Every shell is beautiful.
The village of Bercianos del Real Camino is at the half-way point between my starting point in Roncesvalles on the eastern border of Spain, and my destination of Santiago de Compostela. I have walked 395 km of camino so far, plus the meandering I have done in the towns and villages, sightseeing in the late afternoons and early evenings. I have 395 km of camino remaining.
Sunrise is about 7:15 am. It doesn't make sense to get up early and try to walk before sunrise. First of all, it's dark! And there are countless things to trip on and countless ways to get lost. It's also very cold that early in the morning. Cold enough for two layers under a jacket, buff around the neck and gloves to make using walking poles tolerable. I have become very attuned to the temperature, and I can feel the increase of every degree of warmth of the sun on my back as the morning continues.
The wind on the meseta is relentless. Today is was a strong and constant headwind. I walked in constant fear of losing my cap. I had been putting my buff around my head and over my ears to protect them from the wind, then my cap over that, and then to keep from losing my cap I had my jacket hood on top of everything. It was rather cumbersome. Halfway through the day I shared a resting spot with a young man from Germany. He was wearing his buff OVER his baseball cap. Brilliant! Better wind protection, better sun protection, and 100% protection against losing the cap. I quickly rearranged my head gear and walked happily and comfortably for the rest of the day.
It remains light quite late into the evening. At 9:00 pm the sun is almost finished setting. I'm not out that late, though. I prefer to have my late lunch/early dinner around 5:00 - 6:00, walk around for a bit and be in by 8:00 pm at the latest.
The reminders of the task at hand are everywhere. The scallop shell, which is the symbol for the Camino, (many roads all ending up at the same place), appears in furniture, carvings, door handles, railings, way markers, road markers, tiles, pictures, photographs, walls, floors, doors, streets, jewellery, clothing and countless other things. Here are the ones just from today. I love how each one is different.
Pilgrims populate the small villages. We take breaks at tiny cafe's and restaurants, sitting in groups at tables on the narrow streets. In the larger towns the camino goes through the "old city", and this means even narrower streets. This area is often pedestrian only. It brings the "old feel" (and the safety factor) up to another level. We lean our walking poles and packs on the walls as we sit to take our shoes off and rub our feet.
This region of Spain has Bodegas (caves) which are dug out of hills. Each family would have one for wine making and food storage.
I think this is Passion Fruit. The vine was huge, and had hundreds of fruit on it!
Hasta luego, mi amigos!
Sept 10th, 2019
Sahagun to El Burgo Ranero
18 km (according to the guide book, but felt like a LOT more than that and it took longer than 18 km should have taken)
29,000 steps, walking day #20
The village of Bercianos del Real Camino is at the half-way point between my starting point in Roncesvalles on the eastern border of Spain, and my destination of Santiago de Compostela. I have walked 395 km of camino so far, plus the meandering I have done in the towns and villages, sightseeing in the late afternoons and early evenings. I have 395 km of camino remaining.
Sunrise is about 7:15 am. It doesn't make sense to get up early and try to walk before sunrise. First of all, it's dark! And there are countless things to trip on and countless ways to get lost. It's also very cold that early in the morning. Cold enough for two layers under a jacket, buff around the neck and gloves to make using walking poles tolerable. I have become very attuned to the temperature, and I can feel the increase of every degree of warmth of the sun on my back as the morning continues.
The wind on the meseta is relentless. Today is was a strong and constant headwind. I walked in constant fear of losing my cap. I had been putting my buff around my head and over my ears to protect them from the wind, then my cap over that, and then to keep from losing my cap I had my jacket hood on top of everything. It was rather cumbersome. Halfway through the day I shared a resting spot with a young man from Germany. He was wearing his buff OVER his baseball cap. Brilliant! Better wind protection, better sun protection, and 100% protection against losing the cap. I quickly rearranged my head gear and walked happily and comfortably for the rest of the day.
It remains light quite late into the evening. At 9:00 pm the sun is almost finished setting. I'm not out that late, though. I prefer to have my late lunch/early dinner around 5:00 - 6:00, walk around for a bit and be in by 8:00 pm at the latest.
The reminders of the task at hand are everywhere. The scallop shell, which is the symbol for the Camino, (many roads all ending up at the same place), appears in furniture, carvings, door handles, railings, way markers, road markers, tiles, pictures, photographs, walls, floors, doors, streets, jewellery, clothing and countless other things. Here are the ones just from today. I love how each one is different.
I met this guy for real yesterday!
These are bar stools!
Outdoor exercise equipment in the local park
The sunflowers really are huge
Hasta luego, mi amigos!
You seem to come across an endless number of interesting things. Keep it up, please.
ReplyDeleteMust be tough with the wind - and good to hear that you are protecting yourself from sun and cold with the "buff" and sunhat. I am learning things as you walk - I just looked up "buff - headgear" (in images) and discovered its meaning. (Note I was careful not to simply search on "buff"! :) ) The flowers could be passion fruit but the green fruit looks like feijoas, I think, which are so common in NZ that people are constantly giving them away, but they're expensive here in Toronto. Yummy things - hollow out inside with spoon-slightly acidic firm white flesh inside (skin probably edible but usually not eaten).
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