Sunrise while walking out of Carrion de los Condes. Temperature of 21F.
Camino January 2025
When you choose to collect experiences rather than things, you will never run out of storage space. – Unknown
January 18, 2025
Carrion de los Condes to Moratinos – 18.2 miles
Another cool start to the day – 21F at sunrise. The high reached 40 when I arrived in Moratinos. I left my hostal about 7:20. I saw Italy as he was looking for an open restaurant for breakfast. He said he was headed to Moratinos as well. Not many options from Carrion – 10.5 miles, 18.2 miles or 24 miles to Sahagun. We both chose the 18.2. As I am writing this he has not shown up. He speaks some English, but I always wonder with him if I understood correctly. Actually, he is just walking down the hill into town now. I have a window looking out at the path.
The walk was very quiet as far as pilgrims go. About 9 miles in I could see 2 pilgrims about ¼ miles ahead. At the town at 10.5 they stopped at a rest area a bit off the path and had their backs to me. I did not bother walking over. They were my only Pilgrim sightings today, except for Italy.
This morning, before sunrise I saw an animal in a field, so I stopped to look. It stood up and started walking away. It was a fox. It was too dark and he was too far away to get a good picture. I did see 6 cats and zero dogs. It was a bird day though. They were all over the place, flitting about and chirping.
There were zero open bars/cafes in the 18 miles, and it is a Saturday. I stopped in one town and sat on a bench for 15 minutes to get a snack. In that 15 minutes I saw 1 car go by and no one on the streets. In the first town I saw 2 locals. I have been carrying food now, anticipating not having options.
I don’t mind walking by myself, but I do miss the random encounters you typically have on the Camino. With so much closed, there are not places to hang out. It is also interesting that many people still sit outside at the outdoor cafes, even with the temperatures about freezing. Last night in Carrion there was a patio with their down parkas on, drinking their beers.
There is a group dinner tonight at this albergue. Italy will be there, not sure who else. Well, just came back from dinner. Italy is the only other person here at this albergue. We did have a fun time. The cook is Italian and I think the host speaks Italian as the three of them were joking the entire night. Italy is single, 35, smokes, drinks and is overweight, and is a great guy. He used google translate to come up with he is a “dustbin for food”. We had pasta for the first course, salad and pork for the second and chocolate salami for dessert. It is a popular Italian dessert. It is basically a hard fudge with broken up cookies mixed in. The meal also included wine and bread. The host poured us each a shot of an after dinner liquor. It is a Spanish drink. We enjoyed it. Italy then had an espresso and a smoke with the chef. This Camino may not have as many encounters as a summer walk but It has still been a lot of fun with the international crowd here.
January 19, 2025
Moritanos to Bercianos del Real Camino – 12.6 miles
Another clear sunny start to the day. I had a short day, so left after the 8:46am sunrise. I had breakfast with Italy. He is walking a long day today and a short day tomorrow. We are staying at the same hostal tomorrow, but different towns today. I did see a pilgrim in Sahagun. Turns out he is at the same albergue now. He is from Barcelona. He does speak some English, but wasn’t very interested in talking with me. It is now 4pm and this is the only open place in town. It will be interesting to see if anyone else shows up. This town is on the “regular schedule”, so who knows.
Yesterday I passed the half way to Santiago from St Jean mark. Today, walking into Sahagun, I passed the monument that signifies the half way point, but this is from Roncesvalles, not St Jean.
To answer questions I have received.
It is very quiet here, but I do enjoy walking by myself. On the Appalachian Trail I usually walked by myself. There, I did see people and they did speak English. I wouldn’t say I am lonely, but I would not choose to walk in January again. I would pick late October, just before everyone closes for the season. I have heard the Aussies and Kiwis are the bulk of the late fall walkers. It is amazing how most walkers are Korean around me. The days go by quickly with the walking and I do this journal and some work in the evenings. There is always someone around for dinner, so life is good.
In my 5 plus Caminos I have seen only a handful of people walking away from Santiago. They always have a story – typically they left their house somewhere in Europe and walked to Santiago and are now walking home. That is how it was done a thousand years ago. Back then, they did not have the option of taking a taxi to the airport and getting on a plane home. The Irish woman a few days ago was just walking the Camino for a few days on her own Pilgrimage to Rome, instead of the typical to Santiago walk. I do not know of anyone who has started in Santiago and walked to a different destination. BTW – there is another popular pilgrimage from the UK to Rome called the Via Francigena. I would like to do that from Geneva to Rome.
Our sunny weather is leaving for several days. The forecast for tonight is snow, changing to rain and hopefully ending by morning. We shall see.
“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzue
Gary and Elizabeth's Adventures 