I don’t have too much to report today since this has been a rest day. I’ve definitely taken advantage of resting. Spending a majority of the day in my comfortable hotel room. The TV in here has an English option for all The American TV shows so I’ve watched my fair share of crime scene drama shows today. Currently watching Hawaii 5-O. 

I did venture out in the morning to find food and stopped to check out the Pantheon on the way. 

After lunch and more crime scene shows I headed out to check out the cathedral. It was closed for siesta so I had to check out the local micro brewery instead. Yay for IPA! Then it was off to the cathedral for a tour. 

I stopped by the Gaudi building and then had to get a second credential for the Camino from the municipal albergue. Each day you have to get your credential stamped to show proof that you walked it when you get to Santiago. The first one I brought from home is almost full. 

Will be getting dinner soon and then settling in for an early night. Time to get back on the road tomorrow! Only 12-13 days left until Santiago. I’ll be arriving on either June 26 or 27 depending on how much I walk each day. 

I don’t really have a lot to report today. The walk from Mansilla to Leon was definitely the worst walk of the entire Camino so far. 

It wasn’t pretty, it was super windy and I just wanted to get to Leon. The guidebook I’ve been following suggests that it’s better to take a bus into Leon rather than walking it. I wouldn’t have taken a bus, but I am glad that today is not typical of the Camino. 

I don’t mean to sound too harsh on the day, but I’ve been too spoiled by all the others. 🙂

I am excited to discover Leon over today and tomorrow. I’m taking my second and final rest day before taking on Galicia (mountains and likely rain). 

This is the view from my hotel…

I think it’ll do.

I’m headed off now to meet up with Camino friends to watch Spain play Czech Republic. Since two of those friends are Czech, not sure who I’ll root for yet. 🙂

I’ll report more on Leon tomorrow! 

A day in the life of a pilgrim.

Wake up at 6am. Dress and repack the mochilla (backpack) with all belongings. Out the door at 6:30. Same as yesterday. Same as the day before that. 

Today’s route was 26 km (16 miles). When I first started the Camino this sounded a little daunting, now it’s routine.

We walk for 8 km, then come to the first village. This means breakfast. I purchased a box of granola bars a few days ago so that is my breakfast today. I purchased a coke from the local cafe. This way I can get my caffeine and use their bathroom. We see some of our Camino friends while there and hear how their night went. 

Back on the road again. It’s 13km to the next village. This is a bit longer than normal between villages. So the headphones go in and I listen to my Camino mix. 

Today was probably the most boring day yet. Long straight stretches of nothing. 

You come to where the road curves and hope for a more exciting view but it’s exactly the same. 

It’s one foot in front of the other….

There were lots of rest stops along the way today. Nice picnic tables and trees for shade. But no bathrooms. Anywhere. I don’t know if it’s just the Camino that doesn’t have public bathrooms or if it’s all of Spain. But your only option is to pay for something in a bar or cafe and then use their bathroom. This unfortunately means people create their own restrooms all along the Camino. 

13 km without a bathroom means I explored some woods to find nature’s bathroom. 🙂

On the road again. Which looks a little familiar….

I see farm fields to the left and farm fields to the right. It’s super exciting when there’s something slightly different to see. Oh look! A flower. Ok, maybe it’s just a weed, but it’s pretty. 

Finally we reach the next village. Time for second breakfast, or lunch. It’s usually this part of the day where I may get a bocadillo or another snack, but almost always I get a soda and a beer. The beer helps me forget that my feet hurt and the soda gives me energy for the final kilometers. 

At this point in the day I can’t wait to get to the village where we will stay. I can take a shower, get first or second lunch, explore the village without the backpack and relax. 

The albergue we checked into in Mansilla is new and the hosts are very welcoming. They said we should consider this our home for the night. At only 5 euros, it’s a pretty great deal. It includes a bed, a good shower, use of a kitchen and a breakfast for donativo (donation based on what you can afford or what you think it’s worth).

They have a nice backyard where you can relax (where I’m sitting right now), also where you can wash and hang your laundry. I opted to pay the 5 euros to have the hosts wash and dry my laundry. 😉

We have 8-10 people in our room and we know most of them. 

Later today I’ll probably go to dinner at a bar or cafe or find a pilgrim’s menu. The pilgrim’s menu is typically a three course meal and every village seems to have the same food choices for each of the courses. Good thing I like spaghetti and beef steak! 

