Week 2 - Camino De Santiago

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Week 2 on the Camino de Santiago, Camino Francés

Day 8 - Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Logroño to Nájera

I have a bad cold, probably from my body already being weak then walking in the rain all day yesterday. No rain today but muddy trails from yesterday’s rain. 

Staying in municipal albergue tonight. 

View from my bed (top bunk tonight). Top bunk is kind of a pain but at the same time, it feels safer. 

This class of albergues do not take reservations and do not open until 1:00 pm. Then it's first come, first beds. It costs less than $10 which is why many pilgrims start out between 5:00-6:00 am so they can get beds. I got here a few hours before it started raining again. It rained all afternoon & night. Laundry not dry. People scrambling to get clothes off clothesline and struggling to find places to hang it indoors. There is one dryer (rare to see a clothes dryer). It costs just under $5 for 30 mins which is why most people hang dry their clothes. But now people are lining up to use it. I got up at 2:30 am and snuck into the laundry area and used it. Technically, no laundry is allowed after 10:00 pm which is lights out and silence but it was far enough away from the sleeping area that no one knew. 

Tomorrow will be a different day for me. I am detouring off the official Camino to go to a monastery to see the first words ever written in Spanish (Castellano). It will take me a day’s hike to get there. There were no accommodations available in the village where the monastery is but I found a country house in a neighboring village. It will be nice to have a real bed, real shower, not have to sleep with my passport & money, and have some time to myself. 

Day 9 - Wednesday, June 4, 2025

Nájera to San Millán de Cogolla

(Officially off the Camino)

I did not see another backpack the entire day! It was heaven and everything that I wanted my Camino experience to be. I spent the day hiking through the hills of vineyards, at times relying on my iPhone’s Maps just to keep me going in the direction of the village Estollo, where my country house awaited me. It was an exhausting day. I’m not sure exactly why. There were challenging inclines at times, but nothing harsh like I’ve done. The weather/temperature was nice, except the humidity from all the rain. I think that it’s this cold. It has drained any last reserves that my body had started to build up. I guess it would not be a pilgrimage without every day having its own struggles. 

Here are some photographs of my day:

This is the route that I will be taking. 

The long open and empty road ahead of me! Heaven!!! (BTW I take selfies like this mostly as time stamps. I use them to calculate my start /stop times.)

hills of vineyards

Not another backpack around! 

When I got to the village of Badarán, I was in a desperate need of rest. I like to go to the churches and rest there. Sometimes the building will be open and I’ll go inside. But mostly in the smaller villages they are closed. Open or closed, I usually sit in the shade of the front entryway and rest. 

Now it was straight on to my country house in the village of Estollo.

By the time I got to Estollo, I was beat. And of course, this village had to be built on an incline and of course the country house had to be on the far end of the village. Here’s my first views of Estollo:

Hello country house!

No one is home so I am going to sit out front, try to catch my breath, give the proprietor a call, and chill.

Out of pure vanity, I would normally never publish a photo like this. But I really want you to know that when I say I was exhausted … this is what it looked like.
Edit: July 7, 2025 I cannot express how much I hate this photo. But when I look back on it now, I realize just how sick I was. It is important to me (back to that vanity) that you know that I am not typically this weak. I think that I was at my lowest point here thanks to whatever virus decided to start out with me in France. 

The reason for my detour was to go to the Monastery in San Millán de Cogolla. I learned about it around 5 years ago and thought it would be an interesting curiosity. I’ll let you read for yourself why it’s such a big deal:

Basically that time in history, the only written language in Spain was Latin. Very very few people knew how to read or write, typically only monks and maybe some royalty. The other thing that was happening was that the Latin spoken by the common man sounded nothing like “formal Latin”, lots of slang, dialects, shortened lexicon, etc. Castellano (real name of the Spanish language) had been born from this spoken “Latin”. So this monk is doing his thing in the monastery, copying and/or reading text in Latin. And he decides to make some annotations in the margins and between the lines writing down how the people on the street would actually say that same Latin text. … And presto! The written Spanish language was created. 

Here are some more highlights:

What makes this so cool is that it was carved from a single tree trunk. Pretty impressive!

Funny story about the Sacristy. When the French army invaded they took over the monastery and used this room for their horses. They used the drawers on the sides for the horses’ food. 

After visiting the monastery, it was back to my country house and to bed. Here are a few more photos of my night’s lodging:

My morning view from the side window.

First floor sala and kitchen area. The owner is a retired widow who also lives there. She rents out two of the bedrooms using Booking.com or AirBNB.

