Day 9 & 10

Day 9

At 7 in the morning we have to leave the monastery, we walk around the town, drink a coffee and look for the bus station. However, we regret the part of the Meseta that we will not see but the conditions do not allow us (we do not find accommodation open, the internal situation in Romania is a bit uncertain) and the fear of being stuck in Spain does not give us peace. While we wait for the bus we make reservations for albergues in Leon and Astorga so that we don't have any problems. 

We arrive in Leon feeling down and quite worried about the situation at home, we don't even have the strength to go and visit the city. We go shopping for the next day, wash our clothes and clean the wheelchair of mud and dust after the past few days. Vasi rests all afternoon. The albergue where we are staying is a new and modern one with an adapted bathroom and very good conditions, so I can wash  without any stress. 

Day 10 : Leon - Astorga

Today's stage is a long one because, in fact we planned to do two combined stages 24.6 km to San Martin del Camino plus the 23.7 km to Astorga.

At the exit from Virgen del Camino we choose the common route because we don't know anything about it,  we prefer to go parallel to the national road N120. It is a boring stage without big differences in level but also without places where you can drink a coffee or something refreshing. After Hospital de Orbigo we meet a completely different relief, we leave behind the vast fields of cereals or vineyards and the hills are a bit more pronounced and then we meet the gorgeous alpine vegetation.

We arrive in Astorga. Entering the beautiful town is difficult for me and my 3-wheeled bike stairs, obviously I can not climb them and on the road the severe slope of the hill tests us. Good thing, it's a short distance. We find a chic town where you can admire the beautiful cathedral and the wonderful episcopal palace, the last work of Antoni Gaudi. The pedestrian squares are full of tourists and pilgrims, the terraces are lively.

The municipal albergue in Astorga is quite modest, it has a lot of stairs at the entrance but I was somewhat lucky because they had a bedroom in the basement and a spacious bathroom quite accessible. Next to the albergue just a few steps away is a beautiful garden where you can spend the afternoon in peace,while you can taste the wonderful chocolate made right in the village. We rest quite well due to the fact that in the basement bedroom there's just the two of us.

 

Day 8 - 02.07.2020

An endless day through huge fields of wheat, you can barely see someone, a tractor gathering huge bales of straw or a combine harvesting wheat.

We advance all day on dirt and asphalt tracks, being very early when we left the hotel, and we got lost, instead of turning left towards Itero de la Vega, we go forward towards Boadilla del Camino on the road.

Without energy and moody, we didn't even take photos slowly, the only interesting thing from this stage is the Roman bridge, which is still used today, being transited even by cars.

We do not find accommodation in Fromista or in the following villages, so we have to go to Carrion de los Condes, where we spend the night in the hostel of the monastery of Santa Clara. We are expected by a gentleman, the nuns do not interact with anyone. Not being renovated for many years, the doors are so narrow that every time I have to go to the toilet Vasi has to take me in his arms.

After the 43 km, the fatigue makes its presence felt, but also Vasi's hip pain, in the evening other pilgrims, two cyclists and a man and three boys (about the age of my son, Raul, 17 years old) start to arrive.

We spend the rest of the evening studying the map and trying to find out what awaits us next, but also to decide what to do, because the muscle pain, according to the pharmacist, makes its presence known even while resting.

We decide to go by bus to Leon the next day because there are still two difficult stages ahead of us, including the climb on O Cereibo. All day long we have our nerves stretched to the limit.

Day 7 - 01.07.2020

    I forgot to tell you, after our short visit to the cathedral in Burgos, on the way to the hotel we stop at the pharmacy, the pharmacist tells us to try a medicament before going to the doctor, remedy used by athletes and pilgrims. I'm surprised when I notice the active substance: ibuprofen-arginine, which has enhanced anti-inflammatory effects. That night Vasi takes a pill and to our surprise after it his leg no longer hurts, so we decided to postpone the visit to the doctor. In the morning he takes another pill and we set off. The exit from Burgos is beautiful, we are happy that it is not raining anymore and we will be able to reach our destination before it is too hot.

We booked beds at a municipal albergue in Hontana, which opened its doors the same day. In Hornillos del Camino we stop to eat sandwiches and have a coffee, it's 11 am, we find that  albergue here aren't open, but we anyways have reservations so we don't worry about it.

