Tag Archives: tosantos

May 25, 2011 Tosantos to Atapuerca

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Slept to 07:00, then breakfast of toast and cafe con leche at albergue’s comedor. Walked quickly to following towns and dodged trucks at Villafranca del Montes de Oca. Enjoyed the exercise of climb up to top of Montes de Oca, then the hot sun and endless forest became tedious. Finally came to San Juan de Ortega. Sheila of SF was behind me and looked for chair for her. Tried to borrow extra chair from solitary man and he said, “no.” Must’ve been angry because my immediate response was not nice. He must’ve understood English slang — I could see it in his face. Immediately felt guilty and began to examine my state of mind.

Then off to Ages and finally Atapuerca. I had entertained the idea of walking directly to Burgos, but was drained after a day in the sun. A cervesa at the bar followed by shower and washing of clothes at private albergue.

Had photo taken by French couple from Tosantos — Michelle and Robert of Limoges. They are very nice, but somehow my French fails when I talk to them. They have no English but many smiles and they enjoyed the chapel service last night at Tosantos very much.

Sitting now at shady portion of albergue yard, listening to birds and to pilgrims talking in Spanish. Hospitalera sitting near, reading Hape Kerkeling in Spanish. Next big task: eating a (hopefully) huge dinner.

May 24, 2011, Santo Domingo to Tosantos

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Left hotel at 07:00 to meet Monique and stopped with her at cafe then ATM. Walked to Granon, then on to Redecilla, Viloria and Villamayhor where said goodbye to Monique, only to see her again when catching email at Belorado. Would learn later that Rocky was in Belorado at the same time, but didn’t see her as I passed through town. Quick walk to Tosantos in blazing sun to see albergue there just as I left it in 2008. Laundry, shower, and journal writing. Very tired after cervesa and olives at local bar. Looking for good place to lay down, but sun is hot and yard is rough.

Had a nice few Spanish moment with hospitalero here, who was eating lunch when I arrived. Told him this was my second camino, that I was a Methodist priest and that I had returned in order to revisit the albergue.

Just finished cooking in the albergue while singing Taize songs with the hospitalero. Very fun, but everyone though we were totally weird. Dinner as  a group with many languages (all fast). Chapel afterward and hospitalero asked me to do a benediction.

June 4, 2008 Tosantos to Atapuerca

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I met two kind and friendly South Africans at Tosantos and enjoyed leapfrogging them as we walked down from Tosantos toward Villafrance del Montes de Oca. This little town is the last stop before a 12 km stretch that walks over a mountain ridge and then down to the ancient church at San Juan de Ortega. With no breaks for water or food and a tall climb, this is one of the more physically challenging portions of the Camino Frances. I had plenty of water and took my time, enjoying the walk.

I stopped briefly at San Juan de Ortega for lunch, then headed on in gathering rain clouds and a cool wind to the town of Atapuerca. There I discovered the main, private albergue was closed, so as I walked up to scout out the church at the top of town I chose a tiny albergue with an attached restaurant. The albergue had soft mattresses and, for the first time I’d seen on the camino, thick and warm quilts on each bed. I’d discover later that the albergue was unheated and the quilts would come in handy during the icy cold night.

Atapuerca is famous as the site of a major anthropological discovery of an ancient hominid species. A museum in town included anatomically correct wax figures of these people-like creatures and a helpful BBC documentary in English playing on a loop on a museum TV. After touring the museum I enjoyed dinner at the albergue’s restaurant, where I met Françoise, her husband François, and Pierre of France. With my high school French I introduced myself and did my best to understand their descriptions of their lives and why they were walking the camino. François had a handicapping condition which did not allow him to carry a backpack, so he pulled his things on a wheeled cart strapped behind him.

I snuggled in my sleeping bag and all of my clothes under the quilt and, after a time, managed to get warm enough to fall asleep. I’d decided to splurge again on a hotel for tomorrow, this time in Burgos where I would replace my hiking shoes with real boots and take a rest day after so much busy travel and walking during the last few days.

June 3, 2008 Santo Domingo to Tosantos

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Back on the camino now I was ready to reintegrate myself into pilgrim life and was determined to make friends along the way toward Santiago. After an overnight at the Santo Domingo Parador I headed out to walk the path to Burgos that I’d seen from a taxi window over the previous days.

After Santo Domingo the camino rises up from the vast fields of grain toward the Montes de Oca. I walked along the path and took photos of the steeple at Grañon that rises just above a ridge, seeming to sprout from the earth like the grain itself. After Grañon I came to Belorado and considered stopping there at the albergue with a swimming pool. Instead I trudged farther, to Tosantos, and there had one of my most delightful albergue experiences.

As I walked into this three-story, parochial albergue in the quaint and tiny village of Tosantos I was introduced to Tomás, the hospitalero. He began to lecture me about the history of the region and about the camino. My college Spanish skills allowed me to catch about 1/4 of the words, but the general impression was that he was very excited about the camino and proud of his albergue. He instructed me to leave my boots on the main floor and choose a sleeping pad in the main sleeping room on the second floor, then told me all pilgrims were asked to help cook the evening meal and were invited before dinner to tour the cave above the town that held its statue of the Virgin Mary.

I finished my laundry out on the albergue’s grassy lawn, hung it up to dry, then joined other pilgrims in peeling potatoes and cutting up carrots for our dinner. At about 18:00 we headed across the highway to the parish church where a kind woman walked us up the hill to the cave chapel. The interior was quite chilly, and we pilgrims shivered as she gave us a lengthy explanation of how the Virgin is carried into town in the spring and returned to the cave in the winter (or vice versa). We were all happy to excuse ourselves and return to the sunshine outside and the warm stew awaiting us at the albergue dining room.

When we arrived we sat down to a delicious and plentiful meal of stew and salad, followed by cups of yogurt, all accompanied by loud conversation and the sounds of Taizé music played on the boom box on a shelf near the table. I learned from this experience that it is a great joy to share in cooking and eating a meal together with other pilgrims, and I appreciated the care and pride with which Tomás carried out his role as hospitalero.