(Taken from an email I sent at the time.)
YES!!! I actually made it across the entire Meseta this time!!! Still sunny, but cooler. Had seen on the news yesterday that it would rain tomorrow, and other people have heard something about possibility of snow coming up. Was going to send more things forward, but will keep some of the cold weather gear as we still have two passes to cross, and there is snow on the mountains up ahead. Wow. This was more momentous for me than arriving in Santiago since I haven´t made it previous 2 trips and it was something I wanted on this trip, I´m staying in the convent again and our curfew is 9:30. Two days ago I walked from Sahagún to Calzadilla de los Hermanillos, not really intending to take the alternative, Roman route, but I walked through this village (Caza de Coto) looking for a bar or a toilet (found neither open) and as I was about to turn back to the regular route these two men stopped me in the street and tried to explain the alternative route to me, I probably partially went because they were so insistant, and also this German (Alex-a woman) showed up about then and said she'd walk it as well, so we began walking. I stopped to take a picture and didn´t turn around until I got about 1 km away and up on a railroad overpass and couldn´t see her anywhere. It was a stunningly lovely walk, although long, through oak forest of various species, and amazingly red soil, right before the village there is this little oasis with a fountain (place to get water) and benches and before I stopped there I thought I could see someone walking up ahead of me (some other crazy person taking alternative route). So, I get to the town and my feet really hurt. There is a man working on his garage roof and I ask him if there is a bar open in town (for coffee) and he says not until 1 pm, but if I want coffee they can make me some. He tells me to take off my pack, and I walk into the yard. He brings out one of those tv-type trays, only with sides, and moves a chair out for me on the lawn. Then he brings out a tray with a pot of coffee, a pitcher of warm milk, a china cup and saucer, packets of sugar and this container of these hard donut things. He also asked if I understood Spanish, and then offered me the three papers he´d gotten in the mail. It was so kind, I was trying to not let him see me cry. He goes back to the roof. Connie (a man, Conrad, I think, the one with the dog) walks down the street and sees me in this yard drinking coffee and asks if it´s a bar, no, a restaurant? no. These people just wanted to offer me coffee. He asks the man if he can have some too, and walks into the yard and starts eating all the donut things. No one comes with more coffee, so I give him my cup and he drinks the rest of the pot. Then the man comes back, and asks if we want more coffee and if we want his homemade orujo (liquor, quite strong), and brings out this bottle and two shot glasses. So, we each have a shot of that, then he brings out another pot of coffee and another cup. We left some money, but his wife brought it back to me after we´d left, she was semi-offended, they were offering hospitality. The albergue was another story. The hospitelera stopped by and saw the dog, and said it could absolutely not stay there. So Connie took a short nap, and they left, my feet were hurting too bad, so I stayed. The nearest village was 18 more kms (found out later, they´d walked about 26-28 more to Mansanilla de las Mulas, albergue in Reliegos was closed, but we didn´t know that.) I was feeling weird about staying there alone, and it was super cold. I hid my stuff and wandered around to see if I could find somewhere to eat. Eventually, I found an open bar, and had a sandwich, but I was nervous about leaving my things, so I ate fast and left. Then Alex showed up and said she´d stay. The hospitalera came back and we paid. She said there was a shop that opened at 5 plus a restaurant. I went for a walk and thought this man was following me on a bike, I walked toward the bar because I knew it was open. At 5 we walk over to find the shop, and the man on the bike is the shop keeper. Anyway, it was a tiny shop and he called the restaurant and the bar to see if either served food, nope. So we decide to cook something, plus need food for breakfast and lunch since there are no villages for 24 kms. He keeps pulling random things out of nowhere, and then he shows us box after box after box of cookies. It was funny, it was like he was doing magic tricks. 