Castrojerez - The End

Thursday I walked almost 20 km to Hontanas, where I stayed in a nice private refugio. At the pilgrim mass, I was drafted to do the first reading, in English.  The other readings were in French and Korean. The church had a nice meditation area, with cushions and candles. I had dinner with the sisters from France,  and gave them copper shells. 

Walking through the meseta was quite beautiful, farm fields in rolling hills. Some people do not like the meseta, but I liked it very much.

Friday was a short walk to Castrojerez, including a quick look at the ruined church of San Anton.   I was in a nice private refugio, where the owner was quite a character.   Karina and I walked up the hill to the castle, variously built and rebuilt in the 9th and 14th centuries, with a foundation dating to Roman times. The town was relatively tidy, but had some ruined structures.  After dinner at the refugio, our host had us demonstrate how the wine press worked; the wine press was in the building when he bought it.  Then he took us down two levels in the cellar, for a wine tasting.  He has been excavating, uncovering more stairs, etc. 

This is the end of the Camino for me, at least for 2019. Saturday I will take a bus to Burgos, and then rent a car to get to Atapuerca for the tour.

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Burgos and beyond

Tuesday, I walked from Atapuerco to Burgos, approximately 19 km. We took an alternate route, and we got a little bit lost, but ultimately we found the park by the river. The park by the river was quite pleasant to walk in.  I had wanted to stay in a Christian refugio, but I stopped by twice,  and the door was locked. I was able to pick up my package at the post office general delivery, so  that was good. I checked into the Hotel Cordon and took a nap. Tomorrow needs to be a shorter day as I am getting tired, after several days around 20km. 

I inquired about tours of Atapuerca, and the bus tours are booked. I booked a tour on Saturday, but will need a taxi or rental car to get there. 

The Cathedral is huge and amazing.  I cannot even get my head around the cathedral, it is so big and impressive. I went to the pilgrims mass at the Cathedral, where I ran into many of the people who I had been walking with. I gave Anneta from Denmark and Ben and Julia from Toronto the shells that I had brought. We had a nice dinner at the Meson Herrera.  I said goodbye; Anneta is going home, and Ben and Julia are taking the train to Leon, as Julia has been sick. 

Anneta, Ben, and Julia, with their shells
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On Wednesday, I decided that I needed a short day, so I walked to Rabe de las Calzadas.  The private refugio had images of Mary, and our hostess invited us to pray with the nuns after dinner. Some of us went to the convent, and the nuns did their evening prayers.  Most of the nuns were elderly. The head nun, Maria Teresa, noticed my hammered copper scallop shell, and we talked at length about possible sculptures.  But it would be impractical to ship a large sculpture to Spain. 

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