Day: August 1, 2023

Hornillos to Castrojeriz

Walked today: 7.2 mi Camino2023: 136 mi

leaving Hornillos del Camino at 6:10, before “first light”

Today was a typical walk on the Meseta. We walked for 2 miles from our albergue in Hornillas back up to the Meseta, continued on the flat gravel path for a mile or so, then descended into San Bol, only to climb back up to the Meseta, walked another 2-3 miles then back down into the village of Hontanas.

walking out of Hornillos up to the Meseta
near the Meseta after a two mile walk
finally back on the Meseta.
looking back at a typical sunrise on the Meseta
a huge field of sunflowers on the Meseta at sunrise
descending into San Bol, a primative albergue.
zoom photo of San Bol albergue
this bird chirped at us as we were nearing the Meseta on the way out of San Bol, as if she wanted her photo taken, so we complied.
back on the Meseta
first sighting of Hontanas
“main street” of Hontanas
our breakfast stop

We called a taxi then had breakfast, chatting with other pilgrims, including several we had seen in days prior. As a result, the 90 minute wait for the taxi passed quickly. The 10 minute taxi ride, saved us an additional two hour walk, in the sun, along the same road. We were dropped off at Albergue Orion, our home for this afternoon and evening, in Castrojeriz.

Linda waiting for out taxi

As expected, the albergue didn’t open until noon, so we walked about a hundred yards to the Iglesia de Santa María Manzano to view the beautiful interior. We then walked across the path to a familiar bar/albergue where we stayed in 2014 and had drinks to fill the remaining wait time until checkin.

Iglesia de Santa María del Manzano
dramatic Gothic structure of Santa María del Manzano
Santiago statue to the right of the altar
having a break at the bar/albergue across from the Iglesia. Under new ownership since the pandemic… we stayed here in 2014.
the bar has been redone by the new owners

The door to Orion was open when we returned at noon. We were the first pilgrims to checkin. We got into our room and went into chores routine then got a light lunch in the dining room then spent the remaining afternoon napping and blogging and reading.

Entrance to Albergue Orion
nice garden area of Orion.
view of Castile which defended the Roman gold convoys returning from Galícian mines. Occupied subsequently by Visigoths, Moors and Christians.
the view from our room at Albergue Orion

Dinner was at 7:00 and consisted of Korean cuisine prepared by our Korean cook. It was very tasty.

Our dinner mates were two guys from the Loire Valley in France and a couple from northern Holland. The Holland couple were doing the Camino on bikes and camping frequently. They had earlier done a trip across the U.S. on bicycles. Conversation was interesting and Jim got to practice some French.