The pension in Burgos I stayed in was on the opposite side of where the Camino trail begins and 6:30 am I am on the road with a 21 km trek ahead of me. Nothing is open so no breakfast and it is 7.5 km to the next town for coffee. The city has good Camino markings and finding my way out was simple enough however adding an additional 1.5 km to the day.

Walking past Burgos University was lovely and along the way I bumped into Berthold from Belgium. We caught up on the locations of the others from our original Camino family. Overall, it was an uneventful walk this morning. Arriving in Tardajos Cruceiro, there was a line up at the Panaderia (bread shop) where many peregrinos were purchasing boccadillos, chocolate and fruit for the day. After washing down a tortilla patata with a cafe con leche. I headed back to the Panaderia for my daily supplies.

Back on the road, I hit the Meseta which is long and boring walk through terrain similar to Saskatchewan with nothing to see on either side except fields.  I understand I will be on it for the next 3 days. This is where some spiritual enlightenment may occur. I don’t really think about too much except that I need to pee and that my feet hurt. Maybe I’m not the spiritual type. I did have an experience with a nun outside of a chapel by Tardajos Cruceiro that brought me to tears. She put my face in her hands and told me the blessed virgin was watching over me. If that happened in Mississauga, I would have been dialing 911!

I made it to Hornillos del Camino by 1:00 pm – 6 hours; a 900 metre gradual climb to find there were no beds. There were 10 of us with no where to sleep. After a lovely lunch and a couple of San Miguel, I decided to taxi two towns over to Castrojeriz as word on the camino was there were no beds between Hornillos and there. I’m so glad I did. I stayed in the lovely Hotel La Posada and met some lovely peregrinos from Sweden, US. UK,  and Italy.

The wines of Castillo y Leon are lovely. I checked in to the hotel and had a shower. The room was lovely and clean. I thought I would head to the bar to see what time dinner was and if I needed a reservations. The owner said I had a couple of hours. Dinner was at 7:30 pm. The Americans arrived and the next thing you know we are drinking bottles of vino tinto. There weren’t a lot of seats so I  sat at the bar. Apparently, I am now the local hooker because of my pink shawl and painted toes. The local drunk at the bar was winking at me and based on my poor knowledge of Spanish called me a sinner which I confirmed with the bartender who apologized profusely. “Lo siento señora!”

We had a lovely pilgrim meal of garlic soup (they have an annual garlic festival) which was delicious, garlic chicken and creme caramel. Of course all complimented by the delicious red wines.

I made a decision today that I will not participate in the rush for a bed nor phone ahead at least until Sarria. I will continue to walk 20 km average and let things come as they may. It has worked so far and the best experiences have been unplanned. There are a lot of peregrinos on the Camino and more than in previous years.