Tag: camino-frances

The Beautiful Meseta

January 15th, 2024

There is not a single part of the Camino Frances that deserves to be skipped, and yet when someone asks in the Camino Forums what part should I skip, the most common answer is “Skip the Meseta, you won’t miss much”. The Meseta is the land from Burgos to Leon which is about 162 K (105 miles). It represents about 20% of the Camino and I believe often gets a bad rap. If you follow the Brierley guidebook and walk it in 8 days, if turns out to be 20 K per day on average. Not only that, but it is also relatively flat, which is a nice change of pace from the walk to Burgos. The Meseta is the stretch where the Pilgrim can get their act together to get ready for the last 13 days of the Camino. It consists of a lot of arid land and agricultural land as well. It definitely has its’ own unique beauty, but more importantly it is home to many Spaniards and others as well.

              The first stop out of Burgos is Hornillos del Camino, which is a small agricultural town. It is a long narrow town with several Albergues and places to eat. At the West end of town there is a Bar that is owned by a young man from Africa, who immigrated to Spain. He is quite a promoter and as you entered the town, he had lots of flyers advertising a karaoke night. One of my young female companions who was like a daughter to me, talked me into going. I was not into crowds and there definitely was a crowd, so I left quite early and went back to my Albergue for some peace and solitude. When I got back to the Albergue, I was lying on my lower bunk bed just relaxing and reading. A woman came who had arrived late afternoon, and we started having a conversation. I learned she was from Holland, and she was a quite fit attractive 55-year-old who was doing 30 K days. Sometime during our conversation, she asked me if I had anyone back home. I answered in the affirmative mentioning my kids and grandkids. She looked at me directly and said, “I mean do you have ANY ONE back home?” It caught me off guard for a moment and I responded with a “yes, I do have a sweetheart back home”. I realized in that moment that she was interested in me for some reason. I asked her how old she thought I was, and she said she thought I was in my mid 50s just like her. I told her that I was 73, and she would not believe me. I had to show her my driver’s license. We laughed and I was quite flattered at her interest in me. Honestly it made my day. The next morning, she left just before I did, and I did not see her again. I will long remember the moment I realized her interest.

              The next morning, I found out from my Camino daughter, that the owner of the karaoke bar asked her to marry him and even had a ring. He was so smitten with her but of course my Camino daughter was not looking for something like that. He did stay in touch with her and met us in Bercianos where we played some board games and learned about his unique journey to Hornillos. He seemed like a decent fellow with bad timing. I tell these stories because they happened on the first day on the Meseta. The small unique towns and villages were friendly and appreciative of the Pilgrims. It was one of the most interesting parts of the Camino and the people were especially welcoming. We experienced the singing Sisters in Carrion de Los Condes, and every day we would walk toward the distant horizon with the sun rising at our backs. I cannot remember ever being bored with the changing scenery along the way. I noticed that the cover photo on the late John Brierley’s guidebook is from the Meseta, and so he too thought it was an important part of the Camino. By the time we entered the Meseta my Camino family was coalescing and we were splitting up and some were taking alternate routes, but always coming back together the same day or the next. Some of my group happened to run into John Brierley in Reliegos and found had experienced a respite from his battle with cancer. He was back on the Camino he loved and doing updates in his guidebook. They had a wonderful conversation with him and were blessed by the experience.

              I know there are a lot of people who do not have the time to take 30-35 days to do the entire Camino Frances. I will say there is something about that time frame that allows for a deeper and more complete experience, especially with the personal connections that we make on this journey. I would encourage those who do not have the time to consider doing the section between Burgos and Leon. It is 12 days to Burgos, 8 days to Leon, and 13 days to Santiago. Three nice sections to do a complete Camino.

Buen Camino,

Stephen Towles

Caminocoach.net
Sunrise on the Camino

December 22nd, 2023

It was Martin Luther King Jr. who said: “If you can’t fly, then run, if you can’t run, then walk, if you can’t walk, then crawl, but by all means keep moving!” I have come to believe that this statement is perfect for describing my experience on all of my Camino’s. It is in the constant movement forward that everything, every experience, every incredible moment occurs. And yet it is not speed that we seek, it is the slow steady pace of one step after another one million times over the 32 days that makes the journey what it is and what it is not. Our modern life is one of movement from one place to another and one thing to another. And the movement is fast and in the speed of our movement we miss a huge part of life. You see, you can only walk so fast, and you must pay attention to where you are going and your surroundings and are subject to unexpected moments that I call Camino Moments.

One of my favorite moments of most every day on the Camino was when the sun rose in the eastern sky. You see the Camino Frances is a journey from East to West, and every day the sun would rise from behind. You could begin to feel it happening and it was almost always a spectacular moment at the beginning of each day. I am one of those Pilgrims who would most always start in the darkness of the early morning. I slept in my clothes and would generally wake up around 6 am and be out the door by 6:30 am. Sunrise in September would happen about an hour into my walk, and most days I was alone at that time of day. Generally, by the time the sun would peak over the horizon, it would be light enough for me to have turned off my head lamp (or torch as the English would call it), and then I could begin to experience the gradual and subtle change in the light as I moved forward on my journey. It was one of my favorite parts of the day and there was not a single part of the Camino that lacked a spectacular sunrise.

I don’t notice sunrises when I am home because I am not generally outside at that time of day. Sunrises from March to October come much earlier than they do in Spain because of how we are positioned in our time zone. On the Camino, I was bathed in the experience most every day on my journeys. I met many of my Camino friends at Sunrise because everyone would stop and watch and ooh and aah at the spectacle. The thing is a Camino sunrise is no more or less beautiful than a sunrise in any other place. But it is more special because you are existing in the elements and vulnerable to them. One begins to appreciate and be inspired by this sense of vulnerability, and I could understand how those who lived in the open spaces might see the sun as a divine entity. Certainly, there is a worshipful experience that occurs at every sunrise on the Camino. You feel the loving presence of this divine creation of life and the beauty that is all around and within everyone. It is the reason I used one of the sunrise pictures I took as the cover for my book “Heaven is Walking the Spiritual Path”.

One particular sunrise I remember is on the walk from Ages to Burgos. The walk was especially dark in the beginning and the early light began to emerge as I ascended the main hill. The trail was quite rough, and I had to pick my steps carefully. There is a cross at the crest of the hill and just as I passed the cross the sun began to show itself on the horizon and I was able to capture what I consider a special picture that inspires me every time I see it.

When I was walking from La Herrerias at the base of the mountain climb that leads to O’Cebreiero, I also left my Albergue in the dark and walked the steepest part of the climb in the darkness of early morning. As I came to the monument, that signifies we are crossing into Galacia, it was there that the sun began to show up. As I stopped to admire the monument a couple of Pilgrims I had met briefly a couple of days before, Adriana and Cleber from Brazil, showed up and took my picture. It was a beautiful place to watch the sunrise. We ended up walking the rest of the day together and Cleber was busy filming the walk for his Youtube Channel. You can view that day at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hvcDQXHUG0&t=2s. It was a fun day making new friends.

My Caminos live in me and color my life in so many wonderful ways. The memories are vivid, the sunrises are spectacular, and the people are exquisite. If you have not yet done a Camino in Spain you have much to look forward to. If you have done one or more Camino’s you know what I am sharing is an affirmation of this special moment in your life.

Buen Camino

Stephen Towles

Tag: camino-frances

The Beautiful Meseta

Sunrise on the Camino