Burgos to Rabé de las Calzadas

After packing up, Dorte walked with me past the cathedral to find a place for a café con leche before we said goodbye. We found nothing, but decided to ask at the big, fancy Hotel Abba Burgos, which we were just passing. The valet girl assured us there was a cafe, which served coffee. So we went in and had coffee in their fancy restaurant, which was all set up with breakfast buffet for their staying guests. We were certainly out of place, but they were very nice, and when we wanted to pay they said it was complimentary! What a generous and sweet gesture and a great not to leave each other on! Another gift of the Camino!
The first part out of Burgos was nice, past old buildings, parks and boulevards, then it was pretty boring with suburbia, crossing under the freeway, and along fields, and the first village after Burgos called Villabilla was totally bypassed by the track, so no rest to or coffee there! When I finally came to the outskirts of the next village of Tardajos, I sat on a bench to rest my burning feet, eat the rest of the cheese and bread I had, and drink some water, before I pulled my socks and sandals back on. I walked the last 1.5 km to my destination for the day in Rabé de las Calzadas. - I found the albergues and chose the one that was already opened. I got a bottom bunk - a very nice, older German couple were already there. Very talkative and friendly.
The bathrooms were nice, and there was a friendly hosteliere who spoke a bit of English.
After laundry and nap I wandered around the little village, and a friendly older man showed me where the local bar was - guess he knew I was looking for it! On the way I met the girl from London, Libby, again - she was staying at the other albergue across the street. As I walked into the bar an Irish lady joined me, and we ended up talking and having coffee, then wine together. She had just started her continued Camino journey from Burgos that very same day, as she was doing it in stages as her vacation time allowed. Dinner was going to be at the albergue, it should be fun with a small group like tonight. I bought a bottle of wine for the dinner, which, strangely enough, did not include wine - that's a first! Then I went over to check out the church while it was open. I had arranged to share the bottle of wine with a young Brazilian bicycle rider, who just arrived as I came in with the wine. He was so happy to get a bed - a spare, and the last one in the village! So he thought as I did, that a glass of wine was a must with dinner! We ate in 2 shifts, and he was on the late shift, so I had a heck of a time protection his share of wine - several of the others had not noticed that tonight the wine was not included, so I shared as best I could from my bottle, still leaving wine for the Brazilian!
We were only 9 in the room, 8 bunk beds and 1 spare bed with a funny Italian guy, who spoke hardly any English, but somehow that didn't stop him from being hilarious! He reminded me of the guy from the movie "It's A Beautiful Life". His feet were in awful shape, and he must have been in a lot of pain when walking, but he laughed and joked as he tended to his many blisters! It was a noisy night with lots of coughing, snoring, tossing and turning, sometimes a big room with 100 beds are quieter, you just never know! Oh well, that's part of the fun!

Agés to Burgos

The first part of the trail was lovely through oak forest, and it was a nice morning with the mist lifting as the sun went up over the hills, casting a soft glow over the landscape around us.
We met a couple of fun girls along the way - one from London, and the other from Germany, and we also ran into the Norwegian couple several times along the trail. We had coffee with the two girls at one of the most charming bar/restaurants we had been in so far - La Palomar - it was really cute, and the owner was very hospitable and friendly.
The last 6-7 km were tough, my blisters were acting up again, probably because it was getting hot, as we were walking into the suburbs of Burgos, then along the airport, mainly on paved roads. So after having walked all the way around the airport and the landing strips, we hopped on a bus the last few km into the center of Burgos. From there we had to find the Camino and the Albergue, and when we asked, a very friendly Spanish lady walked us to the street were the new Albergue was! We were touched by her kindness!
The big, beautiful new albergue is right by the huge, beautiful cathedral of Burgos in the center of the old town. However, the architect has quite obviously never tried to get up into the top bunks - it was impossible!! Very narrow ladder, and absolutely nothing to hold on to, so unless you were young, long-legged and had lots of strength and flexibility, none of which applied to Dorte nor me, you could not get up there. So we got two bottom bunks!
After having done our chores, we went out to look at Burgos and the beautiful cathedral. first we had some tapas, talked with my daughter Janicke on the phone, and then we went in to the exquisite Gothic cathedral and the attached museum - breathtakingly beautiful! With the stores open again after Siesta we walked around to try and find a shoe store - I had decided to try and get some heavy sandals to walk in, as an alternative to the boots while my blisters healed. It wasn't easy, but after asking at the tourist office I wandered through the big gate and across the bridge into the newer part of town, to find the shoe store, while Dorte went back to the albergue for a nap. - As I walked and walked, not finding the store, I asked two young boys in their early teens, thinking they might speak a bit of English, which they did. They were so nice and polite, and after assessing that I probably didn't quite get their directions, they walked with me until they were sure I knew where to go! So sweet! Then they went back to playing soccer! In the shoe store nobody spoke any English, but I managed to get across to the very nice assistant that I needed some sandals for the Camino. She brought out about 6 pairs in my size, and after trying them on, and asking her advice, I settled on an extremely ugly, but very comfortable and sturdy pair! I put them on right away, thought I might as well give them a test run!

