Hola To all of you. Here it is I believe Thursday our 14th day on the 

Camino. This morning was overcast and foggy with low temperatures and 

of course no sun.  It felt glorious to walk with the subdued weather. 

Because we decided to have an easy day walking from Belorado to 

Villafranca  de Montes de Oca  a total of about 12 k or about 7 1/2 

miles we took our time walking in a leisurely fashion taking lots of 

photos stopping for cafe con leche which we usually do after we've 

walked a bit. We also felt less pressure because we called ahead to 

reserve a room in a private alburgue. The municipal alburgues are 

usually larger with multiple bunk beds up to 50 or 75 or more in 

one or two large rooms and they will not let you reserve ahead. 

They are very cheap price wise from a donation to 5 euros.  The private 

alburgues are much smaller and sometimes offer alot of amenities. 

They take reservations and can range in price from 5 to 25 or 30 euros 

per person.  We have been using a Camino Frances guide book by John 

Brierley called a pilgrims guide to the Camino de Santiago covering 

the Camino from St Jean to Santiago.  It is full of invaluable 

information from directions to historical information to the maps 

and mileage to the names of the towns where the cafes  are located 

and names of places to stay with the phone numbers.  So because we 

have the phone numbers and my cell phone has been cooperating as of 

late,  We were able to call ahead and reserve an alburgue attached 

to a luxury hotel.  So at this moment I am tucked away in a very 

 nook on the 2nd or 3rd floor of this hotel.  My accommodations which 

are much more modest are tucked in the back and I'm sure I probably 

should not be up here with my pilgrim clothing and dishelved look, 

but as  I said I am tucked away  and  here I am until told otherwise. 

Ah once again the paradox of the Camino.  It says in the guide book 

that the owner of this lovely hotel walked the Camino himself and 

wanted to give back so he apportioned a section of his hotel to pilgrims. 

The name of this place is San Anton Abad  and I offer a great thank you 

to this generous person. A bunk bed was 5 euros and a single bed was 

10 euros.  We have a small kitchen and laundry facilities. I feel the 

urge for a cup of tea coming upon me.  Perhaps a bit later.  A highlight 

of today was coming upon a very large field of sunflowers that were 

still in flower form and not all dried up ready for harvest.  Steig 

from Canada and Elmarie  from Australia who met on the Camino and have 

become a couple were the first ones to seize this amazing photo op, 

with Grace  a woman from connecticut, gay and I following suit.  The 

beauty of the flowers was enhanced by the artistic work of  Many 

pilgrims who pulled different petals from the flower face to form 

words and images.  So imagine a large field of sunflowers with different 

sections near the front looking like a sunflower art gallery.  We had a 

blast posing and laughing .   All of this is bittersweet because we 

may never cross paths with these people again.  Steig has to leave in a 

few days and Elmarie is busing to Burgos.  Our connections are brief 

sometimes on the Camino but their memories and teachings can last forever. 

Tomorrow will be a bit more of a challenge as we have some mountains to 

cross with the highest peak a bit over 1150 meters. It should be a beautiful 

walk through the woods.  We won't stay in San Juan but will more than likely 

continue on to Ages or Atapuerca which will be on Friday and then we will 

probably be in Burgos by Saturday or Sunday.   We haven't talked about 

whether we will stay an extra day in Burgos but what comes up after Burgos 

is the Meseta. We  will probably begin the Meseta next week. It is a high 

plateau that is open and vast and can bring those same qualities to a 

person if they desire. Well  it is about 2:30 here and I must shower and 

explore.  Much love to you all,  Camille on the Camino