Day 19, June 23, Calzada de Los Hermanillos to Mansilla de las Mulas

Day 19, June 23, Calzada de Los Hermanillos to Mansilla de las Mulas

Numbers: 14.65 miles per Garmin GPS with detail here. And, per Fitbit: 36,803 steps (so far), 15 floors, and 300 active minutes.

This is a day when our voice tones are different..again, composed independently..sigh....

Dave voice

Did I mention that Leo, our co-host last night was singing/humming "Master of the House" from Les Miz while preparing our meal. And this in a town that would fit In a couple of minivans.

This may not be such a good blog day. Last night, we learn that someone dear to us has a serious medical problem. Fuck! Fuck medical problems and fuck us for not being more mature about them. What should we do now? Rush home from our self-indulgent little ego-strokefest and then sit uselessly by? Or continue on, drinking lots of wine, enjoying village life from several centuries ago as if nothing terrible had happened? (And secretly feel glad it isn’t us?)

Fuck! Those near and dear to us have an obligation to remain in good health until we’ve died. Why is this happening to someone good and kind, who’s looked out for one of us as far back as…beyond memory. How can a person like this be punished by life?

Well, we all know life isn’t fair. Some folks are Rockefellers and Koch Brothers, Kennedys and so on while others live lives of small triumphs before being crushed. Jesus! Could I be more maudlin?

Being selfish and perhaps a shell fish, I’ll stay on the Camino for now, walking and drinking and telling myself I’ll never do this again. Message to you at home: embrace those you love now, while you’re up to it and while they’re still able to enjoy the moment. Forget George Clooney and Penelope Cruz. They won’t return your calls or emails – and those restraining orders are a bummer. CSN&Y were right.

We are again the pawns – and beneficiaries – of Spanish weather. Originally, we had planned to eat early, have the big and nasty sex early, sleep early and hit the road early to beat an incoming rain. Only some of that came true. By 5:00 PM, the wind was blowing in dark clouds. Dark rain followed until around midnight with lightning in the distance.

By 6:00 AM, the clouds were thinning and we – again – had lucked out, having only to face 10 or so miles of rock-strewn Roman Road before any hope of coffee. And, as luck would have it, the pastry wasn’t even stale!

Our destination is the delightful (population 1,900) town of Mansillas de las Mulas, named after a) having your hand on the saddle (heh, heh) and b) mules. Hard to put those two together, but we arrive on Farmer’s Market day and could, if we chose, load up on local tomatoes, hard-shelled nuts and over-ripe bananas. Who could resist?

Then, the bad news: we aren’t actually staying in this Eden of sun-baked peregrinos and elderly women with plastic shopping bags. We’re actually staying in Mansillas de Mayor, an equally charming village a couple of clicks away. The owner/desk clerk/gardener/cook picks us up at the slightly old Iglesias of Santa Maria, one of only a million so-named churches in Spain.

Our room: go ahead and read any of the previous room descriptions and you have it, except that, having bought bar soap at the mercado, this place has it. No shampoo and no a/c, but a little "family room" full of chairs and a TV on our floor and, thus far, zero other guests. It’s high season people! Spend a dollar!

We’ll dine this evening with the hotelier’s family. Not sure why. And we’re having fish. Not sure why. When your Spanish vocabulary is limited, these things happen. Oh, and we once again have a chifforobe in the room instead of a closet. (Always good to slip in a "To Kill A Mocking Bird" reference.) Not sure when closets became a standard part of houses, but we ain’t stayed anywhere where it was.

Deb voice

First, after we wrote yesterday, things went downhill for Deb/Scout. The heat of the day (90 degrees according to Gemma at our hotel) combined with a bottle of wine at lunch and some more in a our room did did not sit well with me. I started feeling ill in mid-afternoon and spent a few minutes over the toilet before collapsing and napping for at least an hour. The afternoon disappeared quickly, as did the evening. A phone call earlier to a loved one made me feel even worse for being self indulgent and feeling sorry for myself much more than I should.

