Distance: 25.2km (372.1km).
Altitude (start / end / highest): 783m / 840m / 840m.
Weather: Nice weather with a blue sky.
The arrival in Carrion de Los Condes today brought with it a joyful reunion of a sort. Of the pilgrims that I had met and walked together with on the first eleven days of my Camino, Christoph and Jon was in the small town, the others were still a day ahead of me on the route. The walk on the meseta today undertook a slightly change of character and was for the main part flat all the way from Boadilla del Camino.
An ethereal light over the sunflowers outside of Boadilla del Camino when the sun woke up.
I walked out of the gates of the albergue in the morning hours with a longing look back at the pool, later in the day than usual. Outside it was already bright, though the sun had not appeared yet. When the sun did show up, it was flaming red and eventually coloured the sunflowers in an ethereal light. This sounded quite pompous, but it often gets that way on the Camino.
The church of Santa Maria XV in Boadilla del Camino in the morning sun.
The morning hours were indeed glorious. For eyes that are tired and dry of looking at the landscape that the meseta forms, the walk alongside the Canal de Castilla is a small relief. The channel was earlier used both for irrigation, transportation of crops and for running the corn mills. The channel goes almost all the way into the centre of Fromista, and is crossed on an old unused lock gate. We walked bathed in gold, with the sun rising on the sky behind us.
Canal de Castilla, a liberating walk after several dry days.
In Fromista, the most impressing building was the church Iglesia de San Martin, consecrated in 1066 and built in a pure Romanesque style. I did not stay very long here though, which in a sad way of speaking is in accordance with the population of the small town, which is declining.
Fromista, Iglesia de San Martin. A lovely church in a Romanesque style.
After the next village on the Camino, Poblacion de Campos, the route goes on one of the first encounters with the more monotonous stretches on the Camino. Called pilgrim autopistas in the guidebook by John Brierley, these sections goes right next to the main roads and offers little of interest. The Camino passes through Revenga de Campos and Villarmentero de Campos (there are three de Campos villages in a row here) before Villalcazar de Sirga. Torsten and I chose instead to bypass this part of the Camino and left the official route at Poblacion de Campos.
Me by the pilgrim statue in Villavieco on the alternative route towards Villalcazar de Sirga.
If the alternative route we decided to walk was not that exciting, we were still pretty sure that it was more pleasant than the walk along the road that otherwise awaited us. From Poblacion de Campos there was another option, to follow a route (also marked) to Villavieco that continues further to Ermita de la Virgen del Rio and from there rejoin the official Camino again at the Knight Templar's Villasirga.
Until Villavieco, we were quite satisfied, but not entirely. However, after the small village, the alternative route followed the river Ucieza. To hear the quiet sound from the water sounded much better than the hum from the cars along the main road we thought. Torsten is a pleasant companion to walk with and I enjoys his company. We have also walked so long together now that we do not feel uncomfortable when we are quiet. Some other pilgrims has referred to us as the 'picture brothers', referencing to that we are often seen standing next to each other and taking a picture of the same motive.
Ermita de la Virgen del Rio in the background, Torsten on his way across the bridge next to it.
In and around Ermita de la Virgen del Rio it was altogether quiet. More life came into the walk when we arrived in Villalcazar de Sirga; I think most of the other pilgrims chose to walk the usual route. The village was a commandery of the Knights Templar and is famous for its church of Santa Maria la Virgen Blanca, which is now declared a national monument. Maintenance work is done at the church. It was dark inside of it, the church to all excess was actually open, lights from the sun through a narrow window formed a beam of light in the dust. The church is well worth the visit. We stop for some food and a cold beer in one of the bars outside the church.
Inside the church of Santa Maria la Blanca in Villalcazar de Sirga.
6km with dust lay between Villasirga and Carrion de Los Condes. The albergue in the town, Albergue Espiritu Santo, is run by the nuns of Hijas de San Vicente de Paul. A straight place, but with a large backyard to relax in. It turned out to be some other Norwegians in the same albergue, so I talked for a while with them. Afterwards, I began speaking in Norwegian to Torsten, who just looked baffled at me.
The Way to Carrion de Los Condes from Villalcazar de Sirga.
I did not spend much time looking at the town; we mainly relaxed in the backyard of the albergue before we went out to eat dinner in one of the restaurants in the town that had a menu del peregrino. As mentioned, it was really nice to meet Jon and Christoph again. Unfortunately, Christoph was running out of available time, so he had concocted up an ambitious plan for the remains of his walk and would haste on tomorrow, going further than we had planned to do. It got dark while we were eating.
Dinner in Carrion de Los Condes, Jon, Martina, a German pilgrim I cannot remember the name of, Torsten, Alessandra and Christoph.
While the others were ready for the dormitory and the bunk beds after dinner, Torsten and I was actually ready for a couple of beers more. We found a local bar not far from the albergue and sneaked back in to the albergue just before closing time. The curfews and bedtimes imposed on the pilgrims down here never stopped amusing me.
A nice enough day on the Camino and meseta, but not of the most thrilling. It was then nice that a pleasant surprise came when I least suspected it. Tomorrow 17km without anything awaits me again.
Evening in Carrion de Los Condes, an enlightened pilgrim statue.
<- Boadilla del CaminoTerradillos de Los Templarios ->
No comments:
Post a Comment