Walked today: 7.2 mi Camino2023: 136 mi
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Jimandi 