24 SEPTEMBER - SAN ANTON

"Don't you think you've cut too much bread?" said Mrs Bossy this morning at breakfast.  "No problem," said I, smiling, "we can toast and left-overs tomorrow or have it for lunch."  There was none left over.  After breakfast, a small group of pilgrims were ready to accompany Angela and Kristine to the Convent for mass before continuing to Castrojeriz. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnupacFEPIs

"No lavar los platos!" said Angela (do not wash the dishes).  I wasn't supposed to get the dressing on my finger wet but I pulled on a silicone glove and a plastic glove and was able to wash the dishes, stew the sheets and hang them, wash down the shower walls and floor and mop the two rooms without getting it wet.

Any water left over from the black shower bags or final rinse water went on the herbs and plants.  The herb pots contained rosemary, basil, Italian parsley, oregano and there were tomatoes on the vine, a couple of peppers, a large pumpkin almost ready to pick and zucchinis.  I also watered the Cyprus trees that had been planted in honour of Julian and Jose. 

I had to listen out for the bread van.  He gave a long hoot like a train whistle and if you didn't hustle he could drive off and there would be no bread for the pilgrims. 
" Con pan y vino se anda el Camino"  (with bread and wine we walk the Camino).
No bread would be unthinkable!  I had decided to treat the pilgrims and had ordered two large tuna empanadas (baked pies) for dinner.  

Angela and Kristine returned at around 1:30 pm and shortly after a car arrived with a special visitor for me.  I had never met Maria Alvarez but had heard about the angel who lived in Burgos and spent days standing at a crossroads directing pilgrims around a construction site.  Tom from Jenny's group had met her and when she met Moyra, she told her that she knew a South African called Sylvia from Facebook.  There are many unsung heroes on the Camino who serve pilgrims in their own way.  A cyclist pushed his bike through the gate and up the hill to the albergue.  He looked dehydrated.  "I've cycled too far with no water" he said. "But I have to go on and meet my sister in Castrojeriz."  I poured a glass of water for him and filled his bottle. "Its only 4km to the village" I told him.
"You shouldn't have given him our water" said Mrs Bossy. "The water is meant for us and our pilgrims." 
"All pilgrims are our pilgrims," I replied.  There was always water in the two carafes on the tables outside so giving the cyclist water wouldn't leave us short.  How could we refuse a thirsty pilgrim some water?  If we ever ran out we could boil tap water and fill the bottles for drinking.

The empanadas were golden in their boxes and we were able to heat them by placing them on upturned lids over pots of boiling water.   We decided on a tapa starter with bread, olive oil and balsamic mix to dip bread into, slices of pickled peppers and olives.  Empanada and salad would be our main and we were able to make a fruit salad from a large melon donated by Mau, plums donated by the sisters at the convent, apples and bananas, served with Convent cookies.

The pilgrims told us that this was the best meal they'd had on the Camino!  We told them that a meal like this was only possible through the generosity of the pilgrims who had stayed before them.  If they had been given lentil soup and bread, that might have been because the donations received the day before could not buy anything else! 
The great thing was that we had not had to dip into the donations once since I'd been there and all the shopping was paid for by the donation in the 'sello' cup on the table at the entrance, and from tourists' purchases of trinkets and cards. 

The table is laid out with a carafe of fresh water, a few pottery cups, bowl of fruit or biscuits and a 'sello' (stamp) and a pen to write the date in their credenciales.  Every night when I cleared the donations from the cup, there was always enough to buy at least 8 loaves of bread and eggs for the next day's breakfast.

Breakfast on the Camino usually consists of bread and jam and coffee.  When I did the hospitaleros course with Rebekah Scot, she suggested that we included eggs which were easy to buy and cook, cheap and always appreciated by the pilgrims.  Each morning we boiled eggs which they could either eat or take with them on the trail. 

23 SEPTEMBER - SAN ANTON

After breakfast Angela and I walked down the path towards the Santa Clara convent.  The convent, which is run by a closed order, the poor sisters of Saint Clara, is the one Marion and I had visited in 2007.  They sell cookies and preserves via a wooden revolving serving hatch.  When Marion and I visited, we put our money on the hatch and it turned, but when the nun behind the hatch tried to turn it again to deliver our order, the hatch became stuck.  We got such a fright when a side door opened and a smiling nun stood there with our cookies in her hands! She explained that she was a community nun and that was why we could see her.

http://www.castrojeriz.com/lugares-para-visitar/convento-de-santa-clara

 

 

The mass was beautiful - a singing mass with the nuns in a room behind the altar cut off from the main church behind grills and the priest, a young Berundian, on our side of the grill.  After mass we walked to Castrojeriz. 