Unfortunately, although the room window had a screen to keep out the flies (who needs A/C? Me!) , rain was on the horizon, so we shut the windows. It made the room incredibly hot and I didn't sleep well and I'm sure Dave didn't either. Anyway, today was 15 plus miles on the Roman Road. Our hotel owner, Gemma, says most Spaniards take the Senda, the more direct route by the freeway, but the Americans, Australians, Germans, and others take Via Romana and that helps keep her little town (Calzada de Los Hermanillos) and the hotels there in business. When we said that we hardly saw anyone yesterday, she said that people say that all the time, even during May when all the rooms in town (3 places with room for 80 persons) are full. She said it's the rolling road and that you can't see past a km or so and, thus, don't know that others are on the road with you (of course, no Spaniards! They're too sensible to take the Via Romano). So, guess what? Today, we started outside of this little town on a paved quiet road, but after 2 miles, we were again on the Via Romano sans other Peregrinos. We saw three others who passed us - from Romania - then we passed them, and never saw them again. Hope they didn't get lost. They seemed concerned about an upcoming turn. Getting lost is a whole other post....many, many stories.

We are used to stopping for a sit-down break at a cafe after 3 to 5 miles, but our first break today came 11 miles into our journey. The good news was and is that we only had 4 miles left when we started on the "soulless Senda" with many many Peregrinos. Although the first 11 miles took everything out of me physically and mentally, the last four passed quickly. I'd like to post pictures of the Via Romano, the road used 2,000 years ago by Emperor Augustus Caesar, "but he will have traveled with a retinue of servants not available to a humble pilgrim," according to Brierley - but, I only took one and it didn't come out all that great. Due to footing issues (looking at my feet all the time), my back hurt almost immediately (did I mention it had been pretty good for the last five or so days?), and we stopped every two miles for water and to take off the pack. It helped a lot, and, as I sit several hours later, all is fine. Also, a fun fact: the stretch of the Via Romano we traveled today is the longest remaining intact piece of Roman-built road in Spain. Who knew?

Ok folks, this blog is set to private - at least for now, but many others aren't. So, although I didn't take a very good picture of Via Romano, others have (Google is so rad!). From this blog, here's an idea of the terrain. Good for horses, the military, and apparently for John Brierley, but not so much for the DJRs. Still, it's amazing that the road and set-in rocks have lasted 2,000 years.

This is one of the better sections, in my opinion

We get to Mansilla de las Mulas, a bustling hub of 1,900 (seriously folks, it really was bustling with a great outdoor market, pubs, historic churches, etc.) at noon, and, as is often the case, we can't find our hotel. Then, after consulting a restaurant server, I realize I've made the reservation in Mansilla Mayor and not Mansilla de las Mulas. This last happened in Cizur Menor, when I made the reservation in Cizur Mayor. Oh, those crazy Americanos! After a call to the hotel owner, he picks us up and transports us the 3km to his hotel. We're thinking it's a converted residence with nice rooms. They'll make us dinner....as early as 6:30. Sounds great! We've also bought a bottle of wine and cookies to keep us those five hours (did I mention that he gave us a soda and beer as we arrived and said not to worry about payment now.....yes, just like the states ("Can I have that credit card number NOW?"). Yes, I've already forgotten my hunkering over the toilet yesterday.

Ok...laundry's done, wine is half gone, and tomorrow is only 12 miles.

Just a few pictures today as I only took a few and the Internet is not so hot.

Camino sign on a manhole cover

Pilgrims create small stone cairns (milladoiros) along the Camino. Traditionally, they are used to mark the path for others following, but also act as symbols of being present in a place that has been sacred for thousands of years.

One of the three Romanians we saw today in first 10 miles

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Mansilla de las Mulas (all but two photos from the web)

Nice Chifforobe and light in our room

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