Walked another 35 kilometres today, from Villalbilla de Burgos to Castrojeriz, making a total of 985 kilometres. Wonder if Julie will be standing at the 1000 kilometre sign tomorrow with a bottle of champagne?
Julie’s weather predictions in the morning are off. There’s just no other word for it. She admits to some poor performances. It’s the mountain ranges that she’s not used to, she says. Today there suddenly was rain, despite Julie’s assurance it was going to be a fine day. And the morning was cold and windy, although the wind was coming mostly from behind. Which surprised me. I assumed Spain would mainly have a West wind, blowing right in our faces all the way to Santiago.
Met Richie this morning. I knew he was from England the moment I glanced him in the distance. Which other nutters would go and walk around in shorts when it’s close to freezing. We walked together for a good two hours. He’s Claire’s age, studying Economics at Warwick University, isn’t sure if economics is his thing – ‘I guess it will leave me plenty of possibilities’ – and is walking the Camino in his break between terms. Wish I would have been so smart to settle my doubts this early in my life. We talked about the people we had met. He had been walking on and off with David from Italy and Maria from Lithuania.
He had lunch a little earlier than me, but when I decided it was time for a break in the little bar I stopped at (tortilla plus glass of red wine: €1,80) there was a girl sitting at a table by herself. I asked where she was from. She said from Lithuania. Ah then you must be Maria, I said, which was true. Later David and Richie joined us in the bar and we walked together in the afternoon to Castrojeriz.
David is a waiter, part of the year in Munich, part of the year in the area in Italy where he’s from. I didn’t recognize the name of the town, somewhere in the middle, east coast. We had a good time talking about cooking. He carries his own bottle of italian olive oil around, which shows some dedication, because carrying another few pounds starts counting after hundreds of kilometres.
Maria, the girl from Lithuania, has just spent a half year in London. She didn’t speak any english when she arrived, being fluent in Lithuanian and Russian. Her sister lives in London and got her a job. ‘I remember having to call for my National Insurance number’, she told me. ‘I phoned ten times without saying anything myself, just trying to figure out which questions I would get.’ It really shows a lot of dedication. Her english is quite incredible for not speaking the language a half year ago.
Julie parked Merlin just at the beginning of the village, basically on the Camino, next to a beautiful old church, which is closed as usual. I arrived early this afternoon and from that moment I have been watching my Camino friends walk in. First there was Elodie, who is getting ahead of me again. Then Francesco from Slovakia and then Lito and Jose from Spain. Julie is laughing at the joy I have to see all these Camino-friends show up. If walking the Camino is a burden, they share it with me. But it’s not only a burden of course. It’s also a delight. Of which I am expecting more in the 444 kilometres that are still awaiting me in the coming two weeks.
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