 

The sunrise was amazing and the approach to the village gave us a different view to that of the one from the road,

 

 

 

 

 
 


 We walked to the square and visited Angela's friend at the little shop in the square.  She showed us where the Medico was.  The Doctor could be visited from 11am and a nurse from 1pm.  We sat in the waiting room for over an hour waiting for the doctor but he told us I needed a nurse so we had to leave and come back at 1pm. 
Back in the square we bumped into Mau Mariani (who Kevin had introduced to me on my first day at the albergue) and had a coffee with him before Angela showed me his beautiful place, Hospital del Alma (Hospital of the Soul) where he and Nia Peiro had set up home which included a gorgeous photographic exhibition. 

When I had first seen Mau walking into the ruins of San Anton I had immediately recognized an old soul, one of these people who, although you've never met, you know who they are and what they stand for.  Hospital del Alma is a place of refuge, a silent retreat available to anyone for a donation.  One can stay for a day or a month, or longer.  That is why Mau doesn't spend too much time at home!  He says that if he is there people want to engage him in conversation, so he spends little time there, preferring to cultivate his special vegetable garden outside the village.

We visited the hotel Jacobus and then did some shopping.  At 1pm we went back to the Medico and I saw the nurse.  I didn't have the Tetanus injection.  She cleaned the wound and redressed the finger and told me not to get it wet and to come back in two days time.

Angela's friend, a hospitalero from the albergue San Esteban, offered to take us back to the albergue and on the way we stopped at a café-bar for a drink, arriving at the albergue after 2 pm.  The place was full and Angela and I started to prepare dinner while Kristine had some time off to do her training walk.

There were three Spanish pilgrims, including a father and his beautiful daughter, in the albergue tonight, which was unusual; we have only had a handful of Spanish pilgrims staying with us.  After dinner the Spanish girl told us that she couldn't sing very well and would prefer to do a dance for us.  She clapped out a rhythm on the table which we followed, rolled up her top to under her boobs and her skirt down to below her naval and started to belly dance!  She was fantastic and was awarded with the greatest round of applause we have ever had at San Anton!

21 - 22 SEPTEMBER - SAN ANTON

Angela and Kristine left for the convent of Santa Clara at 7h30 with a few of the pilgrims who also wanted to attend mass.  It is still dark and day breaks around 8am. I blew out all the candles in the bathroom and mopped and scrubbed in there first, barricading the door with broom and mop as I walked out.

 

Then I stripped the beds.  Angela had suggested that there was no need to wash the sheets every day so today would be the first time we didn't 'stew' them in boiling water. 
I went from bed to bed, taking out the blankets and pillows, shaking the sheets on the beds.  There was a little black speck on one of the sheets that didn't move.
 I got my Waka Waka and shone it on the bed.  Eeeek!  Was it a bed bug?  I picked it off the bed with a white tissue and carried it outside.  Is this what a bedbug looked like?  I wasn't sure so I rolled it up in the tissue and put it in a zip-lock bag.  I'd check with Angela when she got back but just in case, I would stew the sheets after all and spray the beds and walls as usual.  It took ages to boil enough water on the stove as only three burners were working but by boiling water in smaller pots I eventually had sufficient water to cover the sheets and pillowcases in large plastic basing.

 

I sprayed the walls and all the blankets and put them in the plastic containers in the sun.  Then I swept the dormitory and checked the dustpan.  Two more of the critters in the pan!  I rolled them up in toilet paper and added them to the zip-lock bag.

Usually by mid-day our beds are all taken but by lunch time today we only have 7 pilgrims signed in including a young Spanish woman with Tourette Syndrome, who I adopted as my assistant hospitalero.  She helped sign in a couple of pilgrims, showed pilgrims where to do their washing and held the fort while I walked to the tip to get rid of the trash.  She also helped with the chopping of the vegetables for Angela's lentil stew and was thrilled when we rewarded her with an extra piece of chocolate at dinner time!

 

At about 1:30 Angela and Kristine arrived back with groceries but no candles.  We were now critically low.  I called them aside away from the pilgrims to show them the bugs I had found.  Bed bugs.  Angela told Kristine to burn them whilst she took the Waka Waka to search the back wall where Kevin had said they liked to hang out.  She found two more.  
Although this didn't represent an outbreak, it was obvious that pilgrims were carrying them here from other albergues and we had to be extra vigilant about searching and destroying them.  Kristine thought we should close the albergue.  Angela didn't agree - this wasn't infestation, just a handful of 'passengers' being transferred by pilgrims.  We would continue to inspect the bedding, walls and floors and spray every day.

One of our pilgrims today was an Indian doctor from Mumbai.  We had a long conversation about South Africa and cricket - Finn would have been proud of me!  After dinner I was trying to push down the rubbish in our bin when I sliced my little finger on a tuna tin lid.  It bled like buggery and I called out, "Is there a doctor in the house!"  Our Indian doctor and our nurse Kristine took charge and cleaned the wound then applied pressure and strapped it up tightly.  Still blood was oozing through the dressings.  "You must sleep with the hand raised tonight," he said, "and see a doctor tomorrow in case you need a Tetanus injection." 

