A TOWN, A CITY, THE PLAINS

Everywhere is within walking distance if you have time

First thing out the door when leaving Villafranca Montes de Oca, is a hill.  Not too bad as hills go, but no one wants their first steps to be up hill.  Once at the top it levels out on a broad mesa forested with oaks and pines.  It is foggy so I can’t tell if there are pilgrims ahead of me.  The path becomes broad, a fire break I think, and the walking is easy.  The cool weather helps.  The only stop on this mesa is a small oasis where a woman provides drinks and snacks for a donation.  On this visit I was either to early or she took the day off.  What was there was the art work painted on logs, and the tall sign post pointing the way to various locals around the world.

For some of this time I have been walking with Renee from Texas.  I am sure she is able to walk faster than me, but she slows down and keeps me company for a while.  She is a retired counselor, but continues to provide services to military personnel around the world on a contract basis.  She tells me that once she gets to Burgos the next day, she will be renting a bike and riding across the  Meseta to Leon.  She will do in 4 days what will take me 10.

I stayed in a really nice and kinda funky pension in the village of Atapuerca.  It is here that the remains of early humans have been discovered, some as old as 800,000 years.  There is a museum, but I opted for a boccodillo and a glass of vinto instead.  So I am upstairs in a room with a shared bathroom.  There is no one else to share the bathroom with, so it’s mine.  The place, Pensión El Palomar, is run by Magulana and her husband, who’s name I missed.  Magulana is from Equador and although a great hostess, we all the guests sensed some sadness, as she was missing her family.  They have a bar and a restaurant with the tables all set in fine china.  For dinner the husband dons his chef uniform and retreats to the kitchen.  All the guests on this night are pilgrims and we are treated to a great meal with the wine flowing.  The next morning, Magulana makes us all scrambled eggs and sausage, a rarity for pilgrims.

The next day is Burgos, the Capitol of this region and a city of about 180,000.  Most of the walk on this day is uninteresting.  Starting out, another hill, in the fog, so there are no views.  After a short distance among the green fields, we walk around the perimeter of the Burgos Airport.  Then you have a choice of walking 8 km along the highway into the city or the same distance in a park-like setting along the river.  You know the choice I made, but even so it’s a slog on hard surfaces for the most part.

I’ve been in Burgos a couple of times.  Cathie and I stayed here for a week last year waiting for her leg to heal.  I opted for one night, but most pilgrims take a day off here.  Of course I had to partake in one of the regions specialities, Morcilla sausage.  It’s a blood sausage, but unlike the British version, much nicer.  Besides spices, it contains rice and when cooked the outside becomes crispy.  For dinner I opted for Tapas, as they are plentiful and varied in Burgos.

The next morning bright and early, I head out of the city into the country.  It’s is here that the Meseta starts. The Meseta is a high plateau in Central Spain and it’s fields produce grain crops, most of which are not irrigated.   Primary flat, with some valleys cutting through, it is easy walking for pilgrims.  Many pilgrims dread the vast expanse and either take a bus or train to avoid this section of the Camino.  For me, it is my favorite part of the Camino.  It’s basically flat farm land, but I notice the texture in the landscape with it’s different colors and slightly undulating land.  So for about the next 125 miles it’s easy walking, unless the weather turns bad.

At the starting of the Meseta in the small town of Rabe de las Calzadaz, is a small chapel, the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.  On my previous walk, this chapel was closed up tight, but today and I believe every day, nuns are there to greet pilgrims.  It is said that Saint Catherine Laboure saw apparitions of the Virgin Mary in the chapel in 1830.  Each pilgrim is given the Medal of the Immaculate or the miraculous medal and given a blessing by one of the nuns.