More to come

Starting the beginning of July, when I have finally landed, I will start putting up photos and narrative about the Camino. For the time being, here is a photo of early morning on the alteplano, going up a slight meseta, with loads of wheat fields populated by wild poppies.

de regreso

Back home last night... staying up as long as possible to adjust back to EDT, though it's hard (I woke up at 4.15 this morning, 10.15 hora local en España) to get back fully in one night.

Here's a photograph of the alteplano from a meseta taken ten days ago.

Photos and narrative will follow in course. For now, suffice to say that we walked over 272 miles/421 km, completing the 960+ mile/1570 km pilgrimage we started in April 2004. It will take time to live into that reality.

Meanwhile, as I write, the pilgrims are walking. The flow of humanity headed toward Santiago will continue.

A wheatfield kind of day

Now we understand why the author of Fumbling went nuts and starting going around in circles in a wheatfield.

It is 33 kms day, and we have done all but 9. The first 6 kms were on the infamous souless ´senda´a path that the Department of Palencia has created alongside the major road that leads from one city to another (notably to Carrion de los Condes). After Carrion, we then spent 16 kms on an earthern path out in the middle of nowhere except that one goes along wheatfields.

The sun is out today and there isn´t the stiff wind that has been blowing in our faces so.

It has been long and flat, a new definition of monotonous and tendious, or shall we say, trudgery.

I have a bad blister on my left heel that is quite painful but will slog it out until we get to our lodging for tonight before operating on it.

Last night we stayed in a wonderful hotel with a room that looked out at a 13th century Templar church.

Meanwhile I write from a bar cafe hotel that is an oasis after the 16 kms slog through the wheatfields. Whew.

(I am not wearing my bifocals when I write these notes so I can´t really see what I am typing. Cleanup will happen when I return stateside.)