Yesterday there was a funny party in the albergue…. I hope we were not too loud.
Today I walked about 31km from Burgos to Hontanas. It was better than I have thought.
There are less and less trees and the fields seem to be endless.
You could see Hontanas only if you are very close because it is in a valley.
Today I walked from Cardeñuela to Burgos about 15km. Again I started under the stars and the moon…
A little bit later this sunflower (girasol) greeted me at the beginning of the industrial zone of Burgos.
I wanted to try a path a little bit more in the north of Burgos…. a path that follows a river. My small path to that river ended in bushes and it was hard to continue my way:
Afterwards I liked the path next to the river very much, it is like in a park.
In the center of Burgos the Camino is well signed on the ground…. half of the street has the form of arrows:
The cathedral of Burgos is huge and impressive…. and you get an audio guide with much information. One image is by far not enough for this cathedral….
I had a telephone call with Beate, my mum and my dad.
Today I walked fron Villafranca to Cardeñuela Riopico about 24km. Now I am about 14km in the east of Burgos.
I started at about 5o’clock with the stars and the full moon… where you could not see much in the forest.
There is a time for getting to know new friends, a time for parties, a time for saying goodbye and a time for sadness. Often it can change quickly on the Camino.
Today I saw Burgos for the first time….
Today I walked from Redecilla del Camino to Villafranca Montes de Oca about 23,5 km.
If you do not want to carry your backpack, there are transport companies for the backpacks:
In one village there was a big graffiti:
And there are many flowers next to the way.
Yesterday I ate in the bar with 2 pilgrims from Austria. Afterwards I saw that there was a big cooking session in the albergue…. I ate again a little bit more and we talked until about 23:30…. I stood up again at about 5:30… so I am a little bit tired today. Walking early is good to avoid as much as possible the heat in the afternoon.
Today I walked about 26km from Azofra to Redecilla del Camino.
This is in the church of Grañón:
The last 5km is was hot again. Slowly there is less winegrowing and more grain:
Yesterday was the 25th of July, when the annual Feast of Saint James (Dia de Santiago) takes places in Santiago de Compostela. Santiago or Saint James, in English, is the Patron Saint of Spain.
Carelessly I thought I could just go to church on this day if I am on the way of Saint James. Shortly before the mass the priest asked „Pilgrims? Where are you from?“…. and then 2 other pilgrims and I should read a intercession in the first language of the pilgrim.
Of course I had almost the suitable clothes for this…
The church is nice.
Today I walked from Navarette to Azofra about 22,5km.
There is a lot of winegrowing here.
Yesterday in the evening there was a bull run in Viana:
Today I walked from Viana to Navarrete about 22km – it was one of the easier days.
I walked through Logroño. It has a population of about 150.000… so it is only a little larger than 1/10 of my hometown Munich. But I am not used to a big city anymore (traffic, houses, streets, big shops, many people, ….)….
The Spanish people are helpful. I was not 10 metre in a ‚wrong‘ street for looking as a Spanish man explained me where the Camino is.
The Iglesia de Santiago is a nice church…. and it fits to today (July the 25th), the day of Santiago Apostle, patron saint of Spain.
And there is a St. James way rose as well:
Today I walked about 30km from Villamayor to Vianna (about 8km northeast of Logroño). In the afternoon it was very hot (about 30 degrees centigrade).
You can see Logroño already….
Why? – Part 2
In this thread ( first posting ) there is a short video about a camino experience:
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/what-i-learnt-along-the-way-film.49141/
Today I walked from Mañeru to Villamayor de Monjardín about 26km.
I like this warning sign:
My backpack has now a baby camino shell:
Near Estella is a well known ‚wonder‘ – a wine fountain. On the left there is free wine, on the right water.
You can probably discuss the quality of the wine…. but there I liked it.
There were 3 German girls who walked the Camino after their school education. Two of them had overloaded backpacks…. and problems with their feet or knees.
So if you need a short checklist for doing the Camino:
1. Well-fitting shoes (light is good, large enough even after a long and hot walking day)
2. Light backpack
Why?
I had a discussion with several pilgrims how one could explain the ‚Camino Magic’…. what makes the camino maybe different to other trekking routes…. and what is a compensation for the hard work of walking, the hot sun, sleeping in a dormitory and other camino-stuff…. until now everybody answered ‚es imposible / it is not possible‘ to explain it to someone who misses the experience.
So I will not try to explain it but tell sometimes an anecdote or something like that.
Today it is a quote. I know it like this:
And the nun told the pilgrim: „The Camino is God’s dream for how people should be when they are with each other.“
And I think that here the people are really different to the ’normal life‘.
Today I walked from Tiebas to Mañeru (about 4km in the west of Puente la Reina): 23,1km.
The first special experience was the church Santa María de Eunate:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Saint_Mary_of_Eunate
This sticker is a memory of my first Camino from Saint Maria of Eunate:
The other important change was that the Camino Aragones ended in Puente la Reina…. so I am on the Camino Frances with many more pilgrims now.
But the sad consequence was that I lost my first ‚Camino family‘ who could only walk until Puente la Reina… I met the 4 Spanish persons first on day 3 and from day 5 on we shared the evening dinner, were together in bars, walked the Camino partly as a group and shared the dormitory in the albergues. A fifth person completed the group a little bit later. Today we walked slowly and were in several bars. And if someone would have told me one week ago how sad I would be because of the ‚loss‘ of my first camino family, I would not have believed it.