Home Again, Home Again

Thank you, all of you, who were kind enough to read along on this blog for the past two weeks plus.  I arrived on my own doorstep just after 8 p.m. on Sunday evening after a lengthy marathon of bus stations, airports and flights.  It's very good to be home.  Hopefully the jet lag sorts itself out in a day or two - then I won't be wide awake at 2 a.m. and desperate to eat at 4.  The good news is that I won't be late for work today - but I may have to implement the Spanish siesta.

Meanwhile, the Camino will continue at home - as everyone does their own Camino every single day.

Buen Camino, my friends.

It's a Long Way, Baby

In a couple of hours I begin my journey home - a Camino of a different kind, I guess.  Here's a quick look at the elevation 'map' of the Camino I have traveled:

The map above has the route broken into 13 stages to Burgos.  It took me 12 days, but there's no right or wrong way.  It's how you feel and whether or not you are wanting to stay with any particular person or group ... or not.

Yesterday afternoon I waited by the albergue to see if any of the people who were a day behind me might be coming into Burgos.  Sure enough, S. (Scotland) was coming into Burgos and burst into tears upon seeing some familiar faces.  Here's a photo of her feet ... after her boots came off and she'd had a shower:

But she's still smiling.

She continued on her way this morning; tears forgotten.  The Camino can turn you into some sort of driven creature.

I hope to see many of you at home in a few days.  Thanks for taking time to read this blog.  It's been fun to do (when the wifi worked).  

Anna

Grafitti and a Little Politics

While it has been the incredible history and architecture of Spain that has held me spell-bound, there were some other things too, that caught my eye.

And the Basque region, (parts, if not all of Navarra province) has a segment that would like independence

.

These young men were along the Camino with signage indicating that they had no jobs and no future.  They had a table with breads, jam, water bottles, juice boxes etc. for peregrinos - for a donation.  I had the driest piece of bread I've ever eaten ... sort of like thick melba toast, with some blackberry jam.

And, in a little public park just past where these two enterprising lads were set up, a sign that is clear in all languages:

Sorry, the light wasn't very good there for the photo so you may have to look closely.

Farming ... in Spain

I was always interested as I passed various agricultural enterprises along the way.  The first were traditional farms raising cattle and sheep in the Basque region; the cattle appeared to be charolais, but I am not an expert.  

No round bales, but lots of the 'big' rectangular ones.

Vegetables are grown everywhere in lovely gardens; large and small.

A pumpkin patch.

A vineyard - specialty farming.

Not sure just what I was looking at.  The implements I saw were small (compared to the Alberta prairie implements I'm used to seeing).  Ten - twelve feet wide, maximum.

Fields of ripening sunflowers as I approached Burgos.

Potatoes coming off the top of the conveyor.  John Deere is alive and well in Spain.

The soil, which you can see pretty well in the pumpkin pic, is quite red.  Sort of like PEI soil.  Very different from our black soil at home, but it seems to grow things just fine.  One thing I've noticed is that there is not much "zero till" going on.  I also met a big sprayer when I was walking into one of the towns.  Santo Domingo, I think it was.

I also passed a barn housing pigs, perhaps.  I thought I had a photo of it, but can't find it   Most of the animals that I've seen have been outside, chickens, (everyone seems to have a few of those), and of course the sheep and cattle.  As I've moved west, however, the livestock numbers have dropped off, and the field crops have increased.

More Sights of Burgos

A couple of the youngsters goofing around with the statues of the old couple in one of the squares.

My old spaniard.

 

A military band performing for the festival.

Bronze of an old woman roasting chestnuts.

Some famous dude on a horse ...?

A cute peregrino couple.  Well fed.

The square in front of the catedral getting set up for a concert.  It was running on Spanish time, so we left for our beds before anything really started to happen.

The front of the Catedral.  Breathtaking.

Burgos

After an extra 5 km upon leaving San Juan in the dark, H. (Alaska) and I got ourselves on the right camino to Burgos.  Passed through Atapuerca (origins of humankind) but nothing open yet.  

At the top of the last significant climb of this part of the Camino ...

