Day 14, Hornillos del Camino to Castrojeriz



The ruins of the convent of St Anton

June 17
Castrojeriz

A pretty quiet day. Breakfast at the hotel in Isar, near Hornillo del Camino, wasn’t until 7.30 and the six resident pilgrims were there right on time.

 The hotel bus took us back to the day’s start point, where we found a small grocery shop.
While the others bought things, I hit the road with my audio book plugged in. After about an hour, the three Australians, Frank, Karen and Josie caught up and we walked together all day.

A nice bar conveniently popped up just past halfway, at Hontanas, where I had a coffee and an ice cream and everyone did a few stretches. I discovered why a cotton T-shirt wasn’t a good idea – it was saturated at the back, so I swapped it for a thermal top I had in the pack.

A few kilometres on we passed the ruins of the ancient convent of St Anton. This monastery was established in the 14th century in honour of St Anthony of Egypt, the patron saint of animals. The roadway passes through some of the arches of the ruins.

The Antonine order’s sacred symbol was a cross in the form of the letter Tau, the nineteenth letter of the Greek alphabet, and a little further on we found a fountain in the shape of that cross.

As we approached the day’s destination, the historic hilltop castle above Castrojeriz, used at times by either Romans or Visigoths, stands out very impressively. It’s possible to walk up there for some big views.

Our little group first visited the church at the entrance to Castrojeriz, the 14th century church of the apple. It was very splendid inside, with some wonderful treasures, including an impressive circular stained glass window. There's lots more photos of the inside of the church in the album at the bottom of this page.

The town of Castrojeriz is quite long, wrapped around the foot of the hill. We were all booked in to the same hotel, La Posada, but it wasn’t easy to find. My notes had it on the main trail, but the main trail diverged with two options (which we didn’t realise), and as well, there were two Hotel Posadas. Finally we made it, had a shower and went out for lunch.

Two beers and a wonderful plate of anchovies knocked me right out, so a siesta became compulsory.








For all the photos from today, click this link:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ui8NSKwS4VsUiyop6


Comments

  1. UnknownJune 18, 2019 at 2:00 AM

    Hello Boris - what could be better than anchovies and beer at the end of the day - well done, that man!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Peter's CaminoJune 18, 2019 at 8:35 AM

      Today is a different story. I had a meagre breakfast and arrived too late for lunch. I've had a couple of beers and hanging out for early dinner

      Delete

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