Carrionde los Condes to Ledigos - 23.5K

We wrapped up the evening last night in the monastery with the nuns serving us a pasta dinner they had prepared for us. It was really good and, after we had more songs, and they blessed each one of us for our continued journey to Santiago, I went to the evening mass - and the grandeur of the church was amazing (sorry, think I might have mentioned this already).

The convent was really cold.
Even with my sleeping bag and a blanket they supplied, I had to put several sweaters on - and socks - in order to be warm enough to sleep - but eventually, I did.
No snorers in the dorm so that is always a plus.

Today dawned bright and sunny, and it looked like it might be another hot one, but it turned into a cool fall day and good for walking.
The first stretch was almost 18 K, without any villages where you could stop at a bar or cafe. The route is not always broken up the way you would like, of course, but ideally, you don't have more than 10 k to go before some civilization appears.
I managed to find a bit of shade to have a break and a bite and, as there was a mound of discarded clothing in this spot, I had a comfortable place to sit.

It's not uncommon to see clothing left on the route when people are trying to lighten their load, however this was almost an entire wardrobe. The clothing looked quite clean as well, so must have been a recent discard by some desperate and tired pilgrim.

After 18 k there was a bar where everyone had stopped for a drink and a rest.
It started raining while we were there, so many of us decided to shorten our day and just go to the next Albergue, which was only 6 k away. It's a really old place and feels cold as well, so I hope there is a supply of blankets.

By the way I have a small confession.
It seemed unPilgrim-like, so I hesitated to mention it before (I guess you could call it a sin of omission), but I think full disclosure is expected on this blog.
It has to do with my second day in Burgos.
I did spend most of the day there, but I actually started out in the morning and left the city - reluctantly. After walking about 7 K out of town, I just decided I had to go back and see the Cathedral, buy bandages and have one more bath.
I thought I could hitchhike back, but the pilgrim route often runs through fields and forests and not necessarily near a highway. I did see a hwy off in the distance and I just had to cross a field to get to it. It took some time to cross the field where, to my horror, I found that I was separated from the hwy by a barbed wire fence. Without giving it too much thought, I threw my backpack over the fence and then realized it would not be so easy for me to scale it. However after a few tries, I made it,
There were some Hwy workers I tried to communicate with re: hitchhiking back into Burgos, but they indicated I would not get picked up. So I walked to a bar on the hwy and took a taxi back into town, went to the hotel, asked for my room back, and immediately took a bath.
So there you have it!
If you consider I walked out of the city twice, I can't really call it a cheat, as I more than did the distance.

By the way, my missing pair of underwear turned up.
Everything I have is black, so it's hard to distinguish socks from underwear from a hat - until you put them on, of course. And then, if you can't tell the difference, you've definitely walked too far that day.

Thom and Patti: so great to hear from you. Thanks for checking in. Who is that picture of, Thom?

Off for a beer in the local bar/grocery store.

More Meseta tomorrow.