Day 13 - Burgos to Hornillas

 

Starting the drop from the Meseta into the village of Hornillas. 

This slope is called Cuesta Matamulas (Mule-Killer Slope)

Today we entered a new phase of our journey from east to west across Spain - the Meseta. This high  plain, at an altitude of 800-1000m covers a large area of northern Spain.

The vast cathedral at Burgos - foundation stones laid 800 years ago.

Our 22km journey took us from the cathedral city of Burgos at 800m, up to a section of the Meseta at 950m, before suddenly cresting the brow of the hill to see the village of Hornillas (population 60) nestled below us.

Seating for the in crowd at Hotel Acuarela.

Breakfast at the ridiculous hotel Acuarela wasn't until 8am, and as we learned the previous day it wasn't up to much, so we knocked back a yoghurt and a banana in our room, hit the road before 7am, and found an excellent cafe just before the cathedral on the way out of town, where we had an excellent coffee and croissant.

Following the path out of Burgos.

The walk out of town in the cool of the morning was much nicer than the walk into town in the blazing sunshine two days previously. We were both feeling good about the world. Our injuries were all in abeyance, the day ahead was relatively short and we'd made an early start. I was especially pleased that my hamstring injury, sustained nearly three weeks ago, seemed to have almost completely healed.

Such confidence deserves to be shattered. At about 5km, without warning, I had a sudden stabbing pain in my left hamstring. We'd been going at a good clip. Did I overdo it? On the other hand, I'd earlier stepped into a dip in the footpath and stumble. Did that do it?

Whatever the cause, we were forced to slow down. Although it seemed we were reduced to a crawl, our kilometre times had only dropped from just under 13 minutes to just over 14, so it wasn't too radical. We were six kilometres or more getting out of town, and then we were on reasonably smooth sendo, the dry yellow sandy surface that was quite pleasant to walk on.

The trail wasn't remarkable, but neither was it unpleasant. We were often close to the road and being Saturday there were many groups of cyclists - not on the trail as we'd found the weekend before, but on the adjacent road, in packs of up to 20 - seemingly all men. When we did strike a group of about ten women, they were all on the trail.

Cathie was striding along without a care in the world and I was dragging a little behind, but very pleased after 12km to hit the small town of Tardajos. 

We took stock there, after a coffee, and a shared tortilla and a lovely little peach pastry. I took some pain killers, rolled on my knee brace (which covers the painful lower part of my hamstring) and for the first time prepared myself with an audio book to give me something to focus on for the remaining 10km.

We began the gradual climb on to the Meseta. One of the noticeable features was the wind turbines, which started as ominous apparitions creeping over the skyline, but soon dominated the view.

We started seeing the regular features of the Meseta, vast crops of grain stretching far into the distance, with big skies overhead. From there, the walk passed quite pleasantly. Maybe the pills worked. In any case, things didn't hurt so much. 

It didn't seem long until we were descending in Hornillas. Our hotel is very rural - a welcome contrast to the ghastly Acuarela. It's in two parts - on one side an albergue (hostel with bunkrooms and shared facilities) and on the other our little hotel with private rooms. There's a guest kitchen and we can make our breakfast at any time in the morning, giving us the chance for an early getaway tomorrow.

It was slightly disconcerting to find our bags weren't there, although others were. There are many companies transporting pilgrim bags across Spain and for the first time we'd beaten our carrier to the hotel. It didn't take too long until we saw the distinctive yellow Correos van pull up outside our window at abut 1.30pm - with our bags onboard,

We've had a nice lunch (with sangria) in the bar, Cathie's snoozing, while I type downstairs where the wifi is strong - a beer beside me just in case (in case of what?).

Tomorrow is another short day - as are most for the next week - and since we can choose our own breakfast time there's no stress ahead.

Strange looking at that last sentence. It's a change of perspective when a six-hour walk is looked forward to as a short walk.

Here's today's Relive video: https://www.relive.cc/view/vWqBgKoZkQv

Here's today's photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ssUz2g57iCr7UUKD9

As for today's song. I was more preoccupied with today's audio book, which took my mind of the discomfort of my injury, but earlier in the day I was thinking of one of my favourite patriotic Spanish duets, by two of my favourite singers. It was written to celebrate the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Here it is: https://youtu.be/7icIbZYvEtk