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Castrojeríz → Villacazar de Sirga 37.3 km (23.2 mi) |
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¡Me gritan las pies, todos!
After wrestling with the First Commandment of the Camino all night, I have reached a compromise: I will walk all 39 of today’s planned kilometers (Yikes!), but I will do it at my own pace. I’m planning to take a break every 10K, which should put me first in Hospital de San Nicolás, then in Boadilla del Camino, then in Frómista, then finally in Villalcázar de Sirga. That means more breaks and more pictures. Can I do it? Let’s find out!
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The morning started with a steep climb up the Alto de Mostelares, which was fine because uphill is surprisingly the most comfortable of the terrain types. Somehow, it is easier on the legs and better for the motivation to strive for the top! At the crest, the path leveled out, and I thought today’s trek would be mostly high Meseta. However, it took a turn for the downhill, and I headed into a wide valley: low Meseta. I was surprised to see Serge and Didier keeping up, despite their doubts from last night! Maybe they have more energy today!
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In fact, those two passed right by my first rest stop, next to the Hospital de San Nicolás (permanently closed, of course) and the Puente Fitero. This beautiful, 11-arch bridge was first built in the 12th century, during the finalizing stages of the Camino (Aha!) to provide passage for peregrinos over the River Pisuerga! However, the river flooded that year and destroyed the bridge! It wasn’t rebuilt until four hundred years later and continued to be updated into the 20th century! I think it’s easy to forget how much maintenance these old structures need!
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I crossed the bridge into the next province of Castilla y León: Palencia, which greeted me with a big, flat stretch of emptiness all the way to Boadilla del Camino! How rude! Pushing through my foot pain, I crossed that 8K of flatness and fell onto a nice, shady bench next to the Iglesia de Santa Maria de la Asunción. As I scarfed down my chocolate and banana (a great combination!), I remembered what I had learned from Olga and Alexandra and took off my shoes. I sighed so loudly that every stork on top of the church turned to stare down at me!
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The next 6K from Boadilla stretched along a channel with such still, inviting water that I was sorely tempted to jump in and swim the rest of the way to Frómista. I had to stop myself on the bank, though, because swimming to Frómista would mean leaving beyond my hat, shoes, and backpack! That would be a very bad idea on the Meseta! So, I politely turned down the frogs’ invitations to swim with them and kept walking.
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When I arrived at the locks, which would have been my doom if I’d swum here, I learned I’d been following the Ramal del Norte portion of the Canal de Castilla! Fernando VI launched his canal project on July 16, 1753 to improve the flow of agricultural goods within Castilla. Over the next 96 years, the channel expanded 207 kilometers from Alar del Rey to Valladolid! By the time boats took to the channel in 1849, the nearby railroad had just commenced operation, making the channel obsolete! Today, it is primarily a rafting destination for tourists. Now that’s a change of channel!
Jean and Andrew were just leaving Frómista as I arrived and wanted to know what took me so long. I told them about my breaks by the bridge and the church and my big debate over whether to swim the channel. I asked if they’d met any interesting frogs along the way. They had not. I guess it’s not normal for humans to talk to frogs, but I hoped they had experienced more than just blister pain today. I was glad to have seen those Ten Commandments of the Camino in Castrojeríz!
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I told them I would meet them in Villalcázar de Sirga and went to check out the 11th century Iglesia de San Martín de Tours, another of Doña Mayor’s great ideas, like Puente La Reina! In fact, San Martín is considered one of the most perfect Romanesque churches in Spain, but that’s not because it was always treated well. It was left to decay for 600 years until finally, in 1894, it was declared a national monument and given a full, 10-year makeover. That’s why it looks so spectacular today!
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After a scrumptious lunch of empanada, I resumed my journey, discovering the Camino out of Frómista to be lined with two rows of scallop tiles! I thought this was neat, and if I had much longer arms, I would have tapped each pair as I passed! I had to settle for blinking instead.
The Camino split into two paths. I chose the one through Revenga de Campos for no other reason than it has a really awesome sounding name! However, it doesn’t mean “revenge of the countryside;” instead, it comes from “revenirse,” which means “to go soggy!” They must get a lot of rain here, or spend lots of time frolicking in the Río Ucieza!
I took my last break here, having played break-time leapfrog with Serge and Didier the whole way from Frómista. Their energy kept my feet from total mutiny in these final four kilometers. Marathon or no, after a long day, these scallop tiles were the chute leading to the day’s finish line at “Villasirga!”
The Camino had one last trick up its sleeve for the day: it hid the finish line! Serge, Didier, and I wandered around Villasirga for upwards of twenty minutes looking for the Albergue Aurea y Federico. While this did provide time to admire the early 13th century Iglesia de Santa María la Blanca, a transitional church between Romanesque and Gothic styles, it was dreadfully frustrating! Someone in a hotel had said that all albergues in town were closed, but I could have sworn my guidebook had said otherwise! None of us wanted to have to walk another 5.5K to Carrión de los Condes, but it looked like we had no other option.
We found an open bar at the end of town, and imagining that the left hand might not know what the right was doing, asked if they knew of an open albergue in town. Sure enough, the left and right haven’t spoken to each other in years! The bartender took us around to the other side where Jean and Andrew were waiting for us in a lovely 2-story albergue with a spacious patio where we spent ample time stretching and treating our feet.
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There was a great deal of planning going on at dinner. Jean and Andrew were vague on their destination for tomorrow. I think they’re going to Ledigos, which sounds like a much shorter day than today. However, they’re looking to get to León by Sunday, which means they’re planning to go 105K in the next three days! I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep up with that, so maybe these will be our last few days together. How sad! We made the most of it with a hearty peregrino menu and toasted to the Camino, the only part of this journey that is certain!
Buen Camino!
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Total Distance Walked: 362.8 km (219.1 mi) |
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