26 klicks today. Started out with a mind blowing hill. A wakeup call. Wow. It was tough. But we did it. Jerry has this system we follow. We walk 100 paces, stop, take 10 or 20 seconds break, look around and then start again.
That is me at the top of a 300 metre hill climb this mornin.
Castrojimiz was interesting. Spread out in a linear pattern at the bottom of a really tall hill. At the top were the ruins of a medieval castle of the time of El Cid. Views for miles around. The town was also known as a retirement place for Spanish Dukes and Counts or the lower classes of Spanish Royalty. It also has a nunnery that was established in the fourteenth century. Turns out the nuns were not fanatical enough so the local bishop closed it down and kicked the nuns out. It subsequently turned adeinto a cemetery, jail, and now ruins. Great history here. As a history buff how I love this country.
We are in out third day in the Maseta, an area flat, barren and hot. No shade. Turns out many pilgrims pass on this area and take a bus to avoid it. Me? I love it. It reminds me of our vast prairie and being on the Navy all my life it brings me back to the big sky, vast horizons and broad landscapes. Love it.
El Saskatchewandido Spain.
What really bugs one here is that the distances are out of whack. There are real world kilometers and then there are Camino kilometers. Today we walked for 3 hours to arrive at the first village. It said we did 9 kilometers whereas Jerry,s gps said we did 13 kilometers. It is a real demotivator.
Made it to Formista. Hot, hot hot. They have a canal here with locks.
HOLA
Brenda from Oregon (right) and Margaret from Munich. HOLA.