The Meseta
29 April- Short posting today extracted from my Face Book posting of the same day. I was half delirious from a long, hot day on the trail and was enjoying the moment after a bellyful of beer after finally finding the town and a bed to sleep in. (Hontanas on the Meseta)
“Only one pic today. This morning I entered the Meseta, miles and miles and miles of wheat fields. After seeing one pic, you pretty much get the idea. For the first time on the walk I strapped the earbuds on and cranked Janis. Together we embarked into the Meseta singing about carefree freedom! Life can be good, if you let it be so! Ok, second pic is a pic about salvation. After 19.6 miles through the Meseta the town of Hontanas was nowhere on the horizon. Low and behold in a depression, this vision presented itself. My feet and knees were saved! It’s all about the little pleasures!”
.. and a little more…
A 
little more amplification. Normally one can see the next town on the distant horizon to help gauge the necessary level of effort to get to your next meal and bed. On the Meseta one can see forever….yet, the town of Hontanas was invisible, it wasn’t there. I finally came upon a posting along the road, in the middle of nowhere, advertising a room and meals and it claimed only to be .5 kilometers away. After walking nearly 30 kms, that’s not even a skip and a jump away…..except there was no town in sight.
Naturally I thought this was part of the Anti-Caminoite psychological warfare plan (which existed only in my head….remember, I was half delerious). So I called for a room and when they asked, when will you arrive, I gave them my best Spanish interpretation of a shoulder shrug….’huh, I don’t know’. As you would expect, it didn’t translate very well over the phone. Amazingly, within 200 meters of the sign a slight depression in the horizon became visible and miraculously, nestled in this little, unseen valley was the quaintest and prettiest little town of Hontanas, .5 Kms from the sign, just like advertised.
The delirium, sore feet, mixed with the vision of respite, along with two well pounded beers made for a wonderful ending to a long day.
Hasta
Interesting Links (Hontanas on the Meseta)
- Photos along the Camino and throughout the Iberian Peninsula
- Return to the beginning of this Journal Blog
- Enjoy our Journal Blog about our travels throughout Italy