We had such nice evening last night with new pilgrim meets: Mei from China, Emily from Wisconsin, US, and Roland from Lithuania. Our host even cand in and asked for a photo. It’s the third time I’ve stayed here. So nice.

We started walking around 7:30 and arrived in Burgos around 11:30. We headed straight to the sports store to see about sandals. Success!! And we got ponchos to try. We had a nice lunch and then headed to the post office to send some winter stuff back.

The last part of the walk today was very hot. We have entered the meseta. This is the part of Spain made up of tabletop looking hills/mountains. It is stark and beautiful. It is important not to underestimate this section of the camino for now that your body is strong it is time to tone the mind.

I spoke with a woman yesterday who had decided to skip the meseta. She said that she had done hard stuff in her life and she didn’t need to expose herself to this. She commented that she had read people’s comments about its challenges. I feel bad that people let others opinions influence them and don’t experience things themselves. But, it’s her camino. I get it.

We keep meeting new people, which is so fun.

Oh and the sandals are awesome!!

We saw several pilgrims walking back from Santiago today. Only one stopped to visit. A Dutch man named Martijn. He is doing his pilgrimage in reverse.

While we were walking today Noël realized that he lost his gloves. He was very frustrated with himself. I reminded him that maybe someone would pick them up. When we got to our first stop after 12 kms a Brazilian woman had his gloves hanging on her walking sticks. It was a very nice gift. Noël teared up a bit. We also had a visitor at our table wanting the rest of our food.

We ran into Maria from Australia and had a nice break at each of the possible stops today. We also reconnected with Jeannie and Angel from Miami. The camino allows you to meet so many people. And when you see each other again it’s like a reunion.

One of our stops we ordered a pizza. We were expecting a frozen pizza heated up but instead got a homemade pizza. Absolutely delicious. I told Noël it reminded me of pizza he makes. So yummy.

It was a good day. And we are staying in a town and albergue that I have stayed in the last three times I have walked the camino. Santa Fe albergue in Cardenuela Riopico.

Just a few more photos.

Buen Camino.

Instead of taking rest days we take a shorter day of walking. Today was 12 kms.

Belorado is a beautiful city with lots of murals. We had a nice dinner, saw storks, and slept well. Sadly, Noël started feeling a little bad. He’s a bit sneezy and feeling slightly poorly. But to be fair we spent three days in heavy winds and everything is blooming here.

We stopped every chance we got today and still got to our destination by 1:00. The only restaurant closed at 4:30 so we decided we would eat dinner immediately. It was nice. And then after coaching we both got a massage. WOW!!! That was amazing.

After waking up a bit after our massages we went for a walk. The church was closed but still beautiful. So we called it a day. We plan to get up early because tomorrow, although only 22 kms it has quite a few ups and downs.

We are feeling the milestone of 100 days. Sometimes it feels like we just left and other days it feels like a lifetime. All in a day’s walk.

Thanks for following.

Yesterday as we walked the last 6 kms into Santo Domingo de la Calzada the wind picked up and we were pelted with tiny pieces of sand that hurt when they hit the skin. Today our last 5 kms the wind picked up and the temperatures dropped a bit and the rain came and we were pelted with sharp rain drops. It’s all part of the experience.

We had a really great night’s sleep and had breakfast with our friend Jamer before heading out.

At our stop in Grañón we met some Scottish pilgrims, saw Hannah with her dog Haven and a lovely German lady who we met a day or two ago and seemed somehow not to ask her name.

We stopped in Villamayor del Rio and split a pilgrim’s menu: steak, salad and frites. It was delicious and just enough. We were trying to wait out the storm which worked pretty well.

After Grañon and Redicilla del Camino my recollection of this part of the Camino was fuzzy. There is a lot of new roads being built along this part of the way. Until we arrived in Belorado and saw the familiar albergue on the way into town I just don’t remember. Strange.

I do remember all the beautiful murals in the town. Our hostel is nice, simple and we have reservations for dinner. and that’s about it for a day in the life of a pilgrim.

Hope you are well! Buen Camino!!