31 March - 4 April 2017

These days I sort of followed the Camino de Santiago. Some parts were small paths with stones, rocks and sand. I didn't like those, so most of the time I took the bigger, asphalted road (N-120), a road for cars, but there were almost none.

In Nájera I got my first stamp and cycled on to the albergue in Grañón. It was a very special place, because it was located in a church and I met a lot of hikers and had good conversations with some of them. We also didn't get a stamp in our credential, but in our hart by sharing experiences and a hug for everybody. In the end it was time for 'the surprise', a beautiful artwork about the life of Jesus and Maria. I didn't bring my camera, so I couldn't make a picture.... :(

All people who walk to Santiago seem to get up early, so I also woke up early the next day. In the afternoon, while I was eating a snack a truckdriver stopped and started cooking. When he saw me sitting there he asked me (in Spanish) if I would join him with his dinner. And that was a very well cooked Giso Pollo. After I thanked Jesus (the truckdriver) it was easy to reach Burgos. The cycling was a little bit worse than previous days, because I cycled with my Vans and somehow my Achilles heel doesn't like that. When I arrived in Burgos it was a little bit swollen. After a shower at Victor's apartment, we went by foot to the centre and he showed me a lot of beautiful and interesting buildings. We also ate the tapa croquetta, filled with ham and Bechamelsauce.

On Sunday I wanted to get some fresh bread at the supermarket, bit that's impossible on a Sunday in Spain ;p, but I still had enough food so I went on cycling. That went pretty easy today, so I went on and on until I cycled 100 km. At the albergue I got a menu Peregrino. I didn't know what it was, but it sounded good. It seemed to be two good dinners and an orange as dessert. That was exactly what I needed!

The next morning I had to wake up early and during breakfast I had nice conversations with Catherine from Denmark, Georgia from Australia and the Danish woman. During the cycling in the morning it was very cold, but later on the day it became pretty hot with the sun. I received two stamps today and after a big hill I reached Mariola at León. She didn't spoke English very well, but I really felt welcome. In the evening I went to the centre with her son, Pablo. We ate some tapas and drank some cortas (small beers). That was fun!

The next day was a rest day, so I walked through the centre of León and saw some nice buildings, like the cathedral and an old Roman square. In the evening Pablo wanted to visit the art museum, but it was closed at the time we reached it. So we went to an other part of the city and did some tapas and cortas again. Very nice! Mariola and a friend also joined us and we spoke about different subjects. Even my Spanish is getting better!

On Friday I cycled 62,1 km, 63,2 on Saturday 100,9 km on Sunday and 81,7 km on Monday. I stayed at an albergue on Friday and Sunday, while I stayed with Victor in Burgos on Saturday and Mariola and Pablo on Monday and Tuesday.