A slightly more leisurely start planned for today. I knew I was only walking a short distance and that I had accommodation (and a coveted lower bunk) booked for the evening so there was no need to set off at sparrow fart to guarantee a bed for the night. Still, I had no idea how long it would take to walk today, so I wanted to get away early. I’d checked, yesterday, with the hotel to which my apartment was attached that I could a) drop off my bag for the transport service and b) check out at 6.15am. I’d been assured that this was fine. I got to the hotel at 6.15am to find everything locked up. I knocked on the door. Nothing. I waited, and waited - in the rain - until a young man on an e-scooter, backward facing baseball cap, ripped, baggy trousers, showed up and opened the door. In broken English he told me to go away and that I couldn’t leave my bag there. I protested that I needed to check out and return my key and that I had been told that I could indeed leave my bag. Eventually he let me in and then vanished, leaving me alone in the reception area. His colleague, who had checked me in on Wednesday, appeared a few minutes later and immediately vanished up the stairs. About 10 minutes later backwards baseball cap reappeared and allowed me to stow my bag and check out. I’m not sure if what he was saying to me was rude, but the way he was talking was very aggressive, I was very glad to get out of the hotel just after 7am!
The walk out of Burgos isn’t pretty and the route isn’t as well marked as it could be. While pondering which direction to take I met my first English pilgrims! Andrew and his son Gabriel have been completing the Camino in sections over the last few years, so today was their first day. Andrew is recovering from a recent episode of gout and was taking it at a moderate paste - which suited me fine. I was so worried about my leg. We talked about all sorts of nonsense. Andrew is a history lecturer at Royal Holloway and Bedford, Gabriel works for a publishing company, we talked about education, books, the rise of AI and its impact on education.
The weather was kind, the drizzle stopped and the Sun shone but a breeze kept us cool. We stopped for breakfast in Tarajos, saw storks on church towers and went into a small chapel in Rabé De Las Calzadas where we were all blessed by a tiny nun (I felt like a giant next to her). Andrew and I both joked that we needed all the help we could get.
The paths were smooth and relatively flat. We entered the Meseta today. This is where Don Quixote went a bit dolally due to the terrain and started ‘tilting at windmills’ because he thought they were dragons! I haven’t read ‘Don Quixote’,only Graham Green’s excellent ‘Monsignor Quixote’ so maybe I will download an audio book of the former to listen to in the early morning when the other pilgrims are still in bed! I was concerned when I saw the sign at the top of the hill into Hornillos Del Camino, ‘matamulos’ means ‘mule killer’ and it certainly was a steep, downhill section! I was very glad of my walking poles and the taping of my leg. I was thrilled to be able to walk with little to no pain. For the first time since I started the Camino I was not finishing my walk with a sense of relief but with a feeling that I could go on. Rather than showering, eating and collapsing onto my bed out of necessity because my legs are shredded, today I have showered, eaten and then decided that the sensible thing is to relax on my bed! I may wander along to the village church later (it was closed when I went to get some lunch at the nearby bar (steak and chips with a beer for 12euros), then again I may not bother.
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