Camino de Santiago: Into Castilla y Leon

You tend to pick up little insights on the Way. Maybe it’s something somebody said, a note you read on sign, or simply the play of light on the trail. On these final stages, a man operating a rest stop gave me four Latin phrases to ponder. The one that stuck at that moment was Tempus Fugit. Time flies. 

Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Belorado – 22.5 km

Belorado to San Juan de Ortega – 24 km

San Juan de Ortega to Burgos – 26 km (not walked)

The fields of sunflowers had merely started in Rioja. All through these stages in Castilla y León sunflowers baked in the sun. Someone from Burgos told me the seeds are used to make sunflower oil and biofuel. The European Union provides support for this endeavour. The harvest is October.

Amidst this vast undulating landscape I encountered some pleasant villages. Enjoyed my short stop in Grañon for many reasons: rock & roll music and home baked goodies from Panadería Jesus, a new walking companion (a young woman from China) who was a delight to talk to, and tomatoes gifted from a gentleman who insisted he had too many.

Belorado was another highlight. I loved the street art: colourful murals and bronze imprints commemorating famous visitors. I spotted Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez reminding me to watch The Way again when I get home. The cloistered nuns at Monasterio de Santa Clara make chocolates so I couldn’t leave Belorado without some!

All through my time on the Camino I have been struck by the ebb and flow of a day in a small Spanish village. The streets are full of life around lunch (1:30 to 4:00 pm timeframe) when everyone seems to be out, and then like clockwork, the boisterous activity ends. Streets are quiet. Siesta. It’s not until evening when people explode again onto the streets, for a stroll (paseo) or a pre dinner drink. Then restaurants fill up for dinners that stretch on until late.

Life on the Camino has its own ebb and flow. It starts with an early rise to get walking in the crisp morning air. The sun rising at your back. Walking done before the mid afternoon sun heats up. Fellow pilgrims also come and go on the trail. Sometimes I see the same pilgrims for a few days straight. Other times it may be several days before our paths cross again. On one of my final days of walking, I came across a women I had met only once way back at the start over the Pyrenees. We marvelled how we ended up in the same cafe in tiny Espinosa del Camino over 2 weeks later. I suppose these comings and goings happen frequently on the Camino.

En route to San Ortega I was alone for a good long stretch in a tranquil pine forest when I heard quick footsteps on the gravel path behind me. As his stride came up to mine I turned to ask this fellow pilgrim where he was from. He beat me to it: ”Where you from, eh?”. I knew, eh. A Vancouverite, married 55 years, he wanted the space to walk the Camino on his own. He talked of the voracious travelling he’s relished in recent years with his wife and family. There was almost an urgency about it. He talked as fast as he walked. Then he sped ahead of me, quickly out of sight around a bend in the path. Tempus Fugit.

It made me think of the words of Seneca.

So you must match time swiftness with the speed you are using it, and you must drink quickly as through from a rapid stream that will not always flow

Seneca, On the Shortness of Life

My time on the Camino comes to an end in Burgos. There’s a pull to keep walking, though it will also be nice to go home. The majority of pilgrims I met were walking to Santiago de Compostela. I met some walking the Way for the second or third time. Others have walked multiple routes, through France, Portugal or Spain. One couple did it with their kids (10 and 12 at the time) and now walking 8 years later to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. So many stories. Then there are others like me stopping in Burgos or walking a week or two. Maybe fitting it in to other travel plans

To use some words I picked up from up from another pilgrim about what you might get from time spent on the Camino: it can’t hurt. Any time on the Camino has the potential for good. I imagine the more time the better. I’ll have to come back to test out that theory.