29,816 steps recorded

14.5 miles walked

5 hours on trail

Day 10 - Thursday, June 5, 2025

Estollo to Belorado

(Back on the official camino)

Ugh! I got a late start this morning! I guess all that pampering at the country house made me lazy. I didn’t hit the trail until almost 10:00, over 3 hours later than when I normally do. Not only that but I have set a hefty goal for myself. I am going to try and make up time lost due to yesterday’s detour. If I can pull it off, it will be one of my longest days yet, just short of 30km. Getting such a late start plus a long day … I hope there is room for me at the inn. To add to the day’s adventure … I have no reservation at my stop point. 

The day started out nice and calm as far as the trail goes. Kind of the typical western La Rioja landscape. Here are a few photos:

But once crossing over into Castilla y Leon (basically a different state), it was all hot, dry, and often running alongside a national highway. The peace of the rural roads was replaced with constant sounds of semis zipping by … it would be like that for 3 hours until I reached my stopping point of Belorado.

Photos into Castilla y Leon:

I now realize that I never took any photos of the trail running alongside the highway. At the time, it wasn’t anything that I wanted to remember I guess. 

I have mentioned previously that when I go through villages, I like to head to the church. If it’s open, I go inside. If it’s closed and I’m in need of a rest, I will often sit in front of the church. 

While passing through one particular village, I was extra spent and desperately needed to get the weight off of my back. Of course, the church had to be at the top of a steep hill. I passed up several places where I could have taken a break. But as I was climbing up to the church, a metaphor came to me: “but first cast your burdens onto the Lord.” And with that my motto and modus operandi took hold. 

This little church was in Grañón, La Rioja, (before crossing into Castilla y León). It was empty and allowed me some needed private time in prayer and reflection. In most of these churches, the alter lights are off. There is a little box off to the side and you put in a 1€ coin to turn them on. They stay on for maybe 5 minutes or so. A simple way to save on electricity and help pay the utility bill.

The Church of San Juan Bautista is a 12th century (1100’s) Romanesque building

I have been blessed to visit some of the greatest cathedrals of Europe, definitely almost all of them in Spain. Of course they all are  breathtakingly beautiful. But there is just something about these small village churches that draw me to them. The solitude that they offer, their ornate beauty … I don’t know what it is about them, but I find peace in them.  

Inside the Church of San Juan el Bautista (Saint John the Baptist). My “burdens” are cast in the aisle.

The alter of the Church of San Juan el Bautista.

Tonight I will stay at my first parroquial albergue. Several of them operate on donations only. They are usually attached to the church and have communal meals and prayers. It turns out that this one charges 10€ ($11.41), and no dinner and no prayers. I still like the “feel” though. It’s an old building. There is no WiFi and outlets are hard to find. 

My first stay at a parroquial albergue. The entrance to the albergue is the red door.

As soon as I checked in, the ritual begins … find your bunk, shower, wash clothes & hang to dry.

Entrance and Common area with kitchen in back. Off to the side are two bathrooms, each with a sink, toilet, and shower. It was nice having that privacy. 

View from my top bunk. I like the top bunk because I feel safer. 

I actually requested this little area for women only. I was the first woman to arrive today and only one other came after me. There are two separate other rooms with bunks. These are actually at the top of the stairs not in an actual room. I’m going to like it. One reason: all the snoring is going to be behind the other two doors!

Hand washing the clothes that I wore today. I only have two sets of clothes. 

And line drying in the afternoon sun. Tomorrow: I do it all over again. 

At 7:00 pm the church held a pilgrims’ mass. I attended, got a quick bite to eat afterwards. 

Pilgrims’ mass in Belorado.

Protein load for tomorrow. 

Then headed back to my bunk to get some decent hours of sleep. Something odd, and somewhat out-of-place thing for Spain, that this village has throughout the sidewalks are random foot and hand print with someone’s first name written in the concrete. At this time, I could not figure it out and it definitely seemed different for Spain. What I later learned in a Camino Facebook group is that they were from the cast and crew of the movie “The Way”. This village of Belorado was a filming location. I really wish I would have known that at the time … I would have gone on a little Hollywood scavenger hunt. 

My plan is up at 5:00 am and on the trail between 6:00-6:30.

39,728 Steps recorded

19 Miles walked

7.5 Hours on trail

Day 11 - Friday, June 6, 2025

Belorado to San Juan de Ortega

6:30 am start, not sure why but my body is feeling pretty weak tonight. I’m glad that I’m getting such an early start to that I can take any needed breaks and still get to the albergue in decent time. I’m going to stay at another parroquial albergue tonight and they don’t usually take reservations. Most open at 1:00 pm and the line usually forms before that. 

