Of Bullfighting and HUMP DAY!!!

Ruth has now lost her hat and water bottle, the two things that you MUST have at all times on the Meseta.

STAGE 16
Frómista to Carrión de los Condes
20.1 km/12.5 miles
Time Walked, 4:24

Spanish soap has an awesome aroma, I love the way it makes my back pack smell.

Cafe con leche or vino tinto, which is the greater reward on the Camino. . . too tough for me to call.

Has it really been nine years since 9/11?

I continue to believe that I'm spending more money on the internet than on the albergues.

The Meseta has incredible sunrises and sunsets.

I walked the last 10 km with a new mate on Saturday, Morton from Norway. He is a journalist for a small newspaper that is published three times a week. We had a great discussion on the state of soccer/football in the USA.

At the Bar España, I may have had the greatest fresh squeezed OJ in world history. The Cafe con Leche was damn good too!

Jillian left her wallet back at the albergue, took a taxi back and found that it was gone. The taxi driver said she should report it to the police and while doing so, the police received a call from a local bar keep that he had found a wallet by his establishment. All of her Euros were gone but her U.S. dollars, passport and credit cards were still in place. Best of a bad situation to say the least!

No internet in town which was a disappointment. Great bakery across from the albergue more than made up for it!

Tried to take a nap but lots of noise by my roommates made it hard. This albergue used to be a convent for nuns. If they were still in charge, they would have had a field day with these talkative types.

I had a discussion with Ruth about bullfighting. She is shocked by it and I grew up loving it. As she started her whole animal cruelty routine, I heard a twig snap far in the distance. Off I went on the nobility of the fighting bull, the chance to fight to the death as opposed to being slaughtered in a butcher shop, etc.

It's a Dylan Thomas thing for me.

We were joined by Leontien, Hans' girlfriend from Holland today, cute couple!

STAGE 17
Carrión de los Condes to Terradillos de los Templarios
26.8 km/16.6 miles
Time Walked, 5:35

Total Distance Walked, 402.0 km/249.8 miles
Total Time Walked, 100:16
17 Nights in Albergues, 94 Euros

Distance to Santiago de Compostela
396.6 km/246.4 miles

HUMP DAY! At Ledigos at 11:46 a.m. on Sunday, September 12th I reached the half way point on the Camino! It's all downhill now until the hills of Galicia.

I pulled a Ruth, somewhere in the last 10 km today my water bottle jumped for freedom without my knowing it.

There is a guy on the Camino who passed me going in the opposite direction today for the third straight day. Was he a ghost on the Camino? Was Rod Serling watching all of this from behind some bushes? I had to stop him and ask what was going on. He drives a car full of all of the belongings of four people. When he gets to the next stopping point he walks back up the Camino until he finds his three friends and then retraces his steps. I feel better now.

After walking 17 km to our first pueblo, we were greeted by two men giving peregrinos free first aid, AWESOME!!!

There may be something to this concept of walking 4 to 6 hours a day improving your overall health.

Only 6 beds in my room at Albergue Jacques de Molay, it's like a private room for me!

Vamos Bien.

BUEN CAMINO!!!