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. 

18, 19 SEPTEMBER - SAN ANTON

Justi came to visit us this morning and we asked if he would take Kristine to the supermecado to buy provisions.   We were told that the hospitaleros could have a hot shower at the Hotel Jacobus so she could visit the hotel at the same time, have a shower and ask for more Tau crosses which were sold out at the albergue  We also asked him to try to find candles as we were now using the smaller candles in red plastic containers for the tables.

One of the pilgrims asked if he could stay awhile and help me clean so I put him to work sweeping the dining room and taking the rubbish to the junk tip around the corner outside the Farmer's house.  I also gave him a bottle of water and some bread to put in the niche under the archway that spans the road.  The French monks used to put wine and bread in the niche for pilgrims who arrived too late to be admitted to the monastery and we hospitaleros have continued the tradition.

We shook out the blankets and sprayed them before putting them into the plastic containers and he helped me pour boiling water on the sheets.  I hadn't seen a bug for three days so hopefully the one's we'd seen were just isolated hitch-hikers, carried in by pilgrims from other albergues.  There certainly weren't any breeding here and we'd only seen adults.

Two bus loads of tourists came to visit this morning - first a Swedish group and then a German group.  They milled about, peering into the dormitory and dining room but I barricaded the door into the bathroom with crossed poles - a mop and a broom - and put a No Entry sign on the door.  They bought a few trinkets from the showcase in the albergue, mostly pins, bells, Tau crosses and post cards - and most left a generous donation. 
The TAU was mentioned in the bible in Ezekiel
9:4 - "Go through the city of Jerusalem and put a TAU on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it."
St. Francis borrowed the TAU  from the Antonians who wore the TAU cross on their habits.  Whenever you see St. Anthony, "the Abbot or Hermit" in art, he is portrayed with the TAU.  The rose window in the ruins was decorated using the Tau crosses.

Kristine and Justi came back with the shopping but no Tau crosses or candles - and Kristine was unable to have a hot shower because the young woman in the reception said that she had to be there before 9am, which is not possible for us. 

At around 5pm a couple of peregrinas asked if they could help with anything. 'You can start setting the table" I said and put them to work.  Kristine showed us her cross face, "Not so early, "she said, "the flies will get on the plates." 
"No problem," I answer with a smile, "we'll cover the table with cloth."  She has said the same thing for three nights and every night I offer the same solution. She huffs and puffs, but I'm not giving in.  Tonight she cooked the meal using the same ingredients that our Italian chef had used.  We had a full house and everyone sang a song, we passed the candle saying thanks to the Camino, and I introduced another ritual at the table, borrowing a practise I first experienced in the albergue in Tosantos.
 There were so many hurting people on the Camino, many who were walking in honour or memory of a relative or friend, or who had personal grief.  A Polish lady told us about her sister who has been fighting bone cancer for 5 years.  Kristine had shared a story with me about her daughter and I decided to ask everyone if they would like to write out a prayer request and place it in a little box.  Tomorrow or the next day, we and the pilgrims spending the night would pray for those people.  We put paper and a pen in the box on the desk so that people could write out their requests tonight or before they leave tomorrow.  We also asked people to take a prayer request to Santiago with them and pray for that person when they got to the cathedral.

16,17 SEPTEMBER - SAN ANTON

17 September 
Robert left yesterday.  "Watch out for that one" he whispered to me as he left.  He'd found Kristine a bit bossy and controlling but I wasn't concerned.  She'd told me that her mother was a bossy and controlling women and that they had never gotten on.  I am not afraid of bossy women and will kill her with patience and stoicism!. 
Kristine and I are on our own for a few days until the Spanish hospitalera arrives on Sunday  We don't know anything about her except that she has served at San Anton for a week in September every year for the past 4 years.

The weather has turned quite cool and last night was freezing in the 'ice box'.  In the middle of the night I woke with a start and wondered if the people who had done the washing up had switched off all the gas burners.
I lay in the bed and listened to the wind and didn't feel like getting up and going out.  Then I thought of the 2 year-old, and his grieving parents and thought, "What if there is gas leaking out and the child dies in his sleep?  Or, all the pilgrims are dead when I open up in the morning?"  OMG! 
I got up and put on my down jacket, took the Waka Waka torch and crept out of the box. There is no electricity at San Anton and with no moon it is pitch black at night.  I unlocked the doors to the albergue and, of course, the gas was switched off.  I sighed with relief. 
I know I've locked and bolted the big gate into the ruins but then I remember the baby and the parents and think, "....not on my watch," so I go down to the gates and check anyway.

The Waka Waka has been a fabulous asset. Not only do I have a solar powered power-bank to recharge my phone or tablet, but it provides a bright light for us to wash up dishes, look for things in the dark, light my way to the ice-box and to the toilet. 

