May 9, 2015 Day 14 - Hornillos --> Castrojeriz 21K

May 9, 2015  Day 14 - Hornillos --> Castrojeriz  21K

Breakfast of toast and café con leche at the mill house at 7:00 am. Then we were driven back to Hornillos, and started walking the Camino at 7:45 am. Cool, clear day ahead.

The day began with dirt paths along rocky fields. More like rolling hills, rather than mountainous terrain. Wind turbines in the distance. We stopped every hour or so for a waster break and just to sit a minute. Donna said that her suspected shin splint felt better after icing the night before, and she seemed to be walking more normal. 

At around 11:00 am, we stopped in Hontanas for coffee and a light snack. There we met Peter from Australia, and had a nice visit. Hontanas was a fairly small town. But what struck me was how clean it was, and the number of nice looking little albergues. Chris is mentally preparing us to stop shortly before or shortly after the main towns to avoid some of the crowding issues. This is the same strategy that my friend LaDonna told me she and her Camino family adopted. Hontanas is the perfect example of such a town. 

After Hontanas, the path took us into and alongside small hills. At times, the path was a little rocky, which is hard on the feet. Still, we plodded on. Saw a few pilgrims in what I call the second group - many of the first group we started with have taken rest days and so we are now seeing a different group of recurring faces. 

One of the highlights of the day was seeing blue butterflies. Also, the windflowers lining the path were gorgeous - yellow, blues, red poppies, lavender...

We stopped briefly at the ruins of an old church in San Anton, before making the final push to Castrojeriz. As we headed into town, old ruins at the top of the hill, and a cathedral at the entrance to the town stood out. My feet were starting to get that end of the day achy feeling, and I could tell Donna was ready to stop as well. 

We found our hotel around 1:30 pm, a quaint and charming place situated on the side of a hill. Turns out they put Donna, Chris and me in what is essentially a 2 bedroom apartment with private shower. Very spacious and comfortable. After settling in, we headed for the ATM and grocery store. Ran into Peter from Australia again. Then had the whole afternoon to relax and visit. I worked on the blog. We met Gwen, also from Holland, and Sheila from Scotland/Great Britain, who joined us for dinner. Sheila has done several cross country bicycle rides across the U.S., including the Southern Tier which went through Austin. It was a fun evening with a delightful group of women, and we laughed a lot as we shared our Camino stories.

Donna and Chris plotted tomorrow's hike to Fromista - a little longer than today. Rather than book ahead, we have agreed to Chris' approach of proceeding in faith that we will find the place we are to stay. 

Buen Camino!

Kim