September 17, 2016: Pretty level day as we plod along enjoying the company of Alabama John (Hence, the video song choice) and Blair today. Poor Blair’s blisters are becoming quite a struggle, but she is one tough cookie.
Blair, Joan and I are staying in Ledigos tonight while Alabama John continues on to the next town meaning we, most likely, will not see him again. Thank you being a part of our journey. Buen Camino, John!
We take a stroll around this quaint little village of Ledigos with its interesting buildings constructed with mud and straw. We walk up a hill to the church and discover a woman just finishing up preparing for Sunday service tomorrow. She allows us in and gives us a little tour.
September 16, 2016: The way is dark as we slip out of the village of Boadilla. The Camino follows a path along a dike that separates the Canal de Castilla from farmland on the left. Constructed between the last half of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century, it runs 207 km and parts of it are still used for irrigation. ~Wikipedia
The last stretch of this approximately 25 K day is quite easy and level but seems to take forever. That is, until we start walking with an Australian named Blair (Taught in Spain and Ireland.) and the conversation takes my mind off of the distance. Thank you, Blair!We meet our goal of arriving in Carrion de los Condes in time to get beds at the former convent called Albergue Espiritu Santo run by Spanish nuns. Just make sure you use this front door and don’t try to enter, for the first time, through the back courtyard.Nice clean rooms, clean bathrooms/showers and no bunk beds.
The nuns inform us of a free concert tonight in a nearby church which sounds quite interesting. After running into our Irish friend Sinead in the courtyard, the three of us decide to pursue this opportunity together. The featured musician, James Kline, designed a fascinating instrument that has 2 necks, 11 strings on one and a lute and dulcimer on the other. Enjoyable, relaxing music.
We leave Castrojeriz only to see a huge, steep hill ahead of us. What’s up with that? We are in the meseta, so shouldn’t the way be relatively flat? Trudging halfway up the hill I look back and the view is breathtaking!
Once we tackle the hill, the rest of the way is easier and I can see for miles. It’s windy and the temps are cold, so poor Joan is still suffering from Hiking Pants Envy wishing her legs were covered, too. Our bed tonight is in Boadilla and many bunk beds are crammed into a room with a ladder leading to a loft above. I feel much younger now having discovered one of our roommates is well into his 80’s and has completed over 20 caminos. He always takes the bed by the ladder in the loft when he is in this albergue, so up he goes.
The garden area includes interesting metal sculpture art and murals.
We top the night off with a delicious Pilgrim meal.
September 14, 2016: Having survived the horrendous dust storm coming into Hornillos yesterday, we appreciate the weather today as we leave town. However, the temps have dropped considerably, Joan’s legs are getting cold, and she is enviously eyeing long pants on the other pilgrims.
We walk a while with Linda, from Ireland, who excitedly relates her experience of staying at the albergue run by the in-laws of Emilio Esteves’ son. Pretty cool.
We check into Albergue Ultrea in Castrojeriz and are greeted by a warm, gregarious gentleman who makes his guests feel welcome.We stroll around town and up the hill to view the castle ruins high above… …along with bodegas built into the hillsides.
Coming back from our exploration we bump into an Australian pair and receive a nice hug they deliver from Randy. Little did we know, Randy ran into these friends (as he sadly made his way to the bus station in Burgos) upon leaving the Camino and us behind. Another shout-out to Sinaed from Ireland who has also become part of our Camino family. Buen Camino!Unusual decor ~ Looking up, we see a wine-press which is demonstrated in an animated fashion (See video) followed by a tour of the bodega down below the albergue.
9-12-2016: Today we are tourists exploring the city of Burgos, Spain. Click on the link below for a short highlight video :
Construction on the Cathedral began in 1221 and was completed in 1567 which included a hiatus of nearly 200 years with the work resuming on the Burgos Cathedral towards the middle of the 15th century and would continue for more than 100 years. The work done during this time consisted of embellishments of great splendour, assuring the Cathedral’s continued world-renown status. ~unesco.org Audio tour is full of historical facts and I find it difficult to absorb all of the grandeur and history. Truly immense and I’m in awe.
We are seeing more beggars in the tourist areas of town. Scam artists? Hmmm…
We climb the hill and explore massive fortifications of the rebuilt Castillo de Burgos. Dating from the 9th century, the castle has a turbulent history, suffering a fire in 1736 and blown up by Napoleon’s troops in 1813. There’s a small museum featuring the history of Burgos.
The impressive view from the castle reveals an aerial view of our hike yesterday and we can see why the Camino path into Burgos seemed endless. We also view the route we will take out-of-town tomorrow as we face the meseta.
A special happy hour tonight since it’s Randy’s last night with us. We improvise by making a tablecloth from a disposable sheet Randy saved from a previous albergue. This will aid clean-up since we aren’t suppose to eat in the room.( Sh-h-h-h… don’t tell!) Add bread from a local bakery washed down with very cheap (0.62 euro?) box wine and life is good. Don’t judge…
We meet Jim and Mary Ann (Leascomadventures.com) for the evening meal. Last time we see this lovely pair as they will proceed down the path ahead of us from now on. Buen Camino!