On the way back the sunlight from the setting sun illuminated part of the cathedral - it was just so beautiful! - I took several photos of the warm glow on the spires of the Cathedral, before walking on.
When I returned to the albergue it was almost 8 PM, and Dorte was waiting downstairs, so soon we went out to the restaurant the volunteer wardensat the albergue had recommended. - It was our last evening together, so it was a bit sad, but it had been a good experience to share this part of the Camino. Dorte is now ready to do the remainder by herself, as time allows, and I will soon be used to walking alone again.

Villafranca to Agés via St. Juan de Ortega

I slept like a log, in spite of my long nap yesterday, and woke up a bit before 7 AM. Amazingly, nobody had made noise or turned the light on this morning! We had caught a wave of really, really considerate pilgrims as we were moving westwards, it seemed!
After a muesli bar we headed out into the fog to start our long trek of 12 km to St. Juan de Ortega, and then on to Agés from there. Soon we were on the path leading over the mountains, and we climbed the first 2 hills which gives us some warmth in the cool, foggy and damp morning air. We made a quick stop to eat our bread and cheese which Dorte bought the night before in the Panaderia (bakery), while we see pilgrims emerge out of the thick fog in the forest like ghosts. At a point we pass a memorial for a group of Spanish executed by the Franco regime during the Spanish Civil War - a somber place.
As we move on the wind started blowing from behind, and suddenly the fog started clearing, and we saw the first patches of blue sky as we spotted the bell tower of St. Juan appear over the hilltop, much sooner than anticipated.
First we didn't believe we had reached it, but as we approached, we realized it was indeed the monastery! We had made really good time, as it was not even 11:30 AM.
We got the longed-for café con leche, and then took a few photos of the famous monastery situated up here in the remote forested hills far from everything. The church of San Nicolás was open, so we looked in before we went to the bar. This was the very day - September 22nd - where the sunlight would hit the Statue of the Madonna at 5 PM - but we would have long moved on, as we did not plan on staying here.

The last 3.7 km went gently downhill through oak forest, and we soon four ourselves in Agés, where we choose our albergue - the municipal, which looked fine, above the one and only bar/restaurant in this little village. - We were the first in, again, and chose our bottom bunks, then showered and did laundry as the next pilgrims started to come in. - I slept like a log again, no doubt the antihistamine was doing a bit to help me along, and the next morning I felt good, ready for the long hike in to the city of Burgos.

From Belorado to Villa Franca Monte del Oca

We got up fairly late this morning - amazingly no one got up and turned on lights or made lots of noise packing up!
I had had a fairly sleppless night due to incessant itching on my hands - mainly my hands, but not only my hands! When Dorte helped me look, we could see my whole upper back was full of a rash also, so we decided it must be an allergic reaction to something, but what? I had bites or rashes on neck, face, cheeks, both arms and the top of my back, not to mention my hands! It's good to have a sister along who is also a medical doctor, and thus has a well-equipped first aid kit! She prescriped some antihistamine tablets, and soon it eased the terrible itching. - We decided to try and find a place for morning coffee and bocadillos in Belorado, and at the outskirts we lucked out! Then we set of on the trail, which thankfully was at least somewhat away from the N120 highway, which was busy with Monday morning traffic.
We walked through several small, deserted villages with nothing open, but finally in the one before Villa Franca we found an open bar, so we were refreshed and ready to make the final trek of about 3.7 km. We got a bunk at the albergue which was part of the new, 3-star hotel, built by a former pilgrim, who had wanted to give something back, so he built an albergue behind his fancy hotel!
We got in just as it started raining, so we really lucked out! Not so the Norwegian couple we had noticed the night before - they came in about half an hour after us, dripping wet!
The hotel was very elegant, but cold, so after shower and laundry I crept into my sleeping bag and slept for a couple of hours, catching up on my sleep! I had felt a bit slugging because of the antihistamine, so the next one I would take at night, not in the morning!
After I woke up Dorte and I went out to find a local bar, to warm up with a glass of wine, enjoying the atmosphere in the bar with was brimming with locals, pilgrims, and of course, lots of smoke and the television blaring as in most every Spanish bar or café!

Grañón to Belorado

Breakfast was good, and we got off to a start around 8:15 am - it was cloudy and cool, but not raining as we walked along the Camino, which at this point pretty much followed the highway N-120.
Luckily it was not very busy since it was Sunday morning. Thus none of the villages we passed through had any life, it seemed, and certainly no open bars, so it seemed like a desolate, deserted country we walked through that morning, the fields bare, so nothing to capture the eye and entertain the mind. Lots of opportunity to let the mind wander!
We made quick progress since there were nowhere to stop, and around 1 p.m. we had covered 15 km, and started looking for an albergue for the night, as we had planned to spend the night in Belorado. We decided to stay at the new albergue right outside the town, since it had all facilities, and that way we didn't have to worry about finding an open restaurant on a Sunday, which can be difficult in some of these small villages. Besides it was a cool day, and it looked like rain was in the imminent future, so with sore feet, we had no desire to hunt around for a restaurant!
We took advantage of being the first ones there to get showered and do our laundry in the washer and dryer - we appreciated especially the dryer, since our laundry from the previous day had not dried in the cool, damp air in the bell tower, nor on the back of our backpacks.
Even though the surroundings were lacking in atmosphere, we enjoyed a really good dinner, and they had a slideshow from the Camino in the dining hall while we were eating, so it was fun to watch some of the places we had already been!