I’ll likely explore the village again. This village is even big enough to have a stop light! I haven’t seen one of those since Burgos. 

Tell me if you’ve heard this one before. Two Germans, Two Czech girls, a French woman, an Irishman and two Americans walk into a bar. It’s just another day on the Camino. I’m sitting on the patio of a bar in a sleepy Spanish town with new Camino friends. I don’t know everyone at the table but that’s the Camino. 

I’ve decided that the Camino is like being at a moving summer camp. Every town you go to you see your new friends. You sleep in a wide variety of settings. You go to the Pilgrim’s meal with your new friends, etc. 

Today was a good, easy day. Only 23 km, so a little over a half marathon distance wise. The countryside was a little more interesting today over yesterday. We had a stop through a larger city, Sahagun. They are currently having a big city festival with a carnival, running of the bulls through the city and bullfights in the stadium. 

Here was the coolest thing I saw today…

Tomorrow is another day, but may be exciting because the two different paths of the Camino from today will come back together. So will likely see more familiar faces again tomorrow. 

The fun thing is I already have plans with friends for Monday in Leon. A bunch of us are planning to go to a bar to watch Spain play against Czech Republic in the Euro Cup. 

So I’d like to say I have something to report for today, but I really don’t. Today was just a day of walking. Sure, that’s everyday on the Camino, but really there was nothing interesting about today. We did walk 17 km without a village – so no bathrooms, no mercados, no cafes/bars. The Meseta is boring but still beautiful in its own way. 

But wait, something exciting did just happen! As I’m sitting here writing this with three other women I met on my first evening in St. Jean, Kate is performing “surgery” on her blister. There’s always a great debate on how to treat them. Compeed is what some swear by, but others like the needle and thread approach. Eva has become very knowledgable on both methods with her blisters so she just walked Kate through the experience. Sorry if the image below is too graphic but I think sharing all aspects of the Camino are important. 🙂

So because today was not exciting, I’ll go back to last night in Carrion. We were lucky enough to get to stay at the Santa Maria albergue run by Augustine Nuns. They keep a nice albergue, but more importantly they’re known as the singing nuns. Each night at 6pm, everyone who wants gathers in the entry of the building and the Sisters lead the group in songs. They sing some of their regular songs and then they ask the crowd to sing their own songs. 

They have amazing voices and play a variety of instruments. After the song time, I attended the pilgrim’s mass where we were blessed by the nuns and given hand colored stars as a gift. 

If you ever do the Camino, or even just part of it, make sure you stay at Santa Maria in Carrion. 

Two Irishmen, a Polish man, a German, two Czech girls and two Americans walk into a bar. It’s not a joke, it’s just the Camino. I’m sitting at lunch being rude by writing my blog, but they have fast wifi so I have to take advantage. Other than the German, I just met all these people yesterday. I’m sharing a room with four of them tonight.

Today started off right with the most beautiful sunrise. 

Today was the best day walking in three days. It was hot but not nearly as hot as the last two days. We only had to walk 25 km instead of the 28-32 of the last two days. It was awesome! 

We arrived to Carrion in time to get beds in the Santa Maria albergue. This albergue is famous for its singing nuns. The nuns told me they will be singing at 6pm. So I plan to be there! Apparently this albergue is sponsored by the Seattle area chapter of the American Pilgrims. 

The film crew made it to town shortly after we did, but I don’t think my flip flops are going to be famous again today. 

Tomorrow we have a 17km stretch that has no services. No bars, no cafes, no bathrooms. We will have to prepare today for that part of the Camino. It should be fun! 

I’m sitting in a funky and famous albergue in a small village. While I write this two older famous German TV stars are filming in the “secret garden.” One of the stars saw me earlier in another village and said “Are you from Seattle?” I said yes. He said “I heard about the girl from Seattle walking the Camino.” I told him that I walk most of the day in my trail shoes but switch to flip flops to make my feet happy. 

I think when the German documentary goes live I may be the girl who walked the whole Camino in flip flops…since the film crew has only seen me wearing them. 🙂

Today was one of the days where you learn why people skip the Meseta. It was beautiful in its own way, but the distance between villages is so much farther and much of it is flat farm fields. If we were here a month later I suspect the flowers wouldn’t be blooming and the fields would all be yellow. Those red poppies are sometimes the only thing keeping me sane on the hot days like today. 

