25 th Sept Retortilla de Soria to Caracena

It was 2C when we walked out this morning for the next leg of our walk. Frost on the soccer field. I was freezing! I wish I had not sent my fleece home!! We walked briskly but my hands just wouldn’t thaw. Tomorrow I will wear my spare socks as gloves and my thermals under my shorts. The day warmed and soon it was really perfect walking weather. Once we entered the gorge it was wonderful. Really a hike in the wilderness with eagles soaring, deer leaping up the hillside and rocks to clamber over. We loved it all. Three river crossings but with stepping stones this time. This walk/Camino is much more of a nature walk then any others. So far only one pilgrim has been met. The car has enabled us to see other aspects of the country and shorten our days walking so it is not a pure pilgrims walk. We would be hard pressed getting stamps as many churches are closed and we are not using Albergues because we have the car, but also the distances between are much longer than we want to walk.

Karen greeted us at a natural arch making bubbles! It was lovely to walk the rest of the way with her. After a quick look at Caracena we headed for El Burgos de Osma.

On the way we passed the largest espaliered netted apple orchard I have ever seen. It was kilometres long and wide. The processing plant had hundreds of plastic and wooden cartons stacked metres high.

Our first stop in town was a cool bar with great music and a modern menu. Mushroom Canoloni (yum, but not gluten free) Hummus with beetroot and hummus with spices , veggie sticks and corn chips (what I should have had!). Fortified, we wandered through the town and stumbled on a concert (singer and good music) plus the Cathedral, Bishop’s Palace and medieval street scape. As everything shut down for siesta we wandered up to the castle that stood above the town. ( This area is graced with Castles everywhere. It was a frontier between the Christians and the Moors for centuries)

We took a left turn when we entered the Castle ramparts and found our way into the castle by breaching the roped area and literally climbing the wall! Only after we had scrambled over did we see the path in was from the other side.

The view was spectacular over the town. While we wandered around we heard fabulous music wafting up which I was sure was flamenco or gypsy music. Must have been loud if you were next door!

By the time we returned to town the Cathedral was open so we paid our €3 to enter. It had a beautiful cloister and I was surprised that it wasn’t as large inside as we expected. It was built between the 12th and the 16th Centuries.

We were then in search of a restaurant but we were all tired by now and hanging around for restaurants was not so appealing. It was Sunday and nothing open as it turned out. We stumbled on a petrol station which had a few basic groceries as well as petrol, so we opted for home and a clean out the fridge dinner.

It is getting cold in the mornings and at night so I have dragged out the thermals for walking. I will be a tragic sight with thermals under shorts and socks for gloves but it is what I need to do to keep warm!