Day 119
Camino in our hearts
As we had slept by the Camino trail it felt fitting to start our day by riding on it for the first few miles. It was a great surface to cycle on and plenty of space for us and all the walkers. The official Camino site has around 1,500 pilgrims walking the trail at the moment, and from the numbers we are passing I would have thought more. It is never busy but every few minutes we see a walker ahead. By now they are about half way through the walk. Some look quite fresh, but many very weary. Though it is clearly a hard challenge it is definitely something Tom and I are increasingly keen to do one day, just the small matter of cycling around the world first.
We came to a small village and the EV1 was signposted away from the Camino, a local man directed us back to the Camino and off we went, my Garmin finally agreeing. So quite why, a few minutes later we chose to ignore my Garmin and follow another EV1 sign taking us away from the Camino I don’t know. Half an hour later after riding on an awful loose stone trail we realised we were going the wrong way. Fortunately, Tom and Google sorted a way back and with only a couple of extra miles we were back on track and smooth tarmac, wahey!
A few minutes later we rode straight through the remains of the convent of St Anton. Built in 1146, the order of monks were dedicated to the care of Pilgrims and to sufferers of a disease called ‘Fire of St Anton’ which was widespread in the Middle Ages. Those they helped were conferred with the Cross of Tau as a sign of protection against evil as they continued on their way. The order dissolved in 1787 and the building fell into private hands. Since 2002 it now again offers shelter to Pilgrims. Tom left a donation and came away with some lemon verbena tea and a felt heart filled with lavender. I always thought it an old lady scent, all I can say is it smells wonderful!
As we rode on in the distance, we could see a small town at the bottom of a hill. Dominating the view was the remains of the Castle of Castrojeriz. There have been buildings here since the Bronze Age and the site has been a place of sanctuary since then. We had originally planned to stay in a campsite in the village and were now regretting pushing on. We toyed with staying and then would climb and visit the castle but decided to carry on. Next time!
Straight away we were confronted with a similar sized hill, only this one we had to cycle over. It was rough loose gravel and so steep that it soon became a push. Slowly we made our way up, I could hear footsteps behind me, but could see no one. Finally, as I neared the top, my ghostly footsteps turned out to be a Camino Pilgrim, Sebastian I think, from Sweden. He kindly offered help which I gratefully received. At the top he went on his way whilst I had a rest and a lovely natter with ‘Mad Ann’ another Camino walker. She had met my helper that morning after she had managed fall over whilst running.
Then on we went, the descent was quite frightening. 18% Straight down. Fortunately, a good surface at the steepest point but boy was I glad to get to the bottom!
From here it was all downhill to the end of our cycling today. Unfortunately, by that I mean the surface, at times I felt as if we were riding on marbles, it was hard to stay upright, then so rough and rocky we felt battered. It was hard. It slowed us down, I believe I got quite grumpy!
We decided it was going to be too late to arrive at our Warmshowers host so decided to stop and find a hotel. Good old booking.com found us a room in a ‘Hotel Rural de Concordia’. It is bliss, fabulous shower, a real bed, and an honesty bar, even has cocktail shakers, they must have known Tom was coming.
After giving up waiting for the restaurant opposite to open we headed to ‘Josephine’s’, a local bar that served food. Noisy but fun we ate free tapas whilst waiting for our meal. Just what we needed. A final night cap in our honesty bar then bed. Tomorrow it will be camping but tonight we live like Kings!
