Destination Santiago Peregrino 60

This picture needs few words. We are walking through La Meseta, a vast grain growing area of Spain. There are wheat fields and poppies in abundance. In another part of Europe there are even vaster wheat fields, and sadly, bloodshed the same colour as the poppies. Small wonder perhaps how this direction sign has been renewed. Check out the colours, the statement and if you are the praying kind, offer yours for the peace that is so badly needed. For those whose lives are blighted beyond all normality. 

Today we arrived at Calzadilla de Los Hermanillos, approximately 150 km into our journey from Burgos to Leon on the Camino Frances. Today we had chosen to start a walk along the longest remaining Roman Road in Spain still used. It is mainly a pebbled, dirt track. We shall follow that to Mansilla de las Mulas. We have stayed in a variety of Albergues along the way, but none in such a state of renewal as this one. Indeed, when we arrived we thought it was "cerrado" - closed. Fortunately there were 6 beds only and we were able to have the use of two. It was basic with a loo, a shower and few power sockets. The Spanish Hospitalero - host - was able to find me an extension lead to enable me to use my CPAP machine. We can see that the improvement works will result in a first class Albergue, renewed, extended, facilities all much better than they were. It is a converted school building. I guess our lives sometimes need that kind of treatment too, helping to make us more able, more l

Spain is well known for its festivals and processions. Back in 2018 I was able to watch several during Semena Santa - Holy Week - in Santiago de Compestella. I still follow Cofradia de la Esperanza - Confraternity of Hope - on Facebook. A key part of the Cofradia's role is the sharing of Christian hope through the retelling of elements of the Passion through the carrying of scenes from it around the streets. The key members are often processing with their faces covered for anonymity, the message being more important than the bearer. Outside San Lorenzo's church in Sahagun two members of the Cofradia de Jesus de Nazareth are immortalised in bronze. One a drummer the other with a horn. Priests often wear black for the same reason, it's dressing down to be unimportant rather than as is often perceived, the opposite. The message of Christian hope is timeless, it doesn't belong to a particular generation or class of person. Humility is the key. The Royal British Legion puts

The Albergue we stayed at was serviced by nuns attached to the parish church. In the early evening they invited any pilgrims who wished to join them for an hour in the garden. We were asked to introduce ourselves briefly, name, where we were from and what expectation we had or reason we had for walking the Camino. As you may expect these varied a lot. There were many nationalities represented. This experience turned out to be a whole lot more moving than I guess had been expected. When the lady next to me spoke giving her name and Ukraine as her country of origin there was a slight pause and then spontaneous applause. I wonder what that sign of solidarity meant to her? A few minutes later the nuns asked if anyone had a song to offer. A guy from Texas offered and took a guitar from one of the nuns and began to play " By the rivers of Babylon" in a blues style. He taught us the tune and we sang it several times. He had no idea what the origins of the song was. One of the nuns e

Another 6.30 am start and about 12 km under our belt by 9 am. Time for breakfast, and a very high calorie one at that. Toasted bread, fried eggs and bacon for me. The first fry up for a while and boy was it tasty. One of the joys of this Camino is the food. Simple food - tortilla and jus naranja, pan y queso, vino tinto... with the more hearty "menu del dia". The country cooking is very good quality, tasty melt in your mouth meat or pastries. It is a real pleasure to  eat. At home most of the time meals are in a hurry, a necessity that doesn't have the time it deserves to eat, enjoy and share that pleasure with others. As someone I love says she "inhales her food"  - any teacher or teaching assistant will understand! If we enjoy the gift of good food surely we should spend a moment appreciating it. Being thankful for it. Wondering how we might ensure others can do this too. On that note perhaps you could pray for Holy Cross Foodbank shortly to open in Tividale..

Today took us along an 8 km stretch of open countryside along a Roman Road to Calzadilla where we found an open municipal Albergue. What a joy as there were very few pilgrims there and it was sparkling clean. A walk around the hamlet (population 90), showed that lots of the buildings were traditionally constructed. The local earth when mixed with straw dries rock hard. I guess rather like a lime plaster. In our concrete loving world it was a reminder of more sustainable and eco friendly days. As these buildings fall into disrepair it is dust and timber that remains. It is also pretty simple to repair. The wood is local, the earth is local so low mileage transport too. I wonder how easy we find it to make that kind of decision? To think about the effects of our decision or to consider the environment and its future in our decision making?