After a night in the tent, it took me a long time to warm up and get back into the rhythm. The new shoes were great to reduce the original pain, but I got a load of blisters instead now.
It was a painful and long walk through nowhere. The next sign of human life was the ruins of San Antón.
I decided to put the inlay soles I bought in Burgos in my old shoes, and try these for the next 6km. It worked much better, so I might switch shoes after 10k for the next days, but I decided to call it a day for today when I got to castrojeriz.
I checked into an Albergue and went another 1.4K to get to the center of town to find a Farmacia. I met a guy – a German again – along the way who seemed lost. He could not find a bank or Farmacia and was on his way back. We found out he was staying in the same Albergue, and to save my feet I spontaneously decided to change dinner plans and have dinner at the Albergue. He promised to tell them I would come for dinner, and I said I would get him the patches he needed once the Farmacia opened again.
I was so surprised that it was still open, that I got the guys patches, and my blister patches but forgot all about the ibu and paracetamol. Well I had a great lunch and will wait for the Farmacia to reopen to stock up on the rest. In the mean time Floris called me, he caught a cold and is feeling not too good, so I will get some meds for him too. Once I finish my special medication…
I will do my Farmacia run and “drug” delivery to my fellow pilgrim friends.
So, I met Jake again, and he wanted to show me this “casa de silencio“. We met Floris,, Stan and Jake and continued there together. When we got there it was closed, but the owner Mau came out and told us why he build the place. It is basically a beautifully decorated place to enjoy silence and meditate. He explained that he wanted to bring this experience to people without having to go to the Himalaja as he did.
I later found out his name was Mau, when we went a bit further and found this other open door meditation place. The owner, Mia or as she said her cat, had decorated the house with so much love and spiritual balance it was amazing. We meditated and then went downstairs where she server us a spicy tea. We started talking and she showed me her art. She called it Loneliness. But in a very positive way. It was wonderful I felt all of it and all of her decoration. She asked to hug me and I really felt her soul.
So it turns out she was actually together with Mai for 8 years. She had wanted to go to the Himalaja, and met Mau, who brought the Himalaja to her. They not only travels the Camino, but also be an part of it, staying in different towns showing their art and entertaining pilgrims.
Then for their final chapter, as she called it they came to Castrojeriz and to get her build that casa de silencio.
Their love went away but their friendship stayed, but she created this new place. She lives in a small hut in the back of her lovely decorated yard, and financed the house, from when she and Mau sold their house.
It was such a wonderful moment, we all wanted it to last forever. We hugged goodbye since the albergues kinda put us on a tight curfew. But what a magical moment it was!