I left our Burgos hotel at 6:00 a.m., leaving Lee to sleep.  Pilgrims were already gathering outside of a café across from an albergue, just 100 meters up the street.  I got some coffee and yogurt.  Then seeing two young people setting off, I decided to follow them, lessening the mystery of finding the right route out of town.

The walk through Burgos was pleasant in the early morning, past city parks and through the Universidad de Burgos campus (note to kids:  why didn’t we stop here on the college tour?).   Eventually, it took me out to traditional Camino paths.

Sculpture in Burgos park

I got as far as Tarjados, before stopping for an ice tea at one the cafes.  After, I took a wrong turn off the Camino Road but was corrected immediately by a local woman.   Back on track, I made it to Rabe de las Calzadas.  Just beyond there was a tiny church, Ermita de Nuestra Senora de Monasterio, dedicated to the Blessed Mother and staffed by three nuns.  I stopped.  It was a peaceful place to sit and rest.

Nuns of the Ermita de Nuestra Senora

Upon leaving, one of the sisters, whom I later learned was Sister Ann, approached and draped a medal over my head, wishing me a safe journey.  Another nun stamped my credencial.  While she was doing that, Sister Ann took a picture of my worn hat, lain on a pew.  She explained that it was for their Facebook page.  She also took a picture of me with her two sister-nuns for the same purpose.

The little church marked the last stop before embarking on the famous Meseta.  The Meseta is a general term that refers to the entire region between Burgos and Astorga, beyond Leon.  But more specifically, it is a series of elevated plateaus where cereal plants and wheat are planted, and without shade or water for long stretches.  Some pilgrims skip the Meseta, taking a bus straight to Leon or renting bikes to get through it quicker.  It’s been described as a “desert,” because of the lack of shade and water.

I really never thought about skipping the Meseta. It seems part of the Camino experience.  And if it’s a desert?  Well, many people come to the Camino to find God, and it seems to me that a desert might be just the place to find Him.

So after leaving the sisters, I climbed up to the top of the first plateau and then walked for the next five miles on it.  No sight of highways and cars, panoramic vistas in all directions with only a few trees for shade that were way off my path.  The only sound:  my shoes and poles hitting the ground.  Just what was promised.

Coming down the plateau, I caught sight of Hornillos del Camino, my destination for the night.  The walk down was steep and rocky.  I don’t know the Spanish, but the road is dubbed “Mule-Killer Slope.”

Lee met me in town because our lodging was not there but 2 km to the north.  We later went back to Hornillos for lunch at the Green Tree, a restaurant that Sister Ann had told me about it. It was started by an Irish woman who met her Spanish husband on the Camino.  Emma, that very woman, was our host, and she made us a delicious meal of cold cucumber soup, and pasta with pesto, all with fresh ingredients.  How fresh? The arugula-like rocket lettuce which adorned our pasta, was picked out of the garden just for our meal.

Emma and Lee:  two Irish girls

Emma and Lee, two Irish girls, immediately connected, talked incessantly, and I had a hard time getting Lee out of there.

The next day, I wanted to get an early start, to avoid walking the Meseta in the afternoon heat.  Lee drove me back to Hornillos so that I could pick up the Camino road.  There were other pilgrims before and after me, but not many, and it appeared that everyone was happy to be by themselves.

Sunrise on the Meseta

Lee and I at Castrojeriz

I had gotten past the first plateau and about to climb a second, when I noticed someone coming out from an adjoining road.  It was my Camino friend Louise.  She had stayed at an albergue just past Hornillos.  We walked together to Hostanos.  She stayed for breakfast , and I moved on, with only another five miles to get to Castrojeriz, our stop for the night.   I met up with Lee and we had an early lunch of beer and a sandwich, deciding to actually eat dinner that night at the hotel.

View from the start of climbing to the top of the first plateau after Castrojeriz…

…and the view back at Castrojeriz from the top

The next day I started early, facing a longer hike of nearly 16 miles to Fromista.  The proprietor had taught me how to use the coffee machine and left me some other provisions for breakfast.  I knew my first challenge was a steep climb back up to a plateau.  It was two miles and took me an hour.  But at first light, such a climb was invigorating rather than wearing.  With overcast skies and a slight breeze, and the ability to see for five miles in any direction, the walk today may have been one of the most pleasant of any I had experienced thus far on the Camino.  My audio companions for the day helped as well.  First was John O’Donohue, an Irish priest-poet-philosopher, whom I had never heard of before Lee and Emma began sharing their mutual admiration of him two days before.  I listened to two of his talks found on YouTube, spiritual advice through Irish story-telling.  O’Donohue referenced several times Meister Eckhart, a 13^th-14^th century theologian and mystic.  I had heard of Eckhart but was in fear of tackling him.  O’Donohue gave me courage. Prior to the trip, I had already downloaded a series of talks by James Finley titled A Retreat with Meister Eckhart.  Finley is a former Trappist monk who spent time at Gethsemane with Thomas Merton.  I dove straight in.  It was a perfect complement to the solitude of the Meseta.  Frankly, I can’t think of any better place to first meet the thought of Meister Eckhart.

With these audio companions, the walk today went quickly,  There were two small villages along the way, and I stopped at one about three miles from Fromista.  The woman who owned the café spoke good English.  When she asked me how my Camino was going, I spoke effusively about the day’s walk from Castrojeriz.  She lamented that the Meseta has such a mixed reputation among peregrinos, agreeing with me that it really is a quite beautiful part of the Camino.

I found Lee and our hotel in Fromista.  We found a cafe for beer and pizza, toured an 11th century church, and later had at a light dinner in our hotel. On to Carrion de los Condes tomorrow.