Week Three

Day 17: Castrojeriz --> Frómista (25.2 km) ...

Arrived in Frómista just before the rain and decided to splurge and have the hospitellaro wash my laundry for 4 euros. By the time the wash was done the sun was back out again and so my clothes were put out on the line to dry. Yay!

Frómista has a very lovely Romanesque church built in 1066. The church has now been deconsecrated and with my pilgrim´s passport the reduced entry fee was all of one euro. The interior is quite plain without much ornament except that there are dozens of columns in the church, each with a different capital: faces, leaves, fruit, animals, gargoyles, and decorative scrolls top each column. Despite its lack of gold leaf and ostentatious ornamentation -- or maybe because of it -- this was one of the nicest churches I have visited in Spain so far.

After visiting the church I met up with Emily (from Colorado) and Falcon (from Germany) and we went out to dinner. Every town has several places that offer a pilgrim´s menu which always includes several courses: a primero (usually I choose the salad but yesterday, for example, I chose the pasta starter), then a segundo (again there is always a choice of perhaps fish, chicken, pork or beef...rarely beef actually), bread and wine (always!) and a dessert (which is sometimes a flan (crème caramel) or ice cream. It is very good value for usually between €9-11. Usually that is the most expensive part of my day!


Day 18: Frómista --> Carrión de los Condes (20.5 km) ...

This day´s walk was not very interesting but at least for the last several hours I walked along a natural path which followed a river into the town. I stayed in a hostal instead of one of the pilgrim albergues and was in a room with three others. My three roommates were very funny, good-natured Spanish fellows who were walking the camino in three parts. Last year they biked from Roncesvalles to Burgos and will bike again from León to Santiago next year. For this year, they were walking for the week between Burgos and León. They laughed a lot and actually had giggle fits which is sort of humorous in men of 50-plus. I don´t know what they were giggling about but I enjoyed their light-hearted attitude. (I saw them again last night when I was in León and so I got to wish them good luck for the future as their camino was over for this year).

Of the people I started my camino with back in Orisson, there is only one couple left whom I still see on the road...Mike and Nari. I believe I must have mentioned them already because it seems that they are stalking me...or perhaps I am stalking them! Anyway, it doesn´t matter because we have really enjoyed spending time together and I have had dinner with them on many of the nights along the way. I thought I had left them in Burgos because they had decided to stay an extra day there. In Carrión however, I sent them an email from the hostal to say that I missed them, then went out for a walk and ran into Frank. Sitting there, watching the world pass by...guess who turned the corner? I said "O-M-G"! It was Mike and Nari again. That day it seemed they were stalking me because they had walked quite far the day before and caught up with me...even staying in the same hostal I had chosen. Such is the way of the camino! The day passed by and later we agreed to meet up for dinner. They brought a fellow named Gary with them, who is from California, and we would also continue to meet up along the way in the days to come...sometimes in the most unexpected of places.


Day 19: Carrión de los Condes --> Moratinos (30.0 km)...

Today´s walk was long and the landscape really did not vary at all. I am in the area of Spain called the meseta, where there is little variance from the rolling hills of wheat and oats. I walked past the town of Terradillos de los Templarios, which marks the half-way point between Roncesvalles and Santiago de Compostella. The reason I passed this half-way point was to stay in a very small village called Moratinos. In Moratinos I had friends! Yes, friends!

For about five or six months before I left home for this journey, I had been reading about the camino on an online forum and I knew that in the town of Moratinos lives someone who participates on the forum where I learned so much information in doing my research. I found their house by asking someone in the village and then knocked on their door. I was invited me into their little sanctuary in the wild. They call it the "Peacable Kingdom", named after the place mentioned in the bible. It was true to its name as there, living in harmony, were Reb and Paddy, four dogs, a cat, a little kitten (poor thing was recently saved from the river where his litter-mates had been drowned) and a clutch of chickens. I really enjoyed their company and can now truly call them friends. A room of my own, good company, home-made quiche for dinner with wine and bread, and fresh eggs from their flock for breakfast. This was truly a little piece of heaven on earth. They gave me an open invitation to visit any time and I hope to be able to accept their offer someday.

