El Paso Honroso

Using Ben's planning and navigation, we chose to use our 2nd "split day" today and tomorrow. This splits a 31.5 km (19.6 mile) walk at an opportune time before the next ascent, and creates our two final days on the Meseta. Thank you to the daily readers who have suffered through this monotonous stretch with us, as its been hard not to transfer the homogeneous landscape into similarly repetitive posts. After tomorrow we will have tramped across this plateau for 10 days and almost 150 miles.

Ben was right again.

The split created a very short 15.2 km (9.4 mile) walk from Villar de Mazarife to Hospital de Órbigo. The research tells us that on the 1/2 day tomorrow we will begin to see more rolling and green paths heading into the mountains. We will also be heading to a town that veteran walkers have told us is one of the best on the Camino. As if knowing that this was its last chance to take us down, the Meseta handed us one of the flattest, straightest, most dreadfully boring walks yet. A short 5K in I told Ben I was going into the earbuds, for fear I might actually snap and start wandering madly across the plateau like my pilgrim ancestors. "I can actually see now how that could happen", he replied.

I may have looked back and given the Meseta a very unpilgrim-like one finger salute as we rounded the aromatic water treatment plant, nearing Hospital de Órbigo.

Ben skillfully works with several variables when selecting our splits. Obviously he breaks up long segments (31.5 km in this case), but also accounts for what we've just been through, and what is ahead. Very important, the split needs a decent overnight stopping place. Daily readers also know he has needed to account for dental care facilities too.

Hospital de Órbigo was a great choice. It's more vibrant than many hamlets on the guidebook itinerary, with ample albergues and restaurants. It's main attraction is a beautiful Gothic footbridge crossing the Rio Órbigo as you enter town.

The bridge is called El Paso Honroso, "The Honorable Pass", due to a legendary medievel jousting competition that occurred here in the Holy Year of 1434. Around here a holy year is when St James' Day, July 25th, occurs on a Sunday. They are huge years out on the Camino now, and were in 1434 as well, so there were a lot of spectators for the jousting tournament. As the story goes, a wealthy knight from León named Don Suero de Quinones was broken hearted from an unrequited love. He challenged all men of equal rank who wished to cross the bridge to a joust. The call went out and 300 challengers from across the kingdom showed up to compete, between July 11 and August 9th. Suero defeated them all, freeing him from his romantic torment. He immediately made a pilgrimage to Santiago where he left a bejeweled bracelet that is apparently still there in the cathedral museum.

We'll go check that out for you.

We've been warned along The Way for weeks by albergue hosts and veteran pilgrims that things would change as we neared Santiago. The shorter distance walkers would start to arrive. It will get really interesting a week from now when the Camino qualifying 100 km distance arrives. Ben and I have discussed this on our long walks. On the one hand it will be fun to have an energetic larger crew bringing this home. On the other.....

It officially started for us tonight when we went out for dinner on the bridge. We encountered the loudest, proudest, most naive Americans we've seen since.... us back in St. Jean. We agreed it felt like we were in the episode from Band of Brothers titled "The Replacements" (apologies to those that haven't seen it, and we mean no disrespect to the heroic men of Easy Company in WWII). Pretty much everything they said was laughable and met after our eavesdropping with "You have no ****ing idea what you're talking about".

"Today was my first day and I walked 15 km. I use a silk sock liner with a wool sock over, it works great".

You have no ****ing idea yet what works great. Once you put a pin into the blister on top of another blister, you'll start to know what works great.

Have you had a root canal yet?

I think this is going to be really fun. Welcome aboard rookies, we have room for you, now go fetch me a beer.

Buen Camino.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

Sunrise over La Traslacion de Santiago Apostal, leaving Villar de Mazarife

iPhone can't pull the mountains out of this view, but they're there....

2nd breakfast in Villavante

Lost again

El Paso Honroso, the Gothic bridge over Rio Órbigo

Ben Suero de Quinones? I wouldn't joust him.

Good bocadillo spot

Hospital de Órbigo