passed others but the wide open spaces were very suitable for Carmen and Raphael to sing. We met an Italian who walked past us briskly and declared his nationality “Italiano” and zoomed on, breaking into a run. If my walking companions spoke English I might have said “he’s in a hurry, perhaps he is catching a bus” but I knew the humour might not work so I smiled and looked at Carmen and she smiled back. We did a bit of sign language and then both agreed he’s in too much of a hurry to enjoy the beautiful landscape.  There are many people who have been rushing on the Camino and I have a feeling that The Meseta sorts them out.

We stopped at Tarjados (which is half way between Burgos and Hornillos del Camino) and while I went to “il bano” they kindly ordered a coffee. An Australian I sat next to on the bus between Bayonne and St Jean Pied de Port happened to be sitting at the table and recognised me and said hello. She looked very tired and was powering on, aiming for 30kms that day. She wanted to get to Santiago de Compostella (SdC) by a set date and had been walking with a great bunch of Americans (not on a set time frame) and was trying to make up lost time. It was nice to speak to another Aussie but it wasn’t meant to be that we would walk together that day. Perhaps we will catch up another day. Raphael took a phone call from home, his 95 year old mother had taken ill and they were trying to find access to the internet to find out more. It may have meant they might have to return home so I wished them well and went on for an hour or so by myself. I stopped to help a Pilgrim take some photos of herself only to find Carmen and Raphael again (big smiles) the mother was okay and they were able to continue. They invited me to continue walking together and they both sang their favourite songs. It was really beautiful.

I didn’t explain earlier but The Mesta took me by surprise (I actually thought it was later on in my journey) this is one of the joys of not reading too far ahead in the Brierley Guide book! One minute I am rearranging some of my days to make them a bit longer so I can extend my rest days in Leon and Santiago de Compostella and the next thing I realise it's here already! I had not time to be concerned and this approach worked well for me. Later in the day I finally pulled out my big camera from my back pack and took some photos of the big wide open spaces my eyes had been soaking the scenery up like a sponge and it was time to capture it. The iPhone or the Canon camera does the experience no real justice but I took photos because it’s fun to do so. I also took the opportunity to take a few photos of Carmen and Raphael. At Hornillos del Camino I said farewell to to my friends from Madrid, exchanged emails and promised to send them some photos. They knew I was going all the way to Finnisterre and wished me well and said they hoped to see me again.

Day two was even more beautiful than day one (and I am going to post this now and reflect back in Leon). I found myself alone but warmed by the sun on my back and seeing Pilgrims in front and behind me. The scenery was spectacular (not sparse at all) and with the wind dying down the heat of the plains was lovely (as I expected Spain to be at this time of the year). It really is sensible to get up early and walk in the cooler part of the day. Arriving around 1:30-2:30pm before it gets too hot. Rest up, shower and wash clothes, catch a nap even  and then explore the village. Working up a great appetite and then having dinner and “vino tinto” (red wine).

Probably starting a bit later than my friends from Madrid I ran into them again at the half-way point (10kms) at Hontanas. Carmen was helping another Pilgrim to take a photo before heading out as I had arrived. We embraced and said hello (she said she had been keeping an eye out for me) I showed her some of my photos and promised I would email her the rest of them. I sat with Christine from the US and told her my story of walking with the couple yesterday. She knew them because they were at the same albergue together the night before and there was lots of singing. No surprises there.

I am posting this tonight from my dinner table in a busy, noisy resturant in Castrojeriz. The Pilgrims have now gone home and the locals are out to eat (phase two of dinner time in Spain). Many Pilgrims will say that their menus are average (some are okay) and some are absolutely revolting. Tonight is no exception,  I had spaghetti and could have kicked myself (only I stubbed my pinkie on my bag already). It looked like it could have come straight out of a can. I tasted it, played with it, searched for meat and dipped some bread in it and then politely left it. Then there was beef stew next, which was two pieces of meat, and chips with some sauce. I ate that because I was hungry and then (because I still have a cough), I got icecream again. Luckily I went to the supermarket before dinner and purchased 9 apricots and ate 3 on the way back to the hotel. I opened up some nuts (for tomorrow) and ate a few of those and now I am up to my second glass of wine (or was that third)? As soon as I post this with a few photos I will be off to bed. Tomorrow it’s Castojeriz to Fromista (25kms) and the weather is a top of 27 and a low of 11 overnight. I will leave a bit later than planned as breakfast isn’t until 8:00am. I can’t possibly head off without breakfast given lunch and dinner are so late. There is a strenuous climb out of town (apparently). Which means I will probably need another little siesta in the afternoon when I have done my 25kms!










I ran into Karin and her sister Lucia walking in to town this afternoon and walked with Karin for a while. It was lovely to see her again (both of the ladies are enjoying the Mesteta just like I am). We agreed that the wide open spaces allow us more time to focus on the detail like the birds singing or the wind energy turbines on the horizon or a car on a distant road, or the flowers in the fields or especially yesterday the wheat moving in the breeze like and ocean. There is so much beauty here it’s amazing. “You wouldn’t be dead for quids”! I can certainly get used to Spain.

Until next time – The Happy Pilgrim