A funny thing happened after dinner (at least it would be funny if it wasn´t the camino where the unusual seems to happen every day)...after dinner I asked Reb if she would show me her bodega. These are little wine cellars built into the hill outside the village with tiny, little doors that make them look like the Hobbits live there. The bodega was interesting but it was what happened after that which was neat...when walking back to their home I saw Gary (whom I had just met for dinner the day before in Carrión). He was wandering around this very tiny village, looking for something. He had brought a camera, a phone and an ipad but had left his electrical adaptor somewhere and they were now all out of battery power. Of course there was nowhere at all he could have bought a adaptor in that little village but somehow the camino provided for him, because he saw me and I was able to lend him mine, which he happily borrowed and left on the doorstep of the Peacable Kingdom on his way out of town the next morning. He was astonished to see me and have that little need answered, but I have become a little less surprised by the "coincidences" that seem to occur out here on the Camino.


Day 20: Moratinos --> El Burgo Ranero (27.7 km)...

Not much to say about El Burgo Ranero. This sleepy little town in the middle of nowhere has several albergues and naturally it was here that Mike & Nari; Gary; and myself all found ourselves having dinner together again.


Day 21: El Burgo Ranero --> León (37.4 km)...

This was a very long day of walking. I decided to skip the usual stop along the way and walked all the way to León this day. The last few kilometers were very slow going and my feet were very tired upon arrival, but still no blisters! I decided that I would reward myself and checked into a hotel in the city centre for two nights. I had a very early night. The next day was a Saturday and would be the first day in three weeks that I took a rest day from walking. It was worth it! And I deserved it after 10 hours walking.


Day 22: León...

León is a beautiful city of about 150,000 people. I woke up on my rest day and it felt very strange to be a tourist instead of a pilgrim. But what does a pilgrim do on their day off? Walk around town of course! My hotel included breakfast so I had a lovely morning meal, then headed out to walk about the city.

There are many beautiful buildings including one interesting building by Gaudí, the Catalan architect. Did he ever create anything that wasn´t intersting? (The answer to that is no!) I walked over to the Parador San Marcos which, if you have seen the movie "The Way" was where they stopped and had a luxurious rest. There was a demonstration happening in from of the parador when I got there but this was not the first I have seen - nor I expect the last - of the demonstrations that are happening all the time all over this country right now.

I sat in the square by the cathedral to have a glass of wine because I wanted to see if Mike and Nari would show. Because I had walked two stages to get to León I had left them behind...but they didn´t disappoint because in about 15 minutes, there they were! We had some lunch then went our own separate ways. I made a visit to the cathedral and went to mass again which is becoming a little bit of a habit. I don´t take communion and I don´t think God minds my being there in his church because I don´t think God is catholic either! :-) The cathedral in León is the most spectacular Gothic cathedral I have ever seen, including those of Burgos and Notre Dame de Paris. I bought the DVD of the church and will be pleased to have someone to share it with when I return, if you are interested.

We all decided to meet up for dinner...Mike and Nari, Frank, Veronica (whom I lost along the way about two weeks ago), and some others. Sitting in the street patio, the entire city seemed to pass by. León must be a popular place for weddings because we saw no less than five bridal couples parading the street and at least as many hen parties. There was even a party of bachelors out for one last hurrah, all dressed as pirates. What a hoot! Because we are pilgrims and have to get up early to walk, we tend to eat very early, at least by Spanish standards. At one point two old Spanish señoras, all in black of course, looked at us and made some comment about how strange it was that we eat so early. This was about 9:00 pm! But, like the pilgrims we are, we all went our own ways about half an hour later to get some sleep. Imagine going to bed at 9:30 in Canada! :-)


Day 23: León --> Villar de Mazarife (22.2 km)...

Not much to report about today. I am in a nice albergue in a room with only three others. My clothes are hanging on the line, drying in the last of the afternoon sun. After having a day off in León yesterday, it is good to be back on the road again and walking the camino. It is funny how a 22km walk seems like an easy day! Today is Father´s Day and I gave my dad a call. I have been spending a lot of my days walking alone, thinking about my family and my life. I am grateful for all of you who contribute to the wonderful life I have. And life really is wonderful! Bless you all and hope you sleep well. One thing I know for sure is that I will be up again before some of you have gone to bed yet! :-)