From Cirueña to Grañón

We reached the next village of Santo Domingo de Calzades, which is famous for the chicken they keep in the church. I wanted to see the critters, but there was an important town fiesta, so there was a big church service, thus we couldn't get in to see the famed chicken, oh well!
We walked through town and continued on our way in the headwind, and found to our dismay that much of today's path went along a busy highway, so it seemed we moved slower than usual. However, we reached Grañón around lunchtime, where we found the refugio we wanted - it was in the bell tower of the church, and they only had mattresses, but it was charming, and how often do you get the chance to stay in a church bell tower?
We got settled in in the attic right next to the bell tower and soon we were showered, did laundry, and then it was high time to find a place for a late lunch!
We found a local cafe mainly patronized by the older men of the village it appeared, so we enjoyed our bocadillos with cheese and dried ham in plenty of cigarette and cigar smoke! The Spanish in general smoke like were they paid to do so - even the young people!
Then we went on the hunt to get a stamp for our passport since the refugio did not have a stamp, so we got it from another bar in the village. After a nap I helped out with prepping the vegetables for the evening's communal meal, before it was time for the evening mass in the beautiful church, where the old women sang so lovely as they went up to receive the sacrament. As we came back to the refugio it was dinner time, and we were all benched in the dining room and had a nice dinner of salad, pasta and fruit with wine and water. Afterwards we helped with the dishes. (Amazing how some people feel no need to contribute - the same ones it seems that steal grapes, figs etc. and cut across private fields to save a few steps - I think they are the "takers" of this world - also the same ones who are stingy with their donations, while they feel free to criticize the coffee, breakfast, etc.) Luckily I meet many more of the world's givers on the Camino - most of the hospitalieros are volunteers, and the pilgrims in general are generous and caring.
During the night there was no doubt, I was sleeping in the bell tower - I think I only missed the 1 PM bell, but then there were no loud snorers, so that was a plus!

From Nájera to Cirueña

We awoke to pouring rain, so we donned the rainwear, and went out to find the coffee bar Dorte had noticed the previous day when she was shopping.
After a hot café con leche and a bit to eat, we trotted out of town in the pouring rain towards the first town of the day, Azofra, where we stopped for another coffee and bocadillos to sustain ourselves. Then it was on to the next stretch of almost 10 km, before the next possible rest stop.
The path got very muddy as we walked along, and we had to concede that the guidebook was absolutely correct, when it said that the rich, red Rioja soil "sticks to your boots like leeches when wet!" - It was tough going, and we were very happy when we saw Cirueña appear, as we trudged up a long hill.
- We were surprised at how good time we had made in spite of the slow going in the mud. - The previous night we had made reservation at a private albergue - Casa Victoria - and hoped we could find it, as we walked through the completely empty new part of the little mountain village. It was desolate with all the empty, mostly ugly, new condominiums adjacent to the new golf course, oddly out-of-place, we thought!
As we followed the yellow arrows towards the few old houses, we could see the church and the lone bar of the original village. We went into the bar, got coffee, and asked where Casa Victoria was - right across the street in a very nice-looking house! We were happy that we were so close, as we were very wet and tired.
My 2 blisters were bothering me by now, and I looked forward to getting out of my wet, muddy boots and clothes - as was Dorte!
We rang the doorbell and a nice, elderly man welcomed us into the beautiful, sparkling clean house. - We got our muddy boots of and followed him up 3 flights of stairs to our room, with 2 big beds, and a beautiful bathroom with shower and bidet! Towels were laid out on the beds! It was a beautiful room- albeit a bit chilly, but the shower was heavenly - hot water - and I managed to rinse most of the mud off my rain pants in the shower. Later I washed them and my socks, the rest I just hung out to dry. Most of our stuff was wet or damp, and we hung it out to dry as best we could in the room, before we went under the covers to warm up and rest.
Around 5:30 PM we finally got up and dressed as warmly as we could, to go the short distance to the bar to get something to eat and drink. The lady of the house, whom we had not yet met, came out to greet us, and told us she would give us a stamp in our Pilgrim's Passport, so not to worry about that! You have to have a stamp from every day in order to qualify to stay at the albergues, and ultimately to get the Compostela.
At the bar it was nice and warm - the food was good, and there was even free internet - who would have thought in such a small, remote hamlet! Maybe because they were trying to change in to a posh golf community? Anyway, we enjoyed the evening, and even more getting back to our own room, sleep in a real bed, and have our own bathroom!
The next morning breakfast was set out for us at 8 am as we had requested, and after enjoying a peaceful breakfast we packed up and got back on the Camino in the breezy, but sunny morning.