September 11, 2016: We leave the quaint little town of Ages, Spain with anticipation of reaching the large town of Burgos along with a little dread. The last stretch will be along busy roads, but we continue to simply follow the yellow arrows.
This is Randy’s last day of hiking the Camino as he will be returning to the life of a farmer in Minnesota. Harvest awaits…
September 10, 2016: Belorado to Ages ~ 28 kilometersOver-achievers today as we go a few kilometers past the elevation map above.
We find beds in the Ages Municipal Albergue and wander the streets exploring the village.While exploring Ages we stumble upon a small museum of miniatures that Marcial Palacios creates of regional sites, as well as historical methods of labor in the village and on the farm. The passion that Marcial puts into his works and animated explanation of each miniature is interesting as I try to comprehend with my limited Spanish skills along with gestures. Best salesman ever as we purchase a small, lightweight toy.Junk sculptures line stone fences and fill the yards of this unique street in Ages. I couldn’t find info about these displays so your guess is as good as mine.Shout out and buen camino to Jim and MaryAnne Leas of leascomadventures.com.
A prime lens has just one focal length (in contrast to a zoom lens that covers a wider range of lengths).
Back in the day I used prime lenses while shooting with medium format film cameras, but the digital world has found me using zoom lenses exclusively for several years.
Why would I want a prime lens when I could have a zoom that covers a variety of lengths? Easy answer – money. In the midst of downsizing equipment, I’ve found myself in need of an affordable lens to go on an older body. Quality and price are both factors and the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM seemed to fit the bill. My other lenses open to 2.8, so having a faster lens at 1.8 could be interesting. Maybe I’ll reinvent myself as a low light street photographer – you never know.
So, at sunset I took my new little lens to our nearby slough to try it out… pretty much straight out of camera except for tweaking exposure.
ISO 250 / F 6.3 / 1/800ISO 250 / F 1.8 / 1.500ISO 100 / F 4 / 1/125
Used this 50mm lens while trying out a DIY beauty dish, of sorts, with equipment I already had on hand – cheap $37 slave that screws into a regular light socket inside a silver chick warmer. Not much for catch lights, but kind of worked.
ISO 100/F 1.8/Shutter 1/60ISO 100/F 11/Shutter 1/500
Price for this handy little lens? $125 – much less than the $1600 price tag for a new 24-70 Canon 2.8 zoom. While I like the lens for stationary subjects, I did find the autofocus slow when trying to capture moving subjects.
September 9, 2016: As we put our boots on this morning we share a moment with a forlorn Damion from the UK as he contemplates whether to continue his Camino with very sore blisters or call it quits. We’ve enjoyed his wit, humor and banter, so are hoping he continues. Final answer…? A very somber ending as he makes plans for catching a flight back home. Camino hearts are breaking for this well liked and kind gentleman as we all know how hard it is to accept defeat. Safe journeys, Damion.
Today should be close to a 25 kilometer day so we leave the albergue early, making our way down the dark streets of Santo Domingo.
We enjoy the company of Roger and Nancy from Colorado and interesting conversation makes the day click by so much faster. Thank you for sharing your day with us and we are curious as to your Camino experiences after we parted ways.
What… am I hallucinating? A huge stuffed animal is hiking towards me! Following is a link to a short video explaining their project: osoperigroso
Smiles on the Way is a site that has information about these two and their walk.
We arrive in Belorado finding only top bunks with no bed rails available, so Joan will face her ultimate challenge tonight. The room is very tiny and there is no room to throw her mattress on the floor for sleeping. Will she sleep walk and fall out of bed or not sleep at all?We will see…
A bonus tonight is meeting and spending meal time with charming Alexandra who lives and works in Malega. I am so tired that I can hardly speak, but the table conversation still flows freely. Buen Camino, Alexandra!
September 7, 2016: Scroll down for a short video of the day.
We stock up on water and food because for the next few hours of the journey we will not have much for shops until the town of Navarrete 13 km away. This will be a thirty kilometer day, so we get an early start to beat some of the heat.Randy finds a little store in Navarette with everything under the sun crammed inside and he needs a bandana to protect his ears and neck from the scorching sun. Hanging around the counter, he takes forever to make a decision… could it be the posters below the counter that distract him? (Click on the image for a larger viewing window.) Plump grapes are plentiful and tempting as we pass through numerous vineyards and hear recordings of birds in distress and canon explosions to keep birds away from the ripened fruit. We have seen many small tractors with spray tanks behind heading out to the vineyards. No wonder there are no flies or bugs of any kind on the grapes. It’s not very healthy to be eating unwashed grapes that have been in contact with a pesticide besides the fact that it would be stealing. Enough said.Interesting “bee hive” hut along the trail would provide shelter, if necessary. It appears to be of modern construction and quite messy inside from garbage left by people. The mom in me wants to lecture… Pick up after yourselves!Randy and Joan are strategizing in the cute little Vino y Camino apartment that Joan found in Najera. We are in heaven with kitchen facilities, washer/dryer provided, our own bathroom/shower and they even provided us with a bottle of delicious red wine. (Hence, the name.) All in all a good value.
RJMeyerArts 
