We were still in the Hostal Domus Viatoris, where the taxi dropped us back yesterday from El Burgo Ranero.

Following yesterday’s lovely day, it was nice to see a lovely sunrise and a morning temperature in double digits (just) for once. After breakfast our taxi picked up and took us back to El Burgo Ranero to resume our walk.

Today’s walk was more of the same as yesterday (and the day before…) as we walked along the road, sometimes lined with poplar trees, flanked by fields that were either planted or awaiting planting. No wind and the sun warming us through a lightly clouded sky meant for a very pleasant start to the walk.

The agricultural ethos of the area was neatly summed up by the vast watering machines – called linear move irrigation systems – that we could see on either side of the road. After a while we had a quick change of scenery – a small wooded area filled with birdsong by all the usual suspects and a new one for us, a Common Linnet. As we walked on the sounds were dominated for a while by cicadas chirping (or whatever they do). Interestingly, in Spain they are often called cigarras, reserving cicadas for naming a type of plant.

About 3/4 of the walk completed and we came to the town of Religos and took the opportunity for a coffee and a chocolate donut.

Nearing our destination now, we walked up and over the motorway, observing our first herd of cows for this walk. We continued past an area of stagnant water that stank, but the frogs seemed to like it judging by all the croaking. We walked in through a brief semi-industrialised area and through the old town gateway to finish our journey for the day.

We stayed in the Hostal Domus Viatoris, a comfortable and basic 2-star hotel on the outskirts of town.

The view from my room was nothing to write home about. Before settling down yesterday we walked up to the Santuario de la Virgen Peregrina to receive our certificate for getting to the half way point of the Camino. There was a bus load of Taiwanese tourists arriving for their certificate, so we had to hustle up the path to get there in front of them and avoid a long queue.

It was about 1c when we left this morning, but the sun was shining and the skies were blue, which took the edge off the temperature. Immediately outside the hotel was the Plaza de Torros and then we walked past an abandoned disco with its natty circular motifs and the Arco de San Benito before coming to the Puente Canto.

Out of town now, we crossed the River Cea and began a long walk beside the road, on a path lined with poplar trees. There was not much in the way of diversity to look at – blue skies, the occasional town on the other side of the road and some wetland areas to our left.

We passed an abandoned church, now being used as a pilgrim picnic area before walking through the town of Bercianos del Real Camino. Apart from the town seeming to be deserted, it was interesting to see (and touch) the old adobe (clay and straw) walls as we passed through. The fields, and crop plantings, seem to be quite behind, time wise, those we have spent the last couple of weeks walking past.

There were a few consolidated bunches of poppies which gave some colour to the surroundings. We then passed a wetland area where the main sounds to be heard were frogs croaking and Great Reed Warblers singing. Finally as we walked under both the main road and railway line there was a huge bunch of Spanish Broom chaperoning us into El Burgo Ranero where we spent a delightful couple of hours, sitting in the sun, chatting to fellow peregrinos, before getting our taxi back to Sahagũn.

We stayed at the Hostal Restaurante Camino Real, a 1-star masquerading as a no-star. It’s a long time since I’ve slept on what was basically a put-you-up-bed with a saggy mattress and to say the bathroom was bijoux would be overstating its size. When we stayed here 3 years ago the manager firstly claimed he had no details of our reservation, eventually giving us rooms. Thankfully no such shenanigans this time.

The view from my room oversaw a bit of a rubbish area and some kind of heating duct – but the moring sunrise more than made up for it.

As we left this morning, with a promise of a no rain day, it actually started spitting on us for a few minutes but we were rewarded with a rainbow to see us on our way. The wind, though, was bitterly cold and would stay that way for the whole day. We walked alongside the road for quite a bit, before crossing the Arroyo de la Cueza (a stream) and then back onto the path.

The pathway hedgerow had recently been cut back and cleared which made for an easier passage. As we entered Ledigos we took a photo opportunity (excuse the puzzled look) at the “halfway between Roncesvalles and Santiago” signpost, before passing through the village. Next up was another small village called Terradillos de los Templarios with a metal statue of a Knight Templar.

Starting to go gently downhill now we came to the town of Moratinos, famous to Peregrinos for “el castillo de Moratinos”, an ages-old hill in the town centre studded with family owned wine-storage caves. As we left town, we could see Mount Peñacorada (1834m) in the distance. This mountain hosts a wide range of native animals – deer, wild boar, wolves, foxes and the occasional bear.

We were on the last leg of the day now, passed a small vineyard and caught our first glimpse of Sahagun in the distance. The path was lined with Spartium junceum, also known as Spanish Broom, with its heady and sweet honey-vanilla scent, that is often used in perfumes and aromatherapy. Today was notable for the absence of pilgrims on trail – we don’t know where they all went!

