The Meseta Begins

To finish off this triple header of posts, today I started the Meseta. This is the high, dry plateau region in the center of Spain, and it is notorious for a few things. First, for being monotonous. Second, for being the place where most people have adapted to the Camino physically. Third, because of the first two, for being where people really have time to think.


The path today, as most days on the Meseta, was flat. It mostly ran through wheat, hay, and sunflower fields, with very little shade. The morning was nice, with many small towns, but they only had sparse options for food and drink, so I ended up powering through much of the day, simply walking, and walking faster and further than on previous days. We will see how my ankle feels about this new, faster, further pace, but I feel that it shouldn't be too much to ask of it, and I can always slow down if necessary.

The morning consisted of further goodbyes, first in the hotel room and then along the road as we passed and repassed each other, going at our own paces. Then the Meseta set in for real.

(I think you get the picture.)

Eventually, after a lot of the above, I made it to my albergue. It was... Shockingly cute? Not at all what I was expecting, and seemingly much newer than most, and a little ways outside of town. Their signs were very lovely and handmade, and I'm looking forward to breakfast tomorrow, as both the signs and an acquaintance I met there say it is the best they've had on the Camino.


I ran into a number of people who I'd crossed paths with on several occasions before, but hadn't spent a great deal of time with, and it was nice to talk to some new people, even as I missed my friends and was adjusting to doing the Camino solo. 

After a while I went to blog and take a siesta, then went for dinner. I got to sit at a table with a Frenchman, an Italian woman, and a Korean man, and we had some lovely conversation about our countries and how we had come to do the Camino. The Korean man and I talked for an extended time, as his situation was remarkably similar to mine, leaving a job he had held for a long time to pursue something different, and doing the Camino in the time it gave him. The food was excellent, made with herbs from the albergue's own garden.


After dinner I ate a pastry that was at risk of going bad while I blogged some more, then went to bed. I suspect the Meseta may not give the same fodder for blog posts, either visually or in terms of interesting anecdotes, but I'll be trying to keep up nonetheless. I'm hoping to power through it, but we'll see what my ankle has to say about that.

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