Day 16 - Fromista to Carrion de los Condes.

 

The main route today followed the highway for the entire distance. We took a detour.

Today was very significant for a number of reasons.

1. It was short, at a reputed 18.8km. 

2. We got off to a timely start. Breakfast (which was very good) was at 7am, so we were out the door, fully laden with a ham and cheese sandwich, two boiled eggs, two packages of cake and two packets of biscuits (two biscuits in each) by 7.30am.

3. For the first time ever (on this trip), we were both injury-free. Cathie was striding along, as she has for most of the trip. The effects of my left hamstring injury and the blister on my right foot were in abeyance.

4. According to the Camino app on my phone, on our arrival in Carrion de los Condes we now have 400.1km to go. That means we're exactly halfway on the loosely estimated distance to Santiago de Compostela.

Some of the above statements are true, some partly true and some false.

Left or right? The highway or the byway? We chose right (and we were right to do so).

Firstly, there was an alternative to the long route along the side of the highway - and we took it.

The first section of the river route.

The river route at first took us along a country road with the river away to our left, but we were scorching along. We walked awhile with Rich and his daughter Willow. they were from the US, possible Chicago now. We'd met them several times, but this was the first time we'd discovered their names. We covered 8km in way less than two hours, which brought us to the first coffee stop of the day, just after we finally crossed to the left bank of the river.

All's well with the world.

After a coffee, a toilet stop and a couple of biscuits and some cake from our stash, we headed off on a very nice section of track, with shady trees, honking frogs and musical birds.

The entrance to the Templar church of Santa Maria.

A further six kilometres brought us back to the main path at the village of Villalcazar de Sirga (village of the canal towpath). The village was a base of the Knights Templar in the 12th century and its church was well worth a look (even though we seldom look into the many churches along the way). 

Cathie went off to buy the coffees as I sat outside. She was gone for some time (it was a very busy bar). When she returned, it turned out she'd been seduced by the splendid display of food, so rather than coffee, she arrived with a shared plate of mushrooms in garlic, meatballs, chicken in a delicious sauce and potatoes, together with the obligatory bread to mop up the juices - not only that, but a beer! How scandalous is that - at only 11am. That was lovely, but it didn't bode well for our final 6km.

And so to the church. The church is now declared a national monument. In the worn stones, you could see the passage of centuries (they were really worn). 

Don Felipe lies in state.

It contains the tombs of many nobles, including the Infante Don Felipe (son of Fernando III and brother of Alfonso X, the wise of Sabio) and Felipe's wife Dona Leonor. Now I don't know a thing about those people or when they lived - that was an unashamed steal from our guide book. However, to elucidate, here's another steal, this time from Wikipedia: "Alfonso X was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germany on 1 April." What do the Germans think of that?

In 2019 I had a coffee with this chap. I thought it only right to pay my respects again. 

After an hour or more of rest, it was time to hit the road. We were a little dazed and confused and it took a few tries before we found the path again.

When we did, it was back on the highway - all the way to Carrion de los Condes. We got into conversation with Liz, a woman from Oklahoma. When we first started walking with her, I chatted for a kilometre or two. Then I went ahead and Cathie chatted to her. We both had similar conversations, but it's a great help to have someone new to talk to when it starts getting hot and the end of the journey approaches.

Our destination for the day.

Finally, Carrion de los Condes hove into view. Despite the shortness of the day, we were hot and tired and pleased to find our hotel soon after 1pm. It was lucky we'd messed around so much earlier on, as our bags still hadn't arrived. Nevertheless, we gratefully sagged into our room and soon after our bags arrived.

There's a daily routine. Find somewhere to string the elastic clothesline, plug in the watch, the phones, the computer, wash the days' clothes in the handbasin or the shower, etc etc.

Today there's a supermarket only 80m away, so when I was clean, I went for cold beer (71 cents a can) and also some water, which I spotted for 21 cents for 1.5 litres. Although we don't like encouraging the use of all those plastic containers, we sometimes suspect that filling our water containers every day from the taps contributes to our intestinal irregularities. Enough said.

And so, I sit and drink beer. Cathie snoozes. But wait, the bird chirps. She asked how Shakespeare was doing. Well, the bard has run his course, the beer is nearly done. Methinks it's time for a snooze. The only decision left to make is whether we go out to the recommended restaurant, or revisit the excellent supermarket for a takeaway meal.

In the meantime, here's today's Relive video: https://www.relive.cc/view/veqzm52Ag76

Here's today's photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Z4wmbkWH6Mtij7Nv7

After giving due consideration to today's music, I have no choice but to acknowledge our new friend Liz from Oklahoma, with whom we walked the last few kilometres today. It's difficult, because I really like all of that version of the musical. Nevertheless, here's one: https://youtu.be/HTE1Kh1NTEE

 
As a small afterthought, we decided it was time for a quiet time in. At the supermarket we picked up two lovely salads, a bottle of wine (a lovely Rioja Tempranillo for €2.99) and some straciatelli greek yoghurt - all for a total of just over €9 - as opposed to the €30+ we would have spent eating out. In addition, we've eaten early, we can get a good night's sleep with our digestion undisturbed. What's not to love? 

As my good wife just noted - that's money saved for our next adventure - we've just committed to a five-day swim trip to Aitutaki.