Total ascent = 820 feet
Cumulative distance = 206.4 miles
Another perfect weather day. Hate to keep saying that when there's been so much rain at home. If it makes you feel better, we did have clouds today :) Big fluffy ones.
Our day started in a car. The hotel owner drove us back to Hornillos del Camino and dropped us in front of the little store we left yesterday afternoon. Lots of other peregrinos were returning as well.
As we left town we noticed this interesting fountain in the town plaza.
The path quickly climbed more than 400 feet as we left Hornillos. It was pilgrim rush hour too.
Once atop the meseta again, the scenery was magnificent. The wind blowing running waves through the grain, the cloud shadows racing across the fields, and the immenseness of the blue sky was exhilarating.
We saw lots of windmills today, in every direction, and wondered how much of Spain's electricity is from wind power and at what cost? We'll look that up later.
Twice we dropped down from the high plateau, to visit little villages hidden in the hollows. At the second town, Hontanas, we arrived just as the church bells rang out the call to worship.
We stopped for lunch here. Dave's "sandwich Spanish" is getting good. As we sat eating our ham, lettuce and tomato sandwich, the village kids had their picture taken with a pilgrim's donkey.
After a leisurely lunch, we donned our packs for the mostly level hike between plateaus, towards Castrojeriz, tonight's stop.
About an hour onto the afternoon's walk, we joined a tree-lined country road.
Not long after we came upon another set of ruins. But these were spectacular. Imagine coming across this as you drive down the road. Arcos de San Anton.
The monastery was established by Antonine Order whose sacred symbol was the "T" shaped cross known as Tau. It symbolized divine protection against evil and sickness. It's becoming known as the Cruz de peregrinos (pilgrim's cross).
The ruins are from the 16th century.
In 2002 an albergue was established. That's it in the lean-to, attached to the ruins. 14 beds, no electricity
A further mile down the road Castrojeriz came into view. It's a pretty spectacular sight.
The church, Santa Maria del Manzano is from the 14th century. The castle ruins at the top of the mountain are from the 9th century. We thought about walking to the mountaintop, but our feet said "NO,"
The town is laid out as a long strand at the foot of the hill. Our hotel, La Posado de Castojeriz, was opposite the end we entered. As we walked through, we came across this interesting ornamentation on a Gothic church turned museum. Lovely!
Enjoying all the pics and commentary. My feet hurt, too (sympathy pains) -- and I'm only reading about your adventure.
ReplyDeleteIf you believe Wiki, then in 2012, Spain was the world's fourth biggest producer of wind power. And, according to another article, wind power was Spain's top source of electricity in 2013.
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