Day 20: Terradillos de Templarios - Bercianos Del Real Camino, 23.5 km.
Big day today! Marina, Bryan, Julia (a fellow peregrino, whom we had seen previously in another town with her father. She is now walking solo and joined us at dinner last night), and I left this morning all feeling quite ready for the day. We are still on the Meseta so the days all look very similar, forever fields and very long, flat paths to walk on. The Meseta is a challenge mentally, it can become monotonous and all the sameness plays tricks with the mind. Kilometers become longer and time passes slower and it can be easy to indulge the thinking of, "are we there yet??" At this stage I've found it imperative to stay present with the current moment and be in the journey, not longing for the destination.
The stops can make it all worthwhile. Fun with friends and taking time to enjoy the villages break up the sameness. Today we found amazing hobbit-like wine and food cellars built into the hill, artistically dressed up trees in sweaters, our horseback peregrino compadre, a great lunch of veggie lentil soup and red wine, and always the best of company and conversations.
Now to why it is a big day. A lovely, local peregrino angel jumps out of his car as we're taking pictures of 2 statues facing each other. He offers to take a picture of all 4 of us. We happily agree and then he explains in Spanish that this moment is the 1/2 way mark of Roncesvalles - Santiago. This means I have walked more than 1/2 of my pilgrimage today. AMAZING!
