Friday, May 13, 2011

The Meseta

The Meseta. Ask anyone who has walked the Camino about "The Meseta" and you'll get a variety of responses. You'll hear some groans and some cheers.

The Meseta is a high central plateau in Spain, and comprises a good chunk of the land mass in the country. As a plateau it is fairly flat.



[This is exactly what the Meseta looks like.]

The Meseta serves as the breadbasket for Spain, as mostly wheat is grown on it. So you walk past thousands and thousands of acres of wheat.

Aa for the Meseta and the Camino, It basically stretches from Burgos in the east to León in the west. So I entered the Meseta on Saturday, May 7, when I left Burgos, and will exit the Meseta on Satirday, May 14, when I enter León.

Those who detest the Meseta will say that it's long and boring, and has uninterrupted stretches where there are no towns and no water. Just today I walked a 13 km (8 mile) stretch that had nothing but road dust in between. I thought it was going to last forever. Near the end I was asking God to have His angels transport me to the next town. I couldn't believe that the next town wasn't just around the corner. Two women passed me and I asked, "The town is in any minute now, right?". They responded by saying that it was at least an hour away. Oh those long stretches are tough!

Those who enjoy the Meseta will say that it's easy to walk in as it's flat as a pancake. They'll also say that you don't have to worry about taking breaks -- you just walk. That means that you can concentrate on other things, like prayer or problem-solving, etc., because you don't have to think about the Camino.

Well, the Meseta isn't going anywhere. I personally found it boring, as there was no variety. It was kind of like driving through Nebraska or Kansas (with all due rrspect to those august states). But it also had few hills to climb, so that made the walking easier.



[Every road sign in the region of "Castilla y León" is marked as such.]




[God's marvelous recreation of another glorious day!]

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