Monat: August 2018

Yesterday we wanted to cook again. But there was no cooker. The Italian pilgrim recommended a couscous-salad. The pomegranate made it special and very good.

Afterwards some of the pilgrims wanted to the mess. We got the blessing for the pilgrims.

Today I slept until 5.45…. longer than the last several days. I said goodbye to some pilgrims who wanted to walk the whole day …. e.g. the Dutch man who started in his hometown.

The cathedral opened at 9.30, so I had time for walking around in León ( León was founded by the Romans for their seventh le(gi)on… so the name León). I watched the people of the city and thought…. many of them do not look pleased.

Then I visited the gothic cathedral. I liked the many, many coloured window glasses very much.

Then I started to walk. It was late and already hot… so for today about 12km to Valverde de la Virgen.

Yesterday we cooked together in the albergue. Well, to say the truth, 2 Italian pilgrims did more or less everything for the pasta. It was very good…

It was party-time afterwards… but it is very difficult to play a guitar with only 3 strings….

Today I stood up early…. some of the pilgrims want to go to León…. a far way. I am already used to the night walks … only with the light of the moon if no other pilgrim is around who thinks he needs more light. I think of the times many years ago…. when I went as a child with my father on the hunting walks in the night…. I knew that I had to be careful where to go but felt perfectly safe because my father ‚would protect me from any danger‘. Now I have a very similar feeling on the Camino in the night…. I know I have to look where to go but I feel very safe.

As we pass the last albergue before León I am still fit and decide to go on with 2 Dutch pilgrims. Here is one of them, who started his Camino in his hometown in Holland…. and León in the background.

We arrive in León. New personal record with about 37km. I feel only my left foot a little bit… so this is okay for this distance.

The cathedral is too big for the photo…. and closed in the later Sunday afternoon. So maybe tomorrow.

Yesterday I hoped to say hello to Rebekah Scott…. she translated ‚El gran caminante‘ from Spanish to English…. one member of my first Camino family recommended that as a camino – book… and I read that book at the moment in English. But she had to do ‚with a family emergency‘.

Yesterday in the albergue we had a dinner for the pilgrims. We were 3 persons. Normally these dinners are much fun, conversation and wine-drinking. There was one guy from South Korea…. but I could not talk more with him because of his limited English. But really like comedy was the woman from the UK. She used about 85% of her time for the smartphone, 14% of her time for finding the food on her plate and about 1% of her time for interesting communication like ‚yes‘, ’no‘ or ‚hmmmm….‘. Well, the food was good….

Today I stood up early and started walking. As the sun rose, I saw this on one of my legs….

I posted it in a camino forum and they said, it might be bed bugs. So I informed the last 2 albergues. Recommended decontamination to not carry on bed bugs is to use a dryer as the high temperature kills bed bugs. In my albergue the dryer does not work and in the next albergue they say ‚ no dryer if I do not sleep here (even if I had paid the 6 euros)’…. so it is washing machine and sun power….

In the morning before the sunrise I walked with a Spanish man…. and I could have at least a very basic communication in Spanish. The walk to El Burgo Ranero was okay(about 27km), today there was often some shadow…

 

Yesterday in the evening 3 pilgrims and I cooked together. We cooked pasta, a special tortilla with zucchini and fruit salad. We had fun, it was good …. and I ate a little bit too much.

I stood up at about 4.30 and began the longest way without villages and water at about 5.15. It was relatively easy because the temperature was good for walking. Somewhere in between there was even a bar.

There are still some fields of sunflowers.

Sometimes the pilgrims build special arrows with stones.

Then I walked on to Terradillos de los Templarios, where I wanted to stop. But then I thought…. maybe a little bit further on.

The last 3km were at about 1 o’clock in the heat of the noon and tiring…. but now I have walked about 30km to Moratinos, I took a shower, washed my clothes by hand, slept a little bit  and wait for the things that will happen this afternoon.

Today I walked about 24km from Boadilla del Camino to Carrión de los Condes.

The young Dutchman stood up at about 4 o’clock. Then I stood up as well. It was a nice walk in the night…. under the moon and the stars.

Then there was a  wonderful sunrise….

While writing the last paragraph, I fall asleep two times and recogniced it as my smartphone dropped out of my hand…. so it was time for my siesta.

And again endless fields…

Tomorrow the day starts with the longest distance without villages and drinking water on the Camino Frances…. about 17km. It is very good to walk this part of the way in the morning and not in the heat.

 

Today I walked from Hontanas to Boadilla del Camino about 28km. For the last 4km I taped my right little toe and my left heel (with a little blister that I did not feel, I only saw it during a break). So about 60km in 2 days is still a little bit too much… but tomorrow it will be less (about 24km).

A young Dutch man with budget constraints started at 23.00 and walked until noon about 60km…. but he said, he will walk shorter distances in the future.

Today I came to the Tierra de campos ( the land of fields). At home I thought this is very different from Bavaria and I wanted to see it by myself…. and now I am here.

Sometimes the fields seem to be endless….