And it was straight on to Burgos.  The city is approximately 175,000 and upon reaching the city limits and the 'ugly' part of any city, we learned that we still had 10 km to go.  The weather was cool, but windy.  Relieved that it was not relentless heat, but the thought of that wasted energy at the beginning of the day was disheartening.

Eventually we found the municipal albergue, which was quite new and lovely, but had no provision for kitchens outside of a sink and a microwave.  I don't think past pilgrims had much say in its design.

After some food and a shower, the world looked a bit brighter.  This is where a number of people will get 'off' thecamino while others go on - another reason that it's challenging to be in Burgos.  It's like summer camp is over after a very intense two weeks.  But nevermind, we are all well and there are lots of sights to see.

The 'back' side of the famous Catedral de Burgos.  It is truly unbelievable.  I have interior photos on my other camera so can't put them into the blog at the moment.  Again, if you're curious, I am sure you can find details and photos with Google.

Catedral on the right; Burgos downtown on the left; sort of reminded me of St. John's (well, maybe only a little bit).

Notice the sky.  It settled in to a steady drizzle after I arrived; I am glad I got here when I did.

An early night on Thursday night; will spend tomorrow and Saturday 'resting' a bit and looking around Burgos at the architecture and art.  And, as luck would have it, there is a medieval festival going on this weekend, so lots of stuff in the downtown streets. "Fin de Semana Cidiano" is the name of the festival.

Pointing the Way

They are everywhere.  And, if you find that they are not, then you've probably gotten yourself lost.  That takes a special kind of talent.

If not an arrow, then a shell.  The story goes that a pilgrim was dying of thirst and the devil tempted him with water if he'd trade his soul.  The faithful pilgrim denied the devil, and St. James rewarded his faith by having water flow from a clam shell.

Bits and Pieces

Here are some things that have caught my eye over the past two weeks: 

Pilgrims are depicted in several ways in many places ...

What was particularly interesting about this guy ...  he wasn't heading towards Santiago.

San Juan de Ortega

When I left Belorado, it was absolutely bucketing down.  Wore my shorts (they were pants when I left home, but you'd be surprised the alterations you can do with a cheap jack knife ... it doubled my hot weather gear!), my rain jacket and my tattered bread bag poncho.  Mercifully, there was very little wind, so I was not deafened by the flapping.  By the time the sun was fully up, the rain had slowed, and by cafe con leche time, it was just overcast and pretty pleasant.

Lots of uphill today, and then a slower downhill through some more forested areas.  Although I didn't see any wildlife (except snails who were happy the path was wet), a couple of the women saw and photographed a snake.  I was quite glad to have missed it.

A bit of the trail on day 11 - Spain has many faces.

Coming into the village of Villafranca.  

Upon arriving at San Juan de Ortega, after a longish walk through the bush - all of a sudden there is another stone church - this one obviously undergoing some sort of restoration work - hence the crane in the background.  The monastery (what was once a monastery and is now being used as the albergue) was attached to the church.  Sort of like a mini-mall - maybe not what the original designers had in mind.  At the far left of the "mini mall" was the cafe/bar.  The only game in town.

The cafe is just past the farthest lefthand door in the photo.

Another shot of the church front.

Inside this church, some interesting religious art and icons.  This funereal piece was particularly ornate; all marble.  It was behind bars, as you will be able to see in the next photo.

Apparently San Juan was a disciple of Santo Domingo - so there is a sculpture of Santo Domingo here as well.

One cannot use flash photography, so my apologies for the lack of clarity on some of these.  I am sure Google images would have better photos than I do.

San Juan's sarcophagus is here as well; a plain stone box - coffin sized.  Not behind bars, surprisingly, but too dark to photograph.

In other news, while the church was fascinating, the monastery was a bit frightening.  One girl thought they'd changed the sheets at the beginning of the season.  I'd say that was debatable.  So fear of bed bugs and terrible creaking and thumping, as well as a distant thunderstorm contributed to a less than idyllic night's rest.  But we had a pretty good "pie atun" (tuna pie), a salad and ice cream at the one cafe, so life was good.

And, no one was bitten that I know of.  One more day on the Camino.