This morning Kristine burnt her forearm when she accidentally poured some hot water over arm when stewing the sheets.  It is quite a deep burn but being a nurse she knew what to do and how to treat it.  But, it does mean that she doesn't have the strength to wring the sheets so we do it together and hang them together.

People start wandering in very early.  Some peep through the gate, hesitant to step into the grounds, not sure if they are allowed in.  Others march up to the albergue and ask if we sell coffee.  'No, I'm sorry we don't sell anything here" we say and they peer into the dining room just in case we are secretly a café-bar after all. 
"Can we use the toilet?" some ask.  "I'm afraid not," we say, "we have very little water here and we can't flush the toilets until the tank has been replenished.'"  If someone is dancing a jig with their legs crossed, we let them use the toilet, but otherwise we have to say no. 

If you look carefully you see the water pipe running under the stones behind the bench this couple are sitting on.  The farmer next door pipes water to the albergue from his reservoir. 

 

Whilst Kevin was here, the tank ran dry and they had no water for a day.  They had to collect water in 5L bottles from the pipe at the canal in order to fill the cistern and boil some for drinking water.  If the water pressure drops we can't flush the toilets anyway so we have to restrict the use of the toilets to pilgrims staying at the albergue only.

 

There is a beautiful shower here but no hot water.  "That's OK, " I said to Kevin on my first night.  "I'll have a cold shower."  The men looked at me in admiration.  I stood naked and ignorant under the shower and thought, "I'll just have a quick one."  OMG!!  As the icicles hit me I thought I was having an asthma attack!  For 5 minutes I couldn't breathe, the water was pure ice!  There is a sign on the door asking people to save water by having a quick shower.  Really!  There is absolutely no risk of anyone wasting water under that shower of icicles!

I brought three black solar shower bags to the albergue from South Africa.  If they work in the African bush, they should work in this smart shower. They worked, sort of.  They would've worked better if we could've hung them up but we didn't want to put hooks into the owner's wooden beams without their permission so we balanced one bag on top of the shower wall and tied the ropes to the upright shelving unit behind the wall.  (You can just see the bags lying on the green table, water spouts hanging over the edge.)
 Each day I emptied the left over water from the bag into basins to use to water the plants. There are herbs and some vegetables as well as flowers that were planted here in memory of  Julian and Jose.  The crocus are just starting to flower - big beautiful yellow stars pushing through the scrubby grass behind the wash lines.

 Tonight we had an Italian pilgrim who asked if he could cook for us.  We accepted his offer gladly and he made pasta with a really delicious sauce which included some of the vegetable we'd bought the other day.  I asked him if he could sing as well (can't all Italians sing?) but he said no, definitely not.  After dinner I suggested that each person sing us a song from their country, whether it is a lullaby or their National anthem.    We had a beautiful Polish song, Hungarian, two Italian songs (even one from Ernesto after we plied him with red wine), a couple of English songs and Kristine sang Waltzing Matilda while I sang Inkosi Sikele iAfrica. 

Before I sand I explained how a decision had to be made after the 1990 political changes in South Africa on which anthem to keep and what a miracle it was that both the African song and the Afrikaans song were accepted, and how the words combine five of our 11 official languages  with Xhosa, Zulu, Sesotho, Afrikaans and English verses. Of course I don't know all the words so I had to wing it until I got to Die Stem but nobody would've known unless they could understand Sesotho!

 

SEPTEMBER - SAN ANTON

 

A basic pilgrim shelter was first established in the ruins of San Antonin in 2002 but due to lack of volunteers was often closed.  In 2006 Julian Campo and Jose Santiago, hospitaleros and well known personalities in Castrojeriz, were killed in a train accident on their way home from walking the Camino Portuguese.  Julian's brother, Ovidio Campo who owns a hotel in Castrojeriz, restored and improved the old shelter in their honour.


The monastery hospital of San Anton was run by French Antoine monks who had similar monastery hospitals in France and Italy.  They were places of healing where people suffering from the medieval disease known as San Anthony's Fire, were sent to be cured.

San Anthony's Fire was a disease caused mainly by eating mouldy rye.  In times of famine, poor people would eat the mouldy cereals and develop ergotism which led to the sufferers going berserk and caused gangrene of the hands and feet due to constriction of blood supply to the extremities. Many were healed at San Anton and miracles were attributed to the Saint.  Good food, lots of sunshine and care might also have had something to do with their recovery!

In Spain San Anton is always seen with a piglet.  He was a lover of animals and once a year, San Anton's day celebrates animals, much like Saint Francis in Italy. 
At San Anton the donations are placed in a Piggy Bank. 