Long dirt tracks and huge cereal fields reveal little by little the famous Spanish meseta. We find less shade, but at least Vasi's leg doesn't hurt anymore. Until Hontana we cross two long and lonely portions of the meseta, the last part contains a more accentuated and stony part, which gives us headaches.

    However, we are happy because we are talking to the lady from the albergue, to confirm the reservation, we find out that on the same day the famous mochilla de la luz will arrive.

    Before leaving Romania we spoke with one of the organizers of the project to commemorate the victims of Covid-19, if we could join: to take a piece of the road, a backpack as a tribute to all victims around the world, we forgot about project because it had started before we left Romania and we didn't think we would catch up with it. But we did, so in our joy, we thought we had another chance to join the project.

    The descent to Hontana strained Vasi's foot, as the part is rather dangerous for me and my bike, the stones, gravel and ditches on the agricultural road made my bike a real sleigh, which I could not control even with the brakes from my wheelchair. Vasi is forced to whitstand the brunt force of the descent. I was nervous and I was very scared, but at least we could see the town and we knew we almost finished for today, but we will not finish as we thought.

    We arrived at the albergue very tired, we had done 31.5 km on a stifling heat, it's 2 o'clock. In front of the albergue at a table were two men who entered and got out of the albergue patio without masks on, there were two ladies talking between them without masks or other safety methods against the virus, I was in the street and Vasi wants to enter the patio (right out of the street) to put down the backpack so he could put on the mask, when suddenly one of the ladies started screaming and pushing Vasi out the door on the street. I didn't understand what was happening, among the screams she told us that we didn't have masks and that maybe we were infected, to leave quickly because we didn't have a reservation and she certainly won't welcome us. Dismayed, we didn't understand what was happening and what we were supposed to do. I called the number I had made the reservation earlier that morning, a gentleman answered, I introduced myself and I asked why we were not allowed to enter, even though we had masks and a reservation, he told me that we had no masks and we were not welcome there, they had no masks on! He starts threatening again, which I couldn't stand and I turn off the phone. Tired as we were, we had no water and we had nowhere to buy, we rest for a few moments on a bench below the hostel and set off again.

    At the exit of Hontana we find an open swimming pool, from where we take a water and a cola, we keep the road to Castrojeriz, we walk about 5 km, when behind us stops a police car  (civil guard). He identifies us and in the meantime they tell us that the lady from the albergue in Hontana called the police because we tried to enter the hostel without masks and they ask us what happened. We tell them that even though we had a reservation and masks, she didn't want to receive us, I didn't understand why so we left. After our documents were checked, both Romania and Spain (we had the NIE for more than 15 years) politely ask us if we want to denounciate the albergue or the lady from the hostel to consumer protection, because they personally have seen that we had reservations. I tell him I don't want to, and the documents are returned to us and we receive a warm buen Camino. 

    We go to Catrojeriz, even though we don't have accommodation, at the municipal albergue they tell us that although they are open, they don't receive pilgrims, so we continue searching. We find a place in a hotel, we were alone in the whole hotel, so we rest for the rest of the day. With all the good and bad, one more day ends.

Day 5 - 29.06.2020

It's dark, we leave Najerra early in the morning, but we somehow manage to get lost, on the way out of the village there is a detour to Azofra and we were convinced, although we had looked before we left on maps, that we don't need to enter the village. Of course we came to cover a few kilometers before we found out we took a little detour. The stage is quite easy, with dirt and gravel roads and in some places the roads have been asphalted or paved.

We were not bothered by those extra miles we made, because it was a blessing to see whole fields of vineyards, although cereal crops began to gradually replace them. We were quite calm, although we hadn't seen the distinctive signs of the Way for some time, we started looking on the internet where we really were, the problem was the bad signal. In order to return to the route, we take the direction of Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and finally we arrive, without too much effort.

It's nice to see people on the road, even though it wasn't very busy, that greet us or even stop to talk to us, an encouraging and uplifting feeling that warmed your heart and made you feel that you are not alone anymore. In Santo Domingo de la Calzada hostels are closed and we did not find pensions under 50 euros (we decided that would be the budget), so we went on.

We reach Redecilla del Camino, here only one hostel owner answers the phone. Albergue Essentia, a place where jokes are on the menu, you feel at home, music and goodwill blend perfectly with home-cooked food.

Bad quality pic of high quality company

With a lighter soul and full stomachs we rest until the next day ...