Thursday, April 11, 2013

Day 11 - St Juan de Ortega to Burgos (25.6 kms)

St Juan de Ortega - Ages - Artapueca - Cardenuela - Orbaneja - Castanares - Burgos

Hola familia y amigos - if you are receiving the 'daily' updates by email, you will receive two today - one for Day 10 and one for today, Day 11 - as we didn't have a signal on Wednesday night. The way the daily blog feeds work, the most recent update will show first. If you wish to read Day 10 first, just scroll down.

Today was a reminder that the people you meet and walk with along The Way are the heart of The Camino.

As planned, we set off from St Juan de Ortega at 7am with Adeya and Alessio. They had spent the night in the 70 bed albergue (a bit damp and cold) while we managed to secure the last room in a new Casa nearby (very dry and warm!). But thanks to Jill's quick thinking, we were able to 'snaffle' some muffins for them, which had been carelessly left in the dining room of our Casa. A worthy cause, surely.

As is our usual pattern, we walked for about 6 kilometres, to the village of Atapueca, where we tucked into a lovely breakfast. We three girls had tortillas potatas (our yummy spanish omelette) while Alessio had the largest chocolate croissant we'd ever seen. (The caves of Sierra de Atapuerca contain rich fossil records of the earliest human beings, from nearly 1 million years ago. The archaeological site is a UNESCO World Heritage site.)

We walked together for some hours but eventually we went ahead. Adeya and Alessio had started their Caminos, separately, some days before us and had done some enormous days, 35-40 kms. It was starting to take its toll. Although we were all planning 'just' 25+ kms, a few hours in Adeya's ankles were making the walk quite a struggle today. They suggested we walk ahead and we said we would perhaps see them in the main Plaza near the cathedral tonight.

No more than 5 minutes later, we heard our names called. We looked back to see our Camino buddies from North Carolina, Sheryl and Glenn. We had not seen them since Viana a few days ago. They too were heading for Burgos for their next stop. We caught up on the last few days, then it was our turn to stay behind, as we needed a 'bano' stop. We will not be surprised if we see them later in Burgos or further along The Way - in fact, we will be surprised if we don't!

About 10 minutes later, as we were leaving the cafe, we spotted Peeter (from Holland) and Klaus (from Austria). We last saw them in Ventosa (from memory) so we walked on with them for a while towards Burgos.

Did we mention that, for much of this time, it was raining with bitterly cold winds? And the last 10 kilometres was on pavement through the industrial outskirts of Burgos - one of the rare stages of The Camino to be endured, rather than enjoyed. But then, the reward of the old town of Burgos. We arrived at about 2pm, cold and wet and tired. Nothing that a hot shower and dry clothes won't fix.

Not a great many photos today, thanks to the weather. Hopefully this afternoon / evening, the weather will improve and tomorrow we will have some photos of Burgos to share.

In the meantime, we thought you might like to see a selection of the shells and arrows that guide us along The Way.

Thank you to Lindy and Marian for your comments and emails from the day before and Coach for your weather updates. Apologies to those who were concerned when the daily update did not arrive yesterday. Just a technology issue. All is well.

Hasta Luego amigos
Jenny xx and Jill x







































6 comments:

  1. Hola J's :-)
    How lovely to have the cold and windy day brightened by meeting up with so many friends along the Way.
    I hope you're heading into warmer /less wndy weather soon.
    I missed your update yesterday - but we're doubly-blessed today :-)
    So glad everything's going so well. What a magic journey!
    Love. Julie

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  2. Hi Jill & Jenny,
    I was having withdrawals with no blog yesterday but have enjoyed the double-dose today. I love reading about all the peregrinos you are meeting along the way. It is like a travelling family, which makes the experience all the richer I imagine.
    I'm renting 'The Way' this weekend for more visuals. The photos are just gorgeous.
    Hope the feet are holding up. You both look as fresh as the day you started.
    Love, Jan x

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  3. Hi Jenny and Jill

    Like Jan I had withdrawals yesterday and was wondering whether everything was OK. Very selfish of me. Love the photo of the senors - and glad to hear their team was successful. I can only image that they are fanatics. How are the feet? And the boots .... have you named them yet? They are your best friends remember and they are coping a bashing every day. Keep well and thank you for sharing The Way each day. Much love Sue

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  4. Hei Jenny &Jill,
    your blog is now my everyday ritual and i love it (what i am I supposed to do when you arrived in Santiago?)!!!
    So nice that you meet the same people again and again on the camino. I can remember it was the same in 2011. That is a very special experience i think.
    Enjoy every day,take god care and finger crossed that you get more sun and less wind and rain!
    Grretings,
    Nina

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  5. hi jenny and jill...have just got off the phone to your coach(Martin)...he says you are both in great spirits...great to hear...missed your blog on day 10...nice to see you are back on...look forward to reading your daily journey
    stay safe.

    love sharon x

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  6. Hi Gals.....top of the morning from the Gold Coast...... blue skies here, not unlike the skies you encountered on route to Burgos.....except it's warmer here. Good to hear that the wind, rain, snow has left you for a while. Again, photos are outstanding, tho' I think you're both looking a bit lean, so, more paella me thinks. Great shot of the group lunching/coffee with Bob(?) featuring. I took time out to check out his website....it was great and shows him to be a pretty special person. Must be nearing the halfway point now.....so pleased to hear that feet and health are holding....."go you good things" and enjoy everything the Camino has to offer.
    Lotsaluv DA

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