We stayed at the Hotel Real Monasterio San Zilo, a 4 star hotel where the bedrooms are all converted monk’s rooms – very well appointed and comfortable. I can’t imagine they were this nice “back in the day”.

The view from my room was a very pleasant courtyard and the corridors connecting all rooms encircled yet another courtyard. The Monastery itself had a fabulous church and an ornate organ. According to historical documents, from c948AD, the monastery was first dedicated to St John the Baptist and later to St Zilo. In the mid-19th century the jesuits established a secondary school in the monastery – this was the first secondary school in Spain.

As we left this morning, past the imposing original doors of the Monastery, and a strange water source with two sluice gates, the sun was shining and the forecast lack of rain was encouraging. The first roundabout contained a Monumento en homenaje al Peregrino as we ventured on to what be a quite straight path to our destination.

The scenery today was largely homogeneous, through fields of cereal crops on either side. The path though has some interesting history – it mostly follows the Roman road – Via Aquitainia, sometimes with the original road at the surface. Originally, during Roman times, this road connected Narbonne with Bordeaux, passing through Toulouse (approx 400km long). Later the route was extended from Bordeaux to Astorga. During the Middle Ages this road served as a pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, until the 11th–12th centuries when the modern French Way largely supplanted it. As we walked, we could see the Picos de Europa in the northern distance (4th picture), some still snow capped.

There is a picture of a barn as it was the only thing different on the walk for quite some time. We appreciated that the Romans liked straight roads, but a few curves or turns would have increased the enjoyment factor. The weather held, with sunshine for most of what was a short walk, until we arrived at our destination – too early to check in (in fact still before noon) so we took the opportunity for a drink and a chat to fellow pilgrims.

We stayed in the Dona Mayor Hotel, a modern 3-star hotel with comfortable bedrooms (where everything worked or wasn’t broken) and an honesty bar downstairs.

The view from my room wasn’t too inspiring, but I did sit on the balcony, before bed, with a mug of tea watching the storks on the nearby church.

Today was a relatively short day, mostly walking alongside the road, with the prospect of no rain at all. We started off walking through town with a good view of the main church, The Church of Saint Martin or Tours, and then past a rough paddock containing a grey horse and a black cow, before heading out to the trail. The old irrigation systems are still in evidence, but clearly no longer functioning.

We walked into Poblacion De Campos where there was a man doing sealing wax stamps for the pilgrim passports for a small donation – a nice way to earn a “tax free” income. We then crossed the Rio Ucieza, before continuing along the roadside path and into Revenga Dos Campos.

The trail may be been straight and slightly boring, but at least it was flat and the weather was very comfortable. Next up was the town of Villalcázar de Sirga where we stopped for a coffee and small piece of cake. After a quick visit to the Iglesia de Santa María La Blanca, Mike took the opportunity to sit down with a rather stoney faced pilgrim.

Just a few more kilometres on the roadside path and we entered into Carrion de los Condes with a slew of monasteries converted into Albergues (hostels). After a walk through town, we crossed the Rio Carrion, via the Puente Mayor, to arrive at our hotel in a converted Monastery.

We stayed at La Posada de Castrojeriz, a nicely appointed 3-star hotel not far from the centre of town and with a restaurant just 10 metres down the street.

There was a nice view from my room over the Meseta and the sun came out for a bit as we had a drink and some ice-cream before dinner. All weather forecasts indicated that today would be extremely wet and the clouds this morning led to a scenic sunrise.

A quick look back down our street and a view of the main church above us as we said goodbye to Castrojeriz, before heading along a path bordered by colourful fields towards the big climb of the day.

It was a steep climb up to the top of the Alto de Mostelares (c915m) which is the highest point of the Meseta – a plateau covering a large part of the Iberian Peninsula’s interior, bounded by the Sistema Central mountain range and drained by the Douro, Tagus and Guadiana rivers. Thankfully the clouds stayed high enough that we could enjoy the views back towards Castrojeriz.

The view in the direction of our travel was just as good – it’s hard to describe the vastness of the Meseta without seeing it first hand – the iPhone camera simply can’t do it justice. We descended down a steep concrete path until the ground levelled out and we were back to walking between the fields of crops. The Sainfoin field was particularly pretty and stood out amongst all the greenery.