My last view before heading out of Belorado this morning. 

7:15 am and I have the trail to myself. 

What an absolutely gorgeous morning. It’s got just a little chill in the air but nothing a little hiking doesn’t take care of. The birds are serenading me and the trail is empty. 

I was not expecting today to be as challenging as it was. The trail went into some mountains, which was a very welcome change from yesterday’s highway trek. At first there were little villages not very far apart from one another. But then … then came the really mountainous stretch, it was three hours with nothing but nature. No water source either. 

I got to San Juan de Ortega 30 mins ahead of schedule. The mountain trek only took me 2.5 hours instead of the published 3 hrs. My back is killing me so I am going to throw my mat down in the sun outside the albergue’s door, stretch my back and take a nap. Doors open in an hour. 

The chapel to the church is on the right, the albergue where I am staying is on the left. Farther right (out of frame) is the main church. 

Main church

This church really surprised me. After I bragged up the little village churches this one went completely medieval, aka pre-Columbus running into the Western Hemisphere. It was gated so you could not enter the sanctuary. There was a little area to the side to pray. The confessional and baptism were off in another corner.

I then went into the chapel next to the albergue. This was a little closer to what I would expect but still gated. 

Check out this adorable rustic cafe that is a few building down from my albergue. 

My lunch consisted of just a bowl of pumpkin soup. I am going to return at 6:30 for their pilgrims’ “cena comunitaria”. Dinner served with everyone around the same tables. 

The table is set for the Pilgrims’ Dinner. Isn’t this place cute!

Off to bed.

33,144 Steps recorded

16 Miles hiked

5.5 Hours on trail

Prayer Request

If you are a praying person, I could really need your help. You may or may not know that I have some significant C7 nerve damage on my right side. In 2018 I had prosthetic disks put in and at that point the C7 nerve was almost completely cut off and it left me with nerve damage from my shoulder to my fingertips. On a normal daily basis, it’s not that big of a deal … sometimes unnoticeable. But my backpack is causing the C7 to be very very angry. I don’t know if the pack is pinching it off somehow, I have tried several positions. I guess it would not be a pilgrimage without trials. This is definitely proving to be my pilgrim’s cross to bear. But seriously, I am in a lot of intense pain. Please pray for me. ¡Gracias!

Day 12 - Saturday, June 7, 2025

San Juan de Ortega to Burgos

5:55 am start …

I could have been on the trail 15 minutes earlier but I was searching for my “night ziplock”, which … spoiler alert, was in my pocket the entire time!

So what’s up with the “ziplock”?  Every traveler develops his/her own “system” after a while. I had my albergue-system perfected after about the 4th day. Let me explain:

• items for sleep go in one ziplock: ear plugs, buff (used to cover my ears & eyes), silk sleeping liner, pill bottle, head lantern.
• Morning ziplock: toothbrush & paste, deodorant, sunscreen
• Foot care: Vaseline, sewing kit for blisters, compeed (blister covers), clippers, the day’s socks (2 pairs)
• Laundry: soap, clothes line, clothes pins
• Shower: soap, shampoo bar, conditioner bar, comb, towel, next day’s clothes
• Extra clothing items & knee brace
• First Aid
• Back stock items, e.g. spare contacts, conditioner bar, etc.

All but the last three get used everyday as part of a repetitive routine. I get to my bed for the night, take out each ziplock and go through the routine. Before I go to sleep, everything is back in the backpack ready to hit the trail in the morning, except the “sleep”, “morning”, and “foot care”. Those I leave out so that in the morning I don’t disturb the people sleeping. (It is INSANE how much noise a plastic ziplock makes at 5:00 am!). 

In the morning, I quietly repack all my sleeping items in their ziplock, and take the “morning” to the bathroom. Then as quietly as possible and with my head lantern on red light, I collect all my things and leave the sleeping area to do my foot prep and repack the rest of the ziplocks. Why ziplocks instead of the hundreds of packing cubes that I own, because at some point everything can get wet.

One of the first things that most pilgrims do after getting assigned a bed is to shower. You cannot believe how drenched in sweat every thing you have on can get! I bring to the shower not just the typical toiletries but also the next day’s clothes. I put those on after showering and also sleep in them. 

A place for everything and everything in its place makes for a much more relaxing, stress-free nomad life style. 