I don’t actually have a lot to report from today. Along with the film crew there are lots of familiar faces at the albergue today – those we met in the last couple days and those we haven’t seen in a few days. Tomorrow we hope to get beds in the albergue with the singing nuns. 

So I’ll leave you with the photos from today…

My flip flops are going to be famous! Most of today’s 32km walk included the German film crew that I saw in Burgos yesterday. They are documenting the journey of a couple German TV stars (not sure who they are) as they walk part of the Camino. 

Today’s filming included some drone footage (that I may be in) along with stops along the Camino. When they realized Eva was from Germany they interviewed her. Later when they realized I switched to flip flops, the filmed my feet walking on the Camino. See, I will make flip flops popular in Europe!!! 

Today felt much shorter than it was distance wise until the last 5km. Our Dutch friend Ron joined us for part of the day, then later Luis from Mallorca joined us for the last portion. Luis just started his Camino today from Burgos. 

Our rest day in Burgos did mean we are now a day behind many of the familiar faces. So now we will meet new pilgrims. It’s possible that we will walk enough extra each day to catch up with the Camino crowd we already know over the next few days. But meeting new people is all part of the experience. 

We are now in the Meseta portion of the Camino, so it’s the dry, flat plateau region. It’s known to be a bit boring. So far it’s still been beautiful but the villages are fewer and farther between. Those that don’t have enough time will take a bus skip this portion. 

My home for the evening seems good. It’s a very small village. The temperature is now 30 degrees Celsius so I’m happy to be done walking for the day. 

Today was a rest day and it was delightful. Though my body is used to the routine of walking an average of 15 miles a day now, having a day to relax was amazing. 

Of course I still walked almost 9 miles today anyway. When there is a new city to explore, I can’t just sit around all day. 

I spent most of the morning walking around exploring Burgos – visiting the castle on the hill, touring the cathedral and finding lunch. After that I spent almost all afternoon enjoying my fancy hotel room. 🙂 

In the late afternoon I walked to the famous monastery which was closed but looked beautiful from the outside. Then it was off to the plaza to write postcards and people watch. 

I just got back from dinner with Eva and Kate where we had the most amazing pasta.

Those carbs will come in handy tomorrow as we’re planning on a 32km day. Bring on the Meseta!

I’m writing this from a comfortable hotel bed while Mary Poppins is playing in the background – in Spanish of course. Actually funny that this movie is on because I’ve been calling my friend Eva’s backpack her Mary Poppins bag. She very efficiently packed everything imaginable in her pack. It’s not even heavier than my backpack, so it must be a Mary Poppins bag.

I’m noticing how much others judge you based on what you wear or pack on the Camino. It’s not always bad, but interesting the different choices people make. I was judged all day today for my choice of shoes….flip flops. 😉 Sure, it’s not wise to wear flip flops on the Camino due to varying conditions for walking. But today was the first day in at least a week that my bad foot or bad knee didn’t hurt. Thank you, flip flops! However, for Europeans, flip flops are shoes you only wear for the shower. I’m hoping to change that trend and introduce my European friends to the amazingness of flip flops. 🙂 

Anyway, today has been a good day. I slept well last night and had a “lazy” morning – didn’t get on the road until 7am. The fog was very thick for the first hour when we walked through a cute village and up over a mountain. 

As we came down from the mountain back to farm fields the fog lifted and a nice sunny day appeared. We have been so lucky with the weather! I do think this will change after the Meseta, but I couldn’t have asked for better weather for the past 12 days. 

The walk into Burgos felt long since we had to go through the outskirts of the city first. Some pilgrims even opt to take a bus past this part. We walked past a very dead airport, then through a riverfront park for a few miles. This is a newer version of this stretch of the Camino – the old takes you through the industrial part of town. 

Finally reached downtown Burgos, which is very nice. We had to wait to check in to our hotel, so wandered around the cathedral hoping to see other pilgrims. We ran into a few that we may not see after today since they’re heading out of Burgos tomorrow. We’ll be getting dinner together later tonight. 

Tomorrow I plan to sleep in, be lazy, then explore some of Burgos. I do still need to get my 11,000 steps a day for my Fitbit goal. 😉