I would accompany Angela to the 8h30 mass and then we would walk to the village to find the doctor. 

20 SEPTEMBER - SAN ANTON

In May 2001 Ovidio Campo signed a contract with local farmer Don Eliecer Ten Temino, owner of the land and the ruins, to rent the space in the monastery.  In July 2002 they opened a donativo pilgrim shelter, created in the spirit of austerity with 6 double bunks donated by the army. 
In 2007 the Department of Development of Castile y Leon invested €300 000 to restore the ruins to the standard you see them today.  The new albergue was dedicated to Ovidio's brother Julian and his friend Jose who were killed in a train accident along with 4 other pilgrims in August 2006.  Every year, on the anniversary of their death, a memorial mass is held in the ruins.

 

Pilgrims approach the ruins from the road that runs between Hontanas and Castrojeriz

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tall double gate into the ruins

The sight that greets you as you enter - the small lean-to shelter in the lee of the walls which is where the main entrance was to the monastery.

 

 

The rose window comprises TAU cross decorations

 

 The walls enclose the courtyard - the albergue is on the left

 

 

Views from the outside

  

 

 

 The 16th century arch spans the road

  

 The ornate portico was the main entrance to the monastery.  

 

 

The albergue dorm and living area lies directly behind the double arches which have been closed.

 

The two niches in the arch where pilgrims leave messages

 

Medieval monks left wine and bread for pilgrims who arrived too late to enter the monastery.  Each day I put fresh water, wine, biscuits and sometimes fruit in the niche

 Seen approaching from the Castrojeriz side

 

 

10 SEPTEMBER - BELORADO - 12.5 km

When we arrived in Granon I visited the albergue San Juan Bautista where Marion, Annelise and I had stayed and where Jenny served. 

The countryside was brown and showing signs of the drought and heat Spain has experienced in the past few months.

On our way to Belorado we walked through Viloria where I hoped to pop in and say hello to Acacio and Orietta but the albergue looked closed so we continued walking.

We arrived at Belorado and walked through the middle of the town almost to the other end before we found the Hotel Jacobeo on the main road.

There was some confusion about our rooms so we couldn't check in right away.  We decided to revisit the town.

 

 

 

Once we had checked in we asked the owner if we could use the 3rd floor space to have our get-together and at 6pm we all met on the 3rd Floor. 
Jeffrey was still struggling with the light sling pack I had lent him so I offered him Finn's Jeep waist bag.  He tried it on and looked very happy about giving it a go tomorrow.
On our way to a supermecado we found a nice little outside cafe-restaurant for a meal.

9 SEPTEMBER - SANTO DOMINGO DE LA CALZADA 21 km

Marion has been a wonderful Group Leader.  Every night at 6pm she is available in the foyer of our hotel/pension to answer questions, tell the group about the next day's walk and pass on any special instructions.  Every night everybody arrives and so the next day there is no confusion about where to leave the luggage, how far the next day's walk is, what to look out for along the way.

Bonnie and Randy usually make an early start and the rest of us trickle out about half an hour later.  Connie likes to go ahead to do her meditation.  Jeffrey strides out and Marion, Moyra and I bring up the rear.  An hour or so into the walk, Connie has slipped back and Marion and Moyra go ahead. 

Jeffrey has been struggling with his back and even the day-pack has been too much for him.  Marion and I decided to inspect the contents of his pack and after sitting him down on a bench made him unpack it.  Besides various items of clothing, most that he wouldn't need whilst walking, he also had food, first aid stuff and three prayer books weighing the pack down.  Marion took the clothing, we shared the food stuff and Jeff asked me to take the prayer books. 
"They're going to be too heavy for you, Syl," said Marion. 
"Nah - they'll be Ok", I said.  And, surprisingly, they didn't seem to weigh anything in my pack, ironic as it was that the Anglican priest had entrusted his prayer books with a self proclaimed Buddhist! 
Connie is carrying a little Polar Bear toy called 'Barcelona'.  At every opportunity, Barcelona is photographed on the trail, sometimes next to monuments, churches, wayside crosses; sometimes with other pilgrims, sometimes on her own. 
I told Connie that there are very few children's Camino stories and that she should write a story about 'Barcelona walks the Camino".  I hope she does!

 

Connie and I walked into Santo Domingo together.  We stopped at the tourism office to ask the best way to the hotel and a woman leaving the office offered to walk us to the road where the hotel was.  Last year I had caught the bus here and the stop was just across the road from the hotel.

 

I had a gift for Paco and Anna and after checking in, we walked to the old town to visit the cathedral and have a look at the chickens in their place on honour at the back of the church.  You can read about Saint Dominic of the Causeway here, and of the miracle of the chickens.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_de_la_Calzada

Moyra, Marion, Connie, Jeff and I had a meal in the old quarter before returning to the hotel.