May 7, 2016 Saturday

A Slower Walk across the Meseta to El Burgo Ranero    Walking Day #16

My goal today was to keep it to a slow pace, this being my first day back walking on the Camino after my fairly short, but dramatic illness. After a breakfast of tea (not coffee-con-leche), toast and jam, and yogurt (following doctor’s orders…no milk except yogurt, and no zumo narranjo for a few days), I set out for my first post-drama walk. I felt good. The temperature was very cool, and I wish I had not lost my gloves. I saw several friends who I knew would be walking faster than I wanted, so I let them go ahead. I will see them again, I’m sure.

I caught up to Ernie and Michaela from Australia, and since they were walking slower, I joined them, and we had a good time walking today.

Passing by the city arch of Sahagún (the historic entrance to the city), Ernie took this picture of me. Not the most fashionable look, but I was warm in the fairly cold early morning.

These way markers appeared for a while on the sidewalk as we were walking out of Sahagún. Not my favorite, but the point is made. It does seem that the shell is upside-down, as the direction to walk is to the top of the picture.

Much of the road on which we walk today was built by the Romans, including this walking bridge. It could be that this bridge, which is at least two thousand years old, has survived because it has not been subject to the heavy weight of automobiles. Seeing this and knowing that the Romans built this road, one cannot fail to consider and think about our place in the history of the Camino as we lay our feet down upon the path hundreds of thousands have before us, maybe more.

Later in the morning we walked along a railroad, and as we were about to walk under the bridge, here I am again, with the same not-so-fashionable look.

We have not seen vast fields of canola for several days, and here they are again. A very pleasant odor fills the air near the fields. In the back what appears almost as telephone wires is really the catenary for the railroad, still near us, and occasionally a very fast train rushes by.

We stopped for a bite to eat and a tea or coffee in a little (very little) town of Bercianos del Real Camino. This little cafe, clearly existing solely for the pilgrims, was one of the cleanest and neatest I have seen, in spite of the many pilgrims being served. And the restrooms were also at the same level of cleanliness. Nothing short of impressive.

After our break, we had only 8 kilometers (5 miles) to go today. Ernis and Michaela were also stopping in El Burgo Ranero. The Camino is tree-lined here and by a road on which we only saw cyclists, no motor traffic. This part of the walk was very quiet and very nice.

We finally arrived in El Burgo Ranero. Not a very pretty city, and not a particularly historic city. El Burgo Ranero is small, only 800 in population.

I found my hotel, the Piedras Blancos. The really great bonus for me was that after four days of not being able to wash clothes except a few items in the sink, they would wash and dry for me for only 10 Euros. I quickly got a shower, changed into my last clean clothes, and took everything else downstairs to the laundry room. Little things like this make a difference, and having clean clothes is a very good thing.

So, some of you who have been following my Camino may be wondering how it felt to be back on the road after a couple days off for illness and a day in the hospital. In short, it felt great. Sometimes when you are sick, you forget how good it is to feel well, and even difficult to imaging ever feeling really well again. I experienced that when I was at my sickest a couple of days ago, and I thought for sure that I would be going home, that I would not be able to continue the Camino. With good evaluation by the doctor in Carrion de las Condes, and really excellent and compassionate care at the Rio Carrion Hospital in Palencia, especially the staff on the 11th floor (and especially Sonia whose English was excellent and her translation for other staff extremely helpful), I am back to good health and back on the Camino de Santiago. I feel good, my stamina is not lacking, my legs and feet are good, and maybe a couple day’s rest was not so bad for parts of me. I am back!

Next: Another fairly short day to Mansilla de las Mulas (maybe in the rain)