18 euro later, we leave and make pasta. Another local woman shows up and watches everything we do. She says if I´m cold, I should wear more clothes. I think I had on 3 shirts and a jacket at that point. Some cyclists stop by to go to the shop and use the bathroom, but don´t stay. I get up and lock the door at 9, no one else is going to show up. In the morning, after about 6 kms, the route is closed and rerouted back 2 kms to the original camino. Alex shows up behind me with this Polish man, and I´m limping because I´ve developed a huge blister on my heel, she gives me a compeed and he gives me some bandaids, and I stumble to find somewhere to sit and take care of the blister. It´s supposed to only be 13kms from that point to Reliegos, but it took me at least 4 hours. I see this bar, and a sign for an albergue, and as I´m walking to the latter, the Polish man yells over to me from the bar. So I go there first and see that Alex is eating, so I ask the man if I can have that too. It was fried trout and chips (really good actually.) And then the Polish man pulls out a guitar, and we start singing, and the bar tender keeps trying to get us to take shots of liquer or drink wine. Eventually, I order a coffee and he gives me a shot of orujo (also, homemade), and we all start dancing to some cd he has from Brazil or Cuba, and he moves all the chairs, and then 3 hours have passed. At 6:15 Alex decides to walk to next village (we don´t know albergue here is closed), then I do too, he only asks for 5 euro for all that. I get to Mansanilla as the sun is setting, and get lost briefly, two older women, point me the right direction, by telling me to join them up on the overpass. Then point out how to get to the albergue. It seems like a really nice town, someday I´d like to see it. As it was, I just showered and dealt with my nasty foot. Been a weird couple of days. Alex told the man at the bar her name was Veronica. I´d heard previously she was a boy and 17, not a boy, and now she says she´s 22. She´s interesting. Another odd thing, all these dogs kept showing up at the bar door and waiting for something. I went out to pet one of them, and it eventually left. A hound dog showed up while the bartendar was there, and eventually he handed the dog a baguette (I don´t know why) and the dog took it and ran off down the street. Saw the bartendar again, just after I left the two older women, he pulled over in a car. I guess the Polish man was with him, but I didn´t see him. He stopped in the albergue later, not to sleep but to find someone to go drink with him. Saw him several times today, sleeping in random places, then in the cathedral, drinking wine. Anyway, this is long. I think I will go to vespers at the convent at 9:30, and I should find something to eat before. I´m glad I finished this section. It was interesting. The only two people I recognize at this albergue are the two French women. I´ve been seeing them everywhere for the past week. (Really good tortilla and cafe con leche at Bar Casa Blanca before the narrow, scary, bridge crossing. Some of the best on the Camino.)
YES!!! I actually made it across the entire Meseta this time!!! Still sunny, but cooler. Had seen on the news yesterday that it would rain tomorrow, and other people have heard something about possibility of snow coming up. Was going to send more things forward, but will keep some of the cold weather gear as we still have two passes to cross, and there is snow on the mountains up ahead. Wow. This was more momentous for me than arriving in Santiago since I haven´t made it previous 2 trips and it was something I wanted on this trip, I´m staying in the convent again and our curfew is 9:30. Two days ago I walked from Sahagún to Calzadilla de los Hermanillos, not really intending to take the alternative, Roman route, but I walked through this village (Caza de Coto) looking for a bar or a toilet (found neither open) and as I was about to turn back to the regular route these two men stopped me in the street and tried to explain the alternative route to me, I probably partially went because they were so insistant, and also this German (Alex-a woman) showed up about then and said she'd walk it as well, so we began walking. I stopped to take a picture and didn´t turn around until I got about 1 km away and up on a railroad overpass and couldn´t see her anywhere. It was a stunningly lovely walk, although long, through oak forest of various species, and amazingly red soil, right before the village there is this little oasis with a fountain (place to get water) and benches and before I stopped there I thought I could see someone walking up ahead of me (some other crazy person taking alternative route). So, I get to the town and my feet really hurt. There is a man working on his garage roof and I ask him if there is a bar open in town (for coffee) and he says not until 1 pm, but if I want coffee they can make me some. He tells me to take off my pack, and I walk into the yard. He brings out one of those tv-type trays, only with sides, and moves a chair out for me on the lawn. Then he brings out a tray with a pot of coffee, a pitcher of warm milk, a china cup and saucer, packets of sugar and this container of these hard donut things. He also asked if I understood Spanish, and then offered me the three papers he´d gotten in the mail. It was so kind, I was trying to not let him see me cry. He goes back to the roof. Connie (a man, Conrad, I think, the one with the dog) walks down the street and sees me in this yard drinking coffee and asks if it´s a bar, no, a restaurant? no. These people just wanted to offer me coffee. He asks