Still Truckin´--Trekin´

So the weather has been better (now starting to get hot), we are having a blast, we´ve managed to avoid blisters (unheard of in camino world, knock wood), and Kepa is the biggest celebrity ever.  Still averaging 10ish pictures a day, and we constantly meet people we have not yet met who already know 1) his name 2) where we are from and 3) other random information about us.  Apparently he is on tons of other camino blogs.  Among our random groups of people we have run into multiple times, we have gotten particularly close to a mid 50sh British couple from Suffolk, a mid 50s man from Andorra, and a mid 20s couple from Asturias (Kepa almost prefers the woman from that couple to us haha).  Also occasionally hang out with some college students from Ireland and some others from Texas A & M.  We are now in the mundane, hot, monochromatic desert oasis of ¨the meseta¨.  Wishing we were back in the Basque Country or at least La Rioja.  Looking forward to the great city of Leon and then, eventually, celtic Galicia.

May 28 Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Belarado, Castilla y Leon (23.9 km)
The day after seeing the chickens we walked a long way to a well preserved pilgrimage town and ate on the main square.  A very good day.  The first picture says it all to me.  Sadly, we left Rioja.

A really pretty stretch

Someone left a mural on a wall in Belarado.  You could definitely feel the "crisis" (what they call
the recession) in this neck of the woods, but we still really liked the feel of Belarado.

May 29 Belorado to Ages (27.7 km, for most of us)
Hard, cold driving wind and threats of rain sent G-Mom and Kepa ahead by taxi for 15 km of the middle of this leg.  We all walked about 10 km, then sent them ahead to the supposedly idealistic monestary-albuerge of San Juan de Ortega by taxi.  Brittany and I then climbed two mountains and walked across a battlefiend from the Spanish Civil War.  When we got to the monestary, however, we found a note left in the bar by Mary Ann telling us that the monestary was not nice, the monks no longer served soup, and contrary to their advertising there were no private rooms suitable for a baby.  So she had walked ahead 3.5 km to Ages, where we joined her.

G-Mom and Kepa wait in the bar at the albuerge in Ages.
We found them having just finished a chocolate and churros.

May 30Ages to Burgos (22.2 km)
Pretty weather as we made it to the large city of Burgos, home of the first Gothic cathedral on the Iberian peninsular (and a relatively impressive one at that).  Also the location that El Cid is supposedly buried.....since 1921.....which makes me skeptical.  But Alan B. of the comment wall assures me he really is. Does one trust a medievalist?  The most impressive cultural find in Burgos, however, was Sucarum.....home of home-made soft serve icecream with home-made toppings.  2/3 of us had the chocolate bomb....choc ice cream with multpiple chocolate toppings.  The cone?  Made of crousaint.  Bri had yogurt flavored ice cream with apple toppings.  Take that yogurt hipsters!!!!!! (I can at least respect gilato, though I prefer good quality ice cream or sorbet........but yogurt ix na!!!!).   Topped with the best cotton candy of our lives.  I just don't know what to say.

The view from the top of a hill 10 km out of Burgos.  Quite the vista.

A street in Burgos. These trees where ubiquitous in Rioja, but Burgos put them to particularly good use

In a cloister of the cathedral.   Notice the scallop shell? 

Yum.  Sucurum.  Need it.  Again.  Now.

May 31 Burgos to Rabe de las Calzados  (12.2 km)
A short day so that we would have more time in Burgos.  Had some GREAT morcilla in a tiny bar in Rabe.  It is the Castilla y Leon version of Boudin.  Pretty darn good.

Headed toward Rabe with the sun at our shoulders.

Morcilla and artesian cheese.  A GREAT lunch.

June 1 Rabe de las Calzados to Castrojeriz (29.0 km)
Ate lunch in the wonderfully preserved medieval city of Hontanas.  Google it.  You´ll be happy.  .5 km out you still couldnt see it even though the meseta is flat.  Then a drop off and BOOM.  A great lunch too.  Kepa fell while crawling and whackadoodled his head.  Otherwise an enjoyable day

This man, at Store Kilometer Marker 469, took a major liking to Kepa
and gave him a scallop shell from Finnestarre

See how you see nothing....Then boom.  Really pretty cool

Getting close to Castrojerez

June 2 Castrojeriz to Fromista (25.5 km)
 Really liked Fromista.  The cathedral was 11th century yet had carvings of people (2 centuries ahead of its time).  Had an AMAZING meal in a beatifully decorated restaurant (see pictures).  The Jamon Iberico and the cheese were to die for.  The table was an old alfafa buster turned upside down with a flat glass put over it.

Coming over a BIG hill and onto the meseta, which (the first few days at least) was much
prettier than people said, if only because of the late/wet spring that kept it green.  Even so, it was
monotonous. But getting close to Fromista you walk along some really pretty canals.

Fromista was one of our favorite spots on the camino, and the location of our first slight splurge
meal. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it was beautifully decorated.  The food was sublime.

June 3 Fromista to Carrion de los Condes (19.7 km)
  Carrion used to be 12,000 people and they were forced to sacrifice 100 virgins a year by the moors.  Now there are only 1000 people and a pretty good restaurant here too.  Had a torta de Santiago to celebrate Kepa´s due date (had he been full term).  Maybe a new holiday?  Kenneday!!!!  G Mom got a haircut by a woman that spoke no english.  Fun.

What? You can drive to the same places? Why are we walking?

June 4 Carrion de los Condes to Terradillos de los Templarios (26.8 km)
Long, hot, boring day on the meseta.  But we made it to a tiny burge population 100, seconds before they were about to give our room away.  Whew!!!!!!

Meseta, meseta, meseta.  At least it is still green.  I think that is about to change after Shahagun.

One last drink with Joan, a man from Andorra who we met many days in a row and ate dessert with
in Fromista. A kinder man I have not met on this trip, and he took a MAJOR liking to both Kepa and
Brittany.  We remain in touch, but we are out ahead of him on the trail.  Hope to visit him in Andorra
someday. Sadly, my Catalan is fragile :)