Back to today’s trail …. Here are a few picks of how my day started. It was a gorgeous gorgeous brisk morning, 50 degrees with just a tiny breeze. No one else on the trail with me except my private chorus of morning creatures christening the day. 

Into the forest I go. It was actually a lot darker that my iPhone shows.

It was 45 minutes before I came across another living being, and this was it. 

I had started off without any morning fuel, so after 2 hours of hiking I stopped here for some carbs for quick fuel and protein for extended fuel. I’m also wanting to get the weight off that nerve for awhile so that my day goes better. And as you can see, more pilgrims have hit the trail. 

Today’s hike has been an unexpected pleasant surprise. The first half was through mountain forests, rugged rocky trails, and a few inclines that got my heart pumping. 

This one is for all of my former Spanish IV students: “Maybe a dog fight near a cheese farm is just a dog fight near a cheese farm, Jack from Ireland.”

As surprisingly beautiful as the first part of the day was, the second half was surprisingly not. There is nothing beautiful or peaceful about walking into a large urban city. The trail ended and we were expected to walk on the highway which led into the very industrial part of the city. It was hot, dusty, and the fumes of the vehicles annoying.  

It was 1.5 hours of highway and industrial walking:

Followed by another hour of walking through the poor neighbors of Burgos before getting to my AWESOME little apartment that I booked for two nights. 

Entering Burgos city limits

You gotta love the urban flare to the yellow arrow!

My apartment building for the next two night. It is located in the historical part of the city, near the cathedral. I’m a little nervous at this point!

I have to call the proprietor and he will remotely buzz me in. 

Over the phone the guy gave me the code to the little black box on the left. Inside were the keys to my apartment and another for the front door. 

Surprise! I LOVE IT! Absolutely perfect for me. 

The little kitchenette even has a washing machine behind one of those cabinet doors. I took the longest hot shower that I’ve taken so far this trip. 

Yesterday, as I was planning for today, I decided to use Burgos to have a rest day. It is a common rest day for pilgrims. Burgos is a very historical city with a beautiful cathedral. El Cid (Spain’s legendary knight) is buried there. So I decided to stay both Saturday and Sunday nights, which is why I splurged on my little apartment. A bonus was that while on the trail today, I took a second break at the last little village just before the long urban stretch of highway, etc. There was a table of three American women and I overheard one woman making a reservation on her cell for a massage in Burgos. I got the number from her and scheduled my own for 3:00 pm today. I got to my apartment about 12:30 which was perfect timing to shower and rest a little beforehand. I explained my history of the C7 nerve and she went to town on my back and shoulders.

I’ve had the rest of the afternoon to stroll around the old part of the city and go to the pilgrims’ mass at the cathedral at 7:30 pm. Then off to bed. Tomorrow I will tour the cathedral and other parts of Burgos and hopefully relax into my photography a little. I bought a new mirrorless dslr to bring with me and have taken at the most 3 photos with it. I have not even fully programmed it yet.

Here are some shots from my iPhone of my late after stroll:

The street corner of my apartment building. It’s like being in the Old Market. 

How Spanish is this photo! The older women walking with the Cathedral popping up in the background. 

The front facade of the cathedral. 

Heading up into the arch

41,885 Steps recorded

20 Miles hiked

6.5 Hours on trail

Day 13 - Sunday, June 8, 2025

Rest Day in Burgos

There is an expression “The Camino will provide” and I feel like it definitely did today. My body woke at 5:00 am just by habit. I rolled over and went back to sleep, promising myself to be  out the door between 9:00-9:30 for a day of tourism. I knew that I wanted to tour the cathedral but wasn’t sure what else. Burgos has a lot to offer but I wasn’t going to kill myself. Today was supposed to be a rest day, especially for my upper back. So overdoing it on trying to hit all the major tourist spots was counterproductive. I would start at the cathedral and go from there. 

The cathedral was selling a bracelet pass that got you into three places: La Catedral, la Iglesia de San Esteban, and la Iglesia de San Gil (wait a second … my apartment is on the street San Gil, I don’t remember seeing a church?). In addition, there was a self-guided audio guide that you downloaded with a QR code which gave a detailed tour of all three places. Sounded like a good plan. Since the two smaller locations closed by 2:00 but the Cathedral was open until 5:00, I decided to visit the Cathedral last. 

