Via Lemovicensis: Onto the Meseta 

Another late start. Breakfast at the hotel didn’t begin until 7 AM. I felt refreshed and ready after my day off. After a long, leisurely breakfast with some pilgrim friends, I finally began walking at about 7:50. The air was cold in the sky had a few fluffy clouds.

I have a relatively short day today. I had originally planned on doing about 27 km, but instead I’m shortening it so that I can meet up with one of my colleagues from the communications committee of American Pilgrims On The Camino. He and his wife are walking the Camino backwards, and we worked out when we might be able to meet up, and it’s tonight in Hornillos.

The Camino out of Burgos is marked by a combination of old-school painted arrows, newer signs, shells or tiles in the sidewalk, and life-size pilgrim art. It’s well marked, but you never know what the marker is going to look like.

We briefly passed through an urban Park and crossed over the river on a pedestrian stone bridge. This area was apparently the site of a medieval pilgrim hospital, and also a leopards hospital. I think that probably tells you all you need to know about how medieval Burgos liked pilgrims. Modern Burgos certainly has a much different attitude!

Shortly after this this, I walked through another long and beautiful urban park. This land was originally attached to a monastery, and is now part of the university here.

Then it was back to modern urban cityscape, with its apartment flats and shops and cafés.

By about 8:30, there was open land, meadows and forest, to my right. There were still tall apartment blocks on my left, but the city was coming to an end. During the walk, I passed any number of small, locked churches.

Ten minutes later, the sidewalk and then the asphalt ended, and I was back on a wide gravel path going into the flat fields and stands of trees. I could probably see a half a dozen pilgrims in front of me, and I could hear others behind me.

It was more or less 500 km to Santiago.

I was feeling strong today, and walking pretty fast. I soon left that wave of pilgrims behind me, though of course there are always pilgrims ahead of you on Camino.

I took my fleece off sometime after 9 AM. By now, most of the clouds had burned off, and despite the weather forecast it looked to me like another hot day in the offering.

Between about 9 and 9:30, the Camino passed under and over a series of bridges to get past a knotwork of highways. The land all around was wheat fields and open meadows. After this, I walked through a partially wooded area next to a lazy river.

About 9:35, the Camino crossed over the river on a highway bridge. The gravel path parallel the highway all the way into the village of Tardajos. 

I arrived in the village at about 9:50. The character of this village is very different from those further east in Spain. I can’t quite describe the sense of it, except to say that this is the first real village of the Meseta.

Looking for second breakfast, I ran into Katie and Eric. I had apparently missed Herve by about five minutes. There were so many pilgrims here that I’d never seen before, the hazards of taking a rest day. 

The café was tiny and inefficient, and I was in line for a long time. It hardly mattered, as I was in no real hurry today. I was already halfway through my walking day. This does mean, however, two long days coming up.

It was after 10:30 by the time I left.

A year ago today was probably the first day that my beloved bride did not recognize me at all for the entire day. Francine had been extremely agitated the whole day, and even voices were beginning to set off her hallucinations.

By this point, I was just hoping she would recognize me again before the end.

I was greeted by a flock of storks on the church tower, a nest in every corner. Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción itself was filled with golden Baroque and Rococo retablos. And yet, it somehow managed to retain the simple charm of a country church. 

The facial features of the Virgin at the high altar looked very Spanish. Similar, in fact, to one of the women working here to restore one of the side altars.

I prayed here a while. By about 10:50, I was once more walking into the countryside, this time on a narrow shoulder by the side of an asphalt road.

I entered the more modern outskirts of the village of Rabé de las Calzadas at 11 AM. I heard the church bells toll the hour, and a few minutes later I was walking through the village proper.

It’s a lazy day. I stopped in the local bar for a Kas Naranja. The village church was locked, alas. On the way out of the village, though, I stopped in an old hermitage that was now being used as a chapel by the Daughters of Charity. 

The Sister there gave me a Miraculous medal , and she prayed over me that I would “always know that Jesus is the way, and He is the life, and He is the truth”.

The words of the Gospel at my first pilgrim Mass in Santiago echoed through my head, “Jesus said to Thomas, I am the way, the life, and the truth”. That reading had been the answer to an anguished prayer. Today, it seemed to be a confirmation of the road ahead.

God is a poet, and so much of our lives rhyme if we but listen for it.

Camino was now back to the wide gravel road through the gently undulating fields. Despite my prediction earlier in the morning, the air wasn’t all that warm, and a constant light breeze kept things cool.

It was, in fact, a perfect day for walking. It was the sort of day where you could walk 35 km and still feel good about it.

The seemingly endless grass and grain rolled away in every direction from the Camino, the only movement was it rippling in the wind and the lazy turning of distant windmills. 

At about 12:35, I saw the village of Hornillos in the valley far below me. I was hoping to meet Herve for lunch there. That didn’t quite work out, although we did meet at the Casa Manolo and had a few minutes of conversation before he had to jet. 

We were joined to by Katie, and Katie and I ended up having lunch together before she had to run off as well. They were both heading for Hontanas, another 11 km down the road.

They will have relatively short days tomorrow, whereas I’m taking my short day today.

After this, I checked into my albergue and did the usual pilgrim chores. 

Then I met up with Jim from the American Pilgrims communications committee and his lovely wife Sharon, both retired Methodist ministers. What a wide-ranging conversation!

About 6 PM, I wandered over to the church. It’s been locked earlier, but I was hoping it was opened up a little later in the day. It was not.

Date: 03 June 2026

Place: Hornillos del Camino 

Today started: Burgos 

Today’s Photos!