the man if he can have some too, and walks into the yard and starts eating all the donut things. No one comes with more coffee, so I give him my cup and he drinks the rest of the pot. Then the man comes back, and asks if we want more coffee and if we want his homemade orujo (liquor, quite strong), and brings out this bottle and two shot glasses. So, we each have a shot of that, then he brings out another pot of coffee and another cup. We left some money, but his wife brought it back to me after we´d left, she was semi-offended, they were offering hospitality. The albergue was another story. The hospitelera stopped by and saw the dog, and said it could absolutely not stay there. So Connie took a short nap, and they left, my feet were hurting too bad, so I stayed. The nearest village was 18 more kms (found out later, they´d walked about 26-28 more to Mansanilla de las Mulas, albergue in Reliegos was closed, but we didn´t know that.) I was feeling weird about staying there alone, and it was super cold. I hid my stuff and wandered around to see if I could find somewhere to eat. Eventually, I found an open bar, and had a sandwich, but I was nervous about leaving my things, so I ate fast and left. Then Alex showed up and said she´d stay. The hospitalera came back and we paid. She said there was a shop that opened at 5 plus a restaurant. I went for a walk and thought this man was following me on a bike, I walked toward the bar because I knew it was open. At 5 we walk over to find the shop, and the man on the bike is the shop keeper. Anyway, it was a tiny shop and he called the restaurant and the bar to see if either served food, nope. So we decide to cook something, plus need food for breakfast and lunch since there are no villages for 24 kms. He keeps pulling random things out of nowhere, and then he shows us box after box after box of cookies. It was funny, it was like he was doing magic tricks. 18 euro later, we leave and make pasta. Another local woman shows up and watches everything we do. She says if I´m cold, I should wear more clothes. I think I had on 3 shirts and a jacket at that point. Some cyclists stop by to go to the shop and use the bathroom, but don´t stay. I get up and lock the door at 9, no one else is going to show up. In the morning, after about 6 kms, the route is closed and rerouted back 2 kms to the original camino. Alex shows up behind me with this Polish man, and I´m limping because I´ve developed a huge blister on my heel, she gives me a compeed and he gives me some bandaids, and I stumble to find somewhere to sit and take care of the blister. It´s supposed to only be 13kms from that point to Reliegos, but it took me at least 4 hours. I see this bar, and a sign for an albergue, and as I´m walking to the latter, the Polish man yells over to me from the bar. So I go there first and see that Alex is eating, so I ask the man if I can have that too. It was fried trout and chips (really good actually.) And then the Polish man pulls out a guitar, and we start singing, and the bar tender keeps trying to get us to take shots of liquer or drink wine. Eventually, I order a coffee and he gives me a shot of orujo (also, homemade), and we all start dancing to some cd he has from Brazil or Cuba, and he moves all the chairs, and then 3 hours have passed. At 6:15 Alex decides to walk to next village (we don´t know albergue here is closed), then I do too, he only asks for 5 euro for all that. I get to Mansanilla as the sun is setting, and get lost briefly, two older women, point me the right direction, by telling me to join them up on the overpass. Then point out how to get to the albergue. It seems like a really nice town, someday I´d like to see it. As it was, I just showered and dealt with my nasty foot. Been a weird couple of days. Alex told the man at the bar her name was Veronica. I´d heard previously she was a boy and 17, not a boy, and now she says she´s 22. She´s interesting. Another odd thing, all these dogs kept showing up at the bar door and waiting for something. I went out to pet one of them, and it eventually left. A hound dog showed up while the bartendar was there, and eventually he handed the dog a baguette (I don´t know why) and the dog took it and ran off down the street. Saw the bartendar again, just after I left the two older women, he pulled over in a car. I guess the Polish man was with him, but I didn´t see him. He stopped in the albergue later, not to sleep but to find someone to go drink with him. Saw him several times today, sleeping in random places, then in the cathedral, drinking wine. Anyway, this is long. I think I will go to vespers at the convent at 9:30, and I should find something to eat before. I´m glad I finished this section. It was interesting. The only two people I recognize at this albergue are the two French women. I´ve been seeing them everywhere for the past week. (Really good tortilla and cafe con leche at Bar Casa Blanca before the narrow, scary, bridge crossing. Some of the best on the Camino.)
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