Day 2, April 27, Hornillos to Castrojeriz

Hornillos (mile 189) to Castrojeriz (mile 201.4). 

We set our iPhone alarm for 5:20am this morning when the lovely "hospitalero" (volunteer) agreed to make breakfast for us early so we could start walking at 6am and walk through the darkness to dawn transition we have come to love. We had the Camino totally to ourselves for 2 1/2 hours. Then we walked over a crest and saw a small village (photo 1, with our long morning shadows stretched out on the Camini) where we found a cafe with both coffee and wifi, posted yesterday's blog and caught up on our emails.  

In the second half of our walk we shared the Camino with a half dozen other pilgrims and quite a few bicyclists. At one point we were surprised to come upon the ruins of a medieval convent (photo 2), which we later learned was a monastery that provided care for pilgrims with leprosy. The tradition of caring for sick pilgrims is an ancient as the pilgrimage itself (many pilgrims came to seek miraculous healing,which River could use right now after two days of severe diarrhea--too much information?)

We arrived in Castrojeriz before 11:30. It's very hard for Chris to limit our walking to only 12 or 13 miles and be done so early. But she knows (or at least River insists) that it's the wise thing to do at the beginning of our Camino -- to build strength gradually and avoid injury. Nevertheless we find ourselves very attracted to fantasies of more heroic and challenging days ahead. We love the albergue here (photo 3 gives a hint of the colorful sheets and walls) and thoroughly relished our hot showers and change into fresh clean clothes and a nap. We also appreciated a machine that spins the water out of our hand-laundered clothes before we hang them on the line. 

By 2pm we were really hungry so we set out looking for lunch. Chris barely survived the heartbreak of not being able to find a place with tables in the sun (this time River was impatient to sit at a table anywhere at all as long as it had food. ). We ended up at a fairly elegant restaurant and had what turned out to be our meal of the day. Photo 4 shows a very happy River knowing that lunch is not far away. 

So far to our surprise we have not had any energy at all to connect with the other pilgrims (in our last Camino, as we expect will eventually be the case in this one, other pilgrims were a major part of the joy and mystery of pilgrimage). We expect it is because we had so much social contact in Barcelona (and River would add before that in Orcas, and Del Mar) that we got thoroughly sated with contact with wonderful people. 

River teases Chris that this is really a celebration of being 85 because everywhere we go people ask how old she is and then get very very excited to hear she is 85 and walking the Camino. So we never forget for very long what we are celebrating!

Tomorrow we hope to walk to Fromista, about 15 miles ahead. (We have somehow managed to rein in our fantasy which would involve 18.5 miles tomorrow and 21 miles the next day). And now, to bed!

Thanks for walking with us, and love.