Day 15

Yesterday morning we said our goodbyes to Anita and set out early through the deserted streets of Burgos. We walked 20km to the village of Hornillos del Camino. It was a cold day but sunny, with a clear blue sky, perfect walking conditions. It felt great to be back on the Camino, walking was pleasant, mostly on good gravel surface, not too much on bitumen roadway, gentle inclines and interesting countryside.

There are more pilgrims than expected walking the Camino at this time of year, plus many Spanish have taken to the Camino over this 4 day holiday period, making accommodation scarce in these small villages. For this reason we have started to book accommodation one or two days ahead to avoid the problem of searching for a room at the end of a days walk when feeling foot sore and weary. Of course it is nearly always possible to obtain a bed in an alburge if we are desperate

Accommodation at Hornillos del Camino was booked out so we arranged to stay at the Casa Rural el Molino, situated, we were told, just a few km outside the village. When we arrived a little bus came to collect us and drove for at least 10km out into the countryside. We had absolutely no idea where we were going and the driver spoke no English. We eventually arrived at a large, sprawlling Spanish house and shown to our accommodation at the rear. We entered through a doorway into the dining / lounge area and sitting at the table was a fellow pilgrim, Diane from Seattle, whom we met at the start of the walk and keep running into along the way. We just couldn't believe that out here in the middle of nowhere we would find the friendly face of someone we knew. It was another weird and wonderful Camino moment. Although only early afternoon, it was freezing cold outside, so we lit the wood fire, ordered a bottle of vino tinto, put our feet up, settled in, then talked and laughed away the remains of the day.

On the walls we noticed posters for the movie 'The Way' signed by Martin Sheen and Emillio Estevez, as well as a lovely framed black and white photograph of Martin Sheen and his co-stars standing in a line with their packs on, which was from a scene in the movie. In broken English and Spanish we ascertained that the picture was taken in the adjacent field and that Martin Sheen and Co had stayed here whilst filming.

That evening we had a delicious meal of tomatoes in dressing, boiled eggs in a white sauce, garlic soup, ham, cheese, roast beef slices in gravy, and a black type of sausage stuffed with rice and vegetables, followed by an ice cream desert.  Nice change from the usual pilgrims menu.  After an early morning breakfast of coffee and toast we were driven back into the village to continue walking. The accommodation, meals, wine and transport cost 78 euros, great value.

Todays 22km walk was similar to yesterday, great weather, good track, lovely countryside, with the added bonus of meeting up again with our new Aussie friends from Townsville.  We have now entered the rellative wilderness of the Mesata which we find quite lovely, so far anyway, and not as flat and featureless as we had been led to believe.  As usual, there was history in every village and out along the road we walked under the archway of the11th century San Anton fortress.

In a couple of days we estimate we will reach the half way mark, hard to believe we have made it this far unscathed and enjoying it all so much.