The medieval Gothic builders must have had a sense of humour because the added a piglet in stone to one of the high arches on the inside of the cathedral.  When we show people they are delighted when they manage to spot the little stone pig high up near the top of the ruin.

12 SEPTEMBER - BURGOS AND SAN ANTON - 20KM

Bonnie and Randy left early but the rest of us left together a bit later. 
We made sure that we took the correct route following the path that would bring us to Castanares.

The path was like a lunar landscape in places with just sharp rocks to the top of the ridge.

From the top of the ridge is a spectacular view of the outskirts of Burgos. 

 

We met at the restaurant el Descanso and had lunch before going to the Hotel around the corner where the taxis would collect us - one for the group to take them to Santo Domingo de la Calzada and another to take me to San Anton.

 

Their taxi came on time and I said goodbye to the group.  They promised to pop in at San Anton in three days time.  I then waited an hour for my taxi then decided to phone Javier at Caminofacil who told me that my suitcase had gone with the group to Santo Domingo and they were sending a taxi for me but I would have to wait for my case. 

Pedro arrived shortly after and we went to the railway station to collect three men who we would drop off before continuing to San Anton.

 

 

I arrived at San Anton at around 4pm and met South African Kevin (who I trained to be a hospitalero) and Robert, who I would serve with until they left in three days time.  The three of us would be sleeping in a small container - a new experience for me after sleeping with one man for the last 46 years!  Robert and Kevin shared the double bunk and I had a bed. 

 

Kevin gave me a tour of the place and explained the daily routine.  We needed to do shopping so he invited me and a pilgrim to walk to the village 4km away to do some shopping.  The supermecado only opened at 5pm so we would have time to get there, shop and walk back again.

As we walked to Castrojeriz, Kevin explained about the daily routines, preparing dinner and some of the traditional rituals at the dinner table.  With no electricity, the hospitaleros made their own entertainment with the pilgrims taking part.

We bought provisions, bottles and tins, and bags of vegetables and struggled back to the albergue with the stuff in our packs, walking against a rising head wind.  I told Kevin that when Kristine arrived and he and Robert left, we would have to get a taxi back with the shopping!  According to Rebekah's outline, Ovidio would bring supplies but he was away on holiday and so the hospitaleros did the shopping.

Back at the albergue we got the pilgrims chopping onions and peppers, setting the table, helping with the candles.  Just before dinner, Rebekah (the person in charge of the hospitaleros) arrived with a few friends and a Norwegian Classical guitarist to give us a concert.  It was too windy to have the doors open so we added a round table to the long tables and ended up with 21 people for dinner!  The guitarist was superb but with having had such a long day I couldn't help nodding off during his performance.

When everyone had left, we locked up and went to bed with our torches and the solar lights I had brought with me, illuminating the way.

11 SEPTEMBER - SAN JUAN DE ORTEGA - 24km

Marion told us that it was Jeff's birthday today and as there was only one place in San Juan to have a meal, we would celebrate by having dinner together.  She had asked her friend Ben to make a small stained glass and lead cross for Jeff as a birthday present.

We passed through Tosantos where we had stayed in 2007 with the wonderful Jose Luiz.  The guide book told us to take care when walking through the village of Villafranca Montes de Orca because of fast moving traffic.  With a population of 230 people, we couldn't imagine that the traffic should be too busy!  However, the road is a national one with fast moving trucks and other heavies, and very little shoulder to walk on.

Today started off with a steep, steep climb straight up through a forest on a rocky path.  Thereafter is was a day of fruit - with pears, apples, plums, blackberries and quince in abundance.

We started climbing again and when we thought we would never see civilisation again, there in a clearing was a strange sight.  Upturned cut logs, a couple of hammocks, music coming from the open boot of a small car and three lovely ladies handing out slices of melon and offering cold drinks or coffee. 

After taking advantage of this unexpected stop we continued to San Juan de Ortega - population 20 - a tiny hamlet dedicated to Saint John of the Nettles who was a disciple of Santo Domingo and helped build roads and bridges to help the pilgrims on their way to Santiago.  In 2002 the only place to sleep here was in the monastery, a bitterly cold, damp and mouldy place.  Now the two brothers who own the only café bar have built a modern 10-roomed hostal with en suite bathrooms.  This is where we were headed.

 

We checked in, booked a table for the first dinner setting and went to visit the church of San Nicolas.

Mass was before dinner and we all enjoyed the pilgrim mass and blessings.  Then we went to dinner and surprised Jeffrey with a small cake and candle and Marion gave him the gift.

I would be leaving the group in Burgos tomorrow and it was decided that we would ask the taxi to pick everybody up at Castaares, a small suburb of Burgos about 7km before the central city.

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.