Day 17

​Hornillos del Camino to Castrojeriz

We spent the afternoon yesterday drinking wine and talking U.S. politics with a new friend from Canada. A couple of years ago we hiked the Grand Canyon with a small group of people. One of those guys was Canadian and he closely followed U.S. politics as well. These two guys knew more about our politics than most of the people in the U.S. that I know. It’s great to hear their perspective and it’s nice that we could share our views without anyone getting offended. We hope to see our new friend as we journey forth.

​As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, our hotel was outside the village of Hornillos. Yesterday, we called the hotel and got a ride from the Camino to the hotel. As we were getting ready to leave the hotel this morning, our new Canadian friend told us we just missed the van bringing pilgrims to the Camino. Of course we could wait, by what’s two more miles when you are already hiking 12? So with our headlamps on, we walked back to the Camino and then walked the planned 12.43 miles. Overall we walked 14.1 miles and our moving time was four hours and 27 minutes.

After 8.4 miles we came to our first village, Hontanas. There were a couple of people seated at tables, but other than that, it was pretty easy empty. We stopped and had some coffee and eggs. When we left, the place was packed! Pilgrims love to take a breakfast break!

Further along the Camino, we came across the ruins of what looked like an old Cathedral. It was actually the San Anton Monastery and hospital. The ruins date to the 14th century. Pilgrims would shelter under the roof that connected the arches that now cover the Camino. The Order of San Antón disbanded in 1787. What I love about this site is that it speaks to the legacy of the Camino and how long pilgrims have journeyed along The Way to Santiago.

Once we got to our destination, Castrojeriz, we stopped for a beer.  A big beer.

​We have walked 210 official miles of the Camino and the percent complete is 43%. Tomorrow we head to Fromista.