Frómista to Carrión de los Condes

Lots to be thankful for today.

Fairly good night’s sleep and I was away by 7.45am.

Feet felt slightly less sore this morning, couple of early blisters have healed nicely. Legs a bit stiff until stretched and started walking.

Managed to order and pay for a delicious breakfast entirely in Spanish, and even better, I actually received what I thought I’d ordered: “un Cafe Americano” (that Spanish is rather easy) and “un sandwich huevos con jambon”. The latter was a little like a croque monsieur with ham and a fried egg in the middle and cheese inside rather than on top. I even understood the price without translation or being shown the numbers. The village where I stopped for breakfast was a bit of a mouthful: Población de Campos, but thankfully it wasn’t necessary to tell the bar where they were located.

As I left Población, there was a choice of routes. The Camino proper crossed the river and followed alongside the main road all the way to Carrión de los Condes. Most guidebooks and apps recommended one of a couple of alternative routes to avoid walking next to the main road for the majority of the way to Carrión.

I took the shady and quiet path alongside the Rio Ucieza towards Villovieco and ultimately returning to join the main Camino at Villalcázar de Sirga. This added about a km to the distance but was lovely and quiet, and with a fair bit of shade. At times this route was close enough to see pilgrims progressing beside the main road, but with very little shade.

Today was also a bit cooler, with the sun shining through broken clouds, and a refreshing steady breeze.

I walked alone today, although most of the time I could see pilgrims ahead and behind. The silence and stillness, but for the crunch of the stony path, was lovely. After some quiet amongst my own thoughts, I listened to another chapter of Pete Greig, and then went back to enjoying my own company.

Just before Villalcázar, my path passed the Hermitage of Our Lady of the River. Not sure who she was, but it was a chance to pause and pray in a quiet church. And to collect another “sello” (stamp) in my pilgrim passport.

I decided it was lunchtime when I reached Villalcázar, and found a busy bar full of pilgrims. I just about managed the Spanish for a burger and chips, and even to request the missing knife and fork.

After lunch it was time for a photo opportunity to with Pablo Payo, or at least a sculpture remembering his role in running an inn that welcomed pilgrims with open arms as part of the resurgence of the Camino de Santiago in the 1980s.

Then I had no choice but to join the senda next to the main road for the last 6km into Carrión de los Condes. Fortunately, it remained not too hot under the intermittent sun.

I arrived at Carrión at about 2.30pm, having completed about 22km today.

I hoped to stay at the Albergue de Santa Maria, and was delighted at the warm welcome and that they had a bed for me. I’ll explain my keenness to stay here a little later.

After a quick stroll around the village, I found a bar to grab another Radler beer. A few moments later, I was joined at my (otherwise empty) table by a friendly German pilgrim. We’ve just enjoyed a fun and interesting conversation via Google Translate, as my German is fairly limited and he had little English! He’s on his third Camino, and started this time at Lourdes, France and is taking 3 months - but has the privilege of being retired. His local newspaper is apparently going to do an article about his Camino once he gets home.Read more