Lazy (ish) day

A short day today, walking from Belorado to Villafranca Montes de Oca. Only 12km (7mi), to give us a rest day and to split up the 500m climb up and over the Montes de Oca.

Belorado, being nestled in a snug little valley, meant two things for today. First, it was really cold this morning because the sun doesn’t penetrate those narrow streets until it is high in the sky. It was 36 degrees when we started walking at 8am. I had to put on two layers of gloves and every warm thing I had. The other thing about being in that cute little valley is that the only way out is uphill. So as soon as we got onto the trails and started climbing up to where the sun did shine, we had to stop several times to peel off the layers. Not a problem though. There were many small villages en route, and it was a beautiful sunny day.

Not much change in the landscape. Rolling hills with checkerboards of crops broken up by stands of trees. We arrived at Villafranca Montes de Oca before noon. It is not much of a town. There’s a freeway running right through the center of it, with big trucks blasting by every few minutes, probably headed to the next big city, Burgos, just 30km away. There is, of course, a church (closed), one market and one restaurant which was really more of a truck stop that we went to for lunch. We tried to blend in as best we could among the locals and truck drivers. We did not succeed.

Having our rest day here was strategic only inasmuch as we didn’t want to do the big climb all in one day. Turns out it was more strategic than I initially thought. There is absolutely nothing to see or do here. A forced rest. So I spent a good bit of the afternoon with my feet up in the hotel bar, glass of wine and book in hand, while Rory napped in the room. The bar was very cozy, with a fireplace, wood beam ceilings, couches and nine mounted heads of exotic big game animals (plus dozens more mounted antlers). More like I would imagine a hunting lodge in Montana. A side note, though, this hotel is very luxurious - sort of French provincial decor with heavy drapes and chandeliers everywhere - recently renovated by a man who walked the Camino some years ago and wanted to create a comfortable place for pilgrims. Well done, sir! Odd choice for the location, but it works for me.

We are almost two weeks into our journey. 13 days to be exact, which means about a third of the way to Santiago. There is old saying about parenthood, that the days and nights of parenthood are very long but the years are much too short. It is the same with the Camino, I think. Each day, walk, walk, walk, eat, sleep - then get up and do it all over again. In the moment, it can seem to drag on. And yet the time flies, somehow.