We stopped at the Ermita de San Nicolás de Puente Fitero For quick stamp in our pilgrim’s passport and carried on to the ninth century bridge – Puente Filtero – across the River Pisuerga. The bird noise was so loud here that I turned on the Merlin app so make some sense of it – Wren, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Warblers (Cetti, Bonelli and Reed), Blue Tit, Serin, Nightingale, Swift, Chaffinch, Greenshank, Sparrows (Common, Rock, Tree and Spanish), Chiffchaff, Song Thrush and a Cuckoo were all identified in a 10 minute spell. Then, passing through Itero de la Vega, we spotted a number of Storks nesting on a building roof.

The hedgerows were starting to be filled with poppies as we headed towards the Canal de Castilla. We then walked alongside the canal for a while – apparently at one stage we were on the Acueducto de Valdecornete but we didn’t notice the canal leaving the ground at all. A nice series of ancient locks and yet another stork in its nest heralded our arrival into Fromista. For all the forecasts of heavy rain we only experienced some light rain towards the end of the walk.

We stayed at the Hotel Rural La Consulta de Isar, which comprised of a bar area, a small dining area and the bedrooms. Mine was spacious enough but the mattress was well beyond its end of use date (everyone else seating also mentioned this – their mattresses not mine!) and the shower screens over the bath were either missing or non-existent. Dinner was very nice and breakfast good but basic.

The view from my room was over a municipal area that was deserted, like the rest of the small village. After breakfast we were ferried back to Hornillos by the owner to restart our walk. As seems usual now, the weather was on the decidedly chilly side with plenty of dark clouds threatening to dump on us.

We had brief, warming, busts of sunlight as we walked along and enjoyed the rolling countryside. The wind turbines seemed to have multiplied since our visit as they sometimes filled the horizon on our left and right. It was lovely to hear the Skylarks singing as we walked along, these are “red” on the RSBP concern list due to the erosion of UK farmland habitat. The Skylarks were accompanied by Corn Buntings in an almost continuous symphony of birdsong.

At about halfway we arrived in Hontanas where, after a quick downhill, we stopped for a drink, a piece of cake and a Hola / Hello to all the folks we recognised from previous days. As we were leaving, it was “coats on” for the first rain shower of the day and then a steady downhill path towards the road into Castrojeriz. This was not the best path to walk on, in places quite rocky, in places flooded and sometimes just plain slippery. We passed through fields of Wheat, Oats, Peas, Vetch and ( a new one so far) Alfalfa. Alfalfa is primarily grown for animal feed due to its superior nutrition over other crops, it’s also used as a cover crop for soil improvement and nitrogen fixation. Humans consume alfalfa sprouts in salads (low-calorie, with vitamin K, C, folate) or supplements for potential cholesterol-lowering and antioxidant effects. We then passed beside, and under the arch of, the ruins of the Monastery of Saint Anton, built in 1146 but these ruins are from the 14th century.

There were a few more, heavy, rain showers, as we closed in on the town and passed a few colourful fields filled with poppies and sainfoin. We could see the Castillo de Castrojeriz on a hill above the town as the clouds rolled across, before checking into our hotel and enjoying a spot of lunch.

We stayed in the Hotel Silken (a nice 4-star!) for a couple of nights as we had a rest day in Burgos. The hotel was very nice, as should be expected.

Nice city and river views from my room, as we were all upgraded to “better” rooms which were comfy and spacious. On our rest day, we enjoyed a very nice helado in the old town and climbed a load of stone steps up to the castle for a great view of the city. In the morning, we took a self-guided tour of Burgos Cathedral; it is such an amazing place to visit. Our afternoon was spent watching Burgos host Almería in a La Liga 2 game, with promotion and play-off places at stake. As soon as we got into the ground, we were greeted by thunder, lightning, hail, and then torrential rain. By half-time, blue skies appeared, allowing us to dry out somewhat, and the game ended in an uninspiring 0–0 draw, but it was a fun afternoon nonetheless. This morning’s sunrise was a nice start to the day.

It was a chilly start to the morning as we walked alongside the River Arlanzon, with some nice views back to Burgos Cathedral, as the sun finally decided to put in an appearance. It was not a warm appearance, but if definitely was not cold any more – somewhere in between!

While the sun was out we enjoyed a nice walk through the predominately flat countryside and followed a convoluted path to pass through a set of busy road interchanges. We recrossed the River Arlanzon vie the El Arzibispo Bridge (Archbishop’s Bridge), which was rebuilt in the 17th century and where king Alfonso VI was said to have suffered a serious fall. Unfortunately we could see the sky darkening ahead of us, but for now, we were still staying dry. As we walked through Rabé de las Calzadas there were a lot of murals pained on houses and buildings, quite a few of which had bible quotes as part of the artwork. We then passed the little church where, 3 years ago was a lovely nun blessing each pilgrim – sadly she was not there as we passed.