First amazing surprise of the morning, San Esteban was no longer a church. It was but has been converted into a museum which houses items from the insides of smaller churches that have been abandoned due to depopulation of its village. It was absolutely amazing. And so wonderfully impressive that someone has been able to save these gorgeous artifacts from these now deserted small churches. I was in heaven. Here are some photos of Iglesia de San Esteban:

Front of Iglesia de San Esteban … now el Museo de Retablo

From the museum, I went to Iglesia de San Gil, which oddly is right next to my apartment …. still don’t know how I missed that. WOW did I feel silly once I got there. I took this photo standing at the front door to my apartment building. The red arrow shows where the church is. In my defense, there is a little plaza then a massive staircase that goes up to the church, which is partially obscured from the street. 

Second amazing surprise of the morning, my favorite …. another of the gorgeous small churches that I love to just soak in the modest splendor. (OK, modest in proportion to the larger churches and the cathedrals.)

Saint Teresa of Ávila founded six convents in Spain. Burgos was the last one that she started. When she was in Burgos, this was her church and this chapel was where she would go to pray every morning. (I could not appreciate being here more, I love Saint Teresa of Ávila.)

As I was wondering around, listening to my audio guide, I started noticing random people (clearly locals) starting to fill the pews. I looked at my watch 11:50 … Could there be a local mass starting at 12:00? At 11:55 I took my seat among them and proceeded to listening to one of the most impactful sermons that I have heard. It was on the Holy Spirit (today being Pentecost and all). Third amazing surprise of my morning. 

After mass, it was time to eat. I had not yet eaten today and I was starting to feel a little woozie. I’m the last two weeks, I’ve pretty much walked off any reserves that my body used to keep stored. Now when I don’t eat, my body sends up warning flares. Time for a traditional Castilian dish, “lentils with blood sausage”. 

1st Course

2nd Course - lamb chops with the standard homemade French fries

Dessert - Arroz con leche … no one makes it better than in Spain!

Now on to the Cathedral. This place is huge. It’s one of the largest cathedrals in Spain. It has so many side chapels that you get a bit numb after awhile, and unfortunately walk from one to another without a full appreciation for each ones unique beauty. It defines too much of a good thing. 

The tourists entrance to the cathedral.

The burial tomb of El Cid and his wife Jimena. Yes, they are really under there!

El Cid’s tomb with the choir in the background.

Main altar

The Choir

Santiago the Moor Slayer

I figured it was a fitting photograph since it was the day of Pentecost and I had just heard that amazing sermon on the Holy Spirit. 

A mural of El Cid 

The actual cofre (think travel trunk) of El Cid when he was sent into exile. 

10,433 steps recorded

5 Miles walked around city

Day 14 - Monday, June 9, 2025

Burgos to Hontanas

Time to leave my little apartment and start living the pilgrim’s life again. This photo was taken literal five steps from my front door - 5:50 am … let’s do this!

I often wonder how they calculate the distance in the guidebooks because just to get out of the city limits takes a long time. It took me exactly one hour to get to the city’s edge, 5,783 steps, 2.8 miles and basically I just got to the starting marker. 

I love that Spain does this. I remember it well from Barcelona as well. They start about 5:00 am and they hose down the streets. Every day!

Leaving through one of the gates of the original city wall at 6:00 am.

This guy and I would play leap frog for the next six hours and then end up staying at the same albergue. 

Snails on the wheat in the early morning.

This is supposed to be the end of day’s stage but I made it here in under four hours. So I am going to keep going. It’s only 10:00 am, way to early to quit for the day. 

Once again putting vanity aside … I decided to take a break in front of the church at Hornillos and relieve that pinched nerve. (Honestly, I only took the photo to mark my stop time.)

Rested up and ready to hit the Meseta. 

At this point, I don’t know where I will stop. I am crossing what is called La Meseta. It is one of the most dreaded stages of El Camino. The villages are few and far between, no water sources, and very little shade. People hype it up to be something horrible but I didn’t really see the fuss. 

Hontanas is where I will hopefully find a place to stay. It’s already 1:00 pm and the next village is a ways off. 

And there’s my buddy. I wonder if he is going to stop here too?

I was the second person to get a bed at the municipal albergue. Now it’s time for the routine:

Find my bed (top bunk for safety)

Immediately after showering, wash the day’s sweaty clothes

Well this is new, hanging my clothes out literally along the main street. Nothing like showing off your undies to the passerbyers. 

Communal meal is at 7:00 pm then it’s off to bed to do it all over again tomorrow. 

Tomorrow starts week 3 … unbelievable! So far no lightning bolts from heaven to show me my destined path in life. But I have faith that my journey will bring me to a better place. Even if it’s only inside myself. 

41,818 steps recorded

20 miles hiked

7 hours on the trail

End of Week 2