Two New Hampshire girls hike the 500-mile Camino de Santiago to raise money for women around the world.

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Day Nineteen. San Bol to Castrojeriz. March 31, 2013

Distance: 14.4 kilometers with barely any elevation gain (8.94 miles).

I'll repeat what I stated earlier - two thumbs way up for San Bol. Wonderful atmosphere, cozy albergue, kind hospiteralo, yummy food...and a gorgeous sunrise over the Meseta.

Happy Easter, everyone!


My photo of Alex did not turn out, which is unfortunate.  It was a wonderful Easter and I wish I had a photo of her on this day.



Today's walk took us over and down the Meseta, through the popular pilgrim town of Hontanas, under the ancient arch of San Anton, and into Castrojeriz.

Sunrise on the Meseta...with Easter chocolate...





The morning walk was lovely. Light breeze, clear skies...couldn't have asked for better weather.




In and out of Hontanas, toward the ruins of San Anton...


The ruins of the convent San Anton...





Bread was habitually left for pilgrims under the arch in medieval times. Now, pilgrims leave personal notes and anchor them with small stones.


Onward, to Castrojeriz...




Castrojeriz with its 9th century hilltop castle...





We are staying in the Hotel Meson Castrojeriz. It's 35 Euros a night for a double room and they have a very good pilgrim's menu for ten Euros (tons of food and excellent wine!). I had planned on having a private room for Easter - we were happy to discover that the rooms here are quite reasonably priced. Many other pilgrims are staying here too. There is a public albergue in Castrojeriz and I've heard it's fine...other folks probably just wanted to treat themselves for Easter too.

Tomorrow, we head to Fromista.

Misc. comments -

Each of us has one small blister on a toe. Nothing that can't be easily managed.

The girls are happy with this life -- Sage told me tonight that she is excited for each day since she always goes somewhere new. Alex is getting braver with her Spanish and she's having short conversations with townspeople. My Spanish is holding up well and my German is coming back to me. We all go to bed tired and wake up feeling strong. Alex says she feels very fit. We are each eating a ton of food every single day.

We're finding that we want either small albergues (Granon, Tosantos, San Bol, etc.) or private rooms. We can do the large albergue every once in a while...but we don't get much sleep in places that feel impersonal. Sleep is So Important during a trip like this!

Hope everyone had a pleasant Easter.

Til tomorrow (assuming I have an Internet connection),
Trish

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3 comments:

Annakappa said...

You have a super albergue in Boadillos del Camino: En el Camino , a more personal choice, if you don't feel up to walking to Fromista. Anne

Anonymous said...

Walked the trail from San Bol to Hontanas on Good Friday, (don't know how I got ahead of you as you passed me on Mount Perdon)but it was the worst walk ever. The ankle deep mud pulled every ounce of strength from my body and sapped my mental ability to keep walking. I thought Perdon was bad but this was much worse. How did you cope with it?

Patricia Ellis Herr, Alexandra Herr, and Sage Herr said...

We didn't have any significant mud to deal with on Easter from San Bol. Must have dried up between the time you crossed it and the time we went through.