We then had a long, slow hill to climb before topping out today at 922m. The clouds were rolling and the wind picking up, so even though we accelerated down the hill to Hornillos, the rain caught us before the dry safety of the bar. It must be the only open bar in Hornillos as it was packed with pilgrims escaping the rain. After a coffee and a (first) piece of Tarte de Santiago, our taxi arrived to take us to Isar where we are staying the night.

There are two starting out photos today, one in front of our hotel and one back at San Juan de Ortega after the taxi dropped us where we finished yesterday.

The Hotel San Anton Abad, a 3 star, is a very nice hotel with a great view from my, very comfortable, room. After settling in we were treated to a very severe hailstorm, accompanied by thunder and forked lightning. About 4cm of hail fell in an hour – we were very glad to have finished walking before that hit us. When we went downstairs to go to the bar, all staff were busy mopping up, and filling buckets, where the reception roof had leaked. The morning sunrise was a nice bonus start to the day before breakfast.

We started walking in about 4c (gloves required) via a brief walk up into the woods, before continuing along yesterday’s forestry path. A donkey appeared from the gloom, but as soon as it was obvious we weren’t about to feed him (probably unlike a lot of pilgrims) he lost interest and started eating the grass instead.

We walked through the village of Agés and a nice mural of storks on the side of a house. We did see one stork feeding in a field, but it was too far away and gloomy (the weather not the stork) to take a decent picture. We then passed a stone stone circle near Atapuerca which is a neolithic construction designated as an UNESCO World Heritage site. Humans have been living in the area more or less continuously for something like half a million years, with the earliest examples of Homo antecessor dating to 800,000 years ago. At the exit to the village, as we turned off to climb the hill, was a sculpture of one of the early inhabitants.

We had a slow but steady climb up to the Cruz de Atapuerca (1076m) along a very rocky path with a cordoned off military area on our left and woodland / fields of Asphodelus on our right.

As we then descended we had a view of the quarry that we had heard from quite some distance away. Bizarrely as we walked closer the noise abated somewhat. The birdsong was impressive again – I hadn’t heard nightingales at all in the higher elevations but as we descended they made their noisy reappearance. New birds heard today included the Common Firecrest, Greenfinch, Serin, Cuckoo, Iberian Chiffchaff, Cetti’s Warbler, Skylark, Tree Pipit, Bonelli’s Warbler, Woodlark, Garden Warbler, Melodious Warbler, Chaffinch, Wren, Spotted Flycatcher, Long Tailed Tit and Orphean Warbler. It is incredible what the Merlin app can identify. A long walk around the edge of Burgos regional airport ended with us crossing the Rio Arlanzón for the final walk into Burgos.

This walk into Burgos is an alternative to the published Camino way, which is largely through industrial areas – however it is not very well signposted and not very well known. We walked alongside the river for about 6km, watching duck families and listening to the birdsong and sound of the rushing river, before arriving at our hotel were will be staying for the next two nights as tomorrow is a rest day.

We stayed at the Hotel Jacebo, a 2 star hotel right on the main road to Burgos. The rooms were fine and they had a “terrace”, which was really a fenced off area of the pavement, that was a nice little sun-trap.

The view from my room was of the main road back the way we had come and I had a spare bed – useful for unpacking and providing a spare pillow. Acoustically this hotel is very noisy, from the road and from the cafe / breakfast area – not helped by 4 mountain bikers who didn’t know how to be quiet (at all hours).

It was a cold morning (about 6c) as we set off with the prospect of no sunshine but also no rain. The clouds were low in the sky as we followed pretty much the same type of path / scenery as yesterday. We crossed the river on a wooden footbridge beside the stone Puente de piedra “El Canto which was rebuilt by Santo Domingo de la Calzada, helped by the holy builder, San Juan de Ortega, in the time of Alfonso VI.

We stopped at the Ermita de San Roque to get a stamp in our pilgrim’s passport (we need at least 2 per day to receive our Compostela at the end).

We walked, briefly through Villafranca Montes de Oce, before heading up a decent sized, steep, hill through the forest. We walked straight past our hotel for the night as we will be getting a taxi back here at the end of the walk. The monument is the Monumento La Pedraja which lays tribute to the people shot and buried here by the forces of General Francisco Franco between July and November 1936.

From there it was a long walk, along a forestry track, continuing upwards for a little more, before evening out with a gradual descent down to San Juan de Ortega where we had a couple of coffees while waiting for our taxi back to the hotel. The sun made an all too brief appearance but otherwise it was cold – hence the coats. We start from here again tomorrow.