Day 21. Carrion de Los Condes

We barely got started this morning when the Australian couple I was walking with noticed Philippe, a guy from Montreal who they had acquainted, frantically walking in the opposite direction. He stopped long enough to tell us he had already walked 5 kms before discovering he didn’t have his passport, so was backtracking, hoping he had left it at the auberge. Not a good start to his day.
Judy, the one who did most of the chatting, ran her own farm, raising about 40 Black Angus cattle near Sydney, commented a lot on the Spanish irrigation system. She was impressed with the tractor diesel engine pumping water to the middle of the field. She also noted there were no farmhouses anywhere because farmers and their families had to live in towns or villages. She was impressed with their healthy crops, unlike Australia where it had been so dry. When I asked her if they used pesticides, she railed against against the “greenies ,” her word for environmental sympathizers, perhaps what some in Canada would call “tree huggers.” She had no use for them, characterizing them as freeloaders who did not work, smoked dope, survived on government handouts, and only generated energy when it came to protest.
Setting a faster pace than them, I moved on trail next to the highway until a small village named Villalcazar, site of a Templar church. I was planning on going in but even more intrigued by a woman sitting at the café next to the church when she said to me, “You can get a miracle in there,” to which I replied, “OK, I’m open to anything.” Inside we’re not only decorated panels depicting the life of St. James, but also Father Mark was there, the athletic priest from Australia who strode past us a few days ago while reading a book. He must have carried his own chalice, hosts, and vestments because he offered us a mass all in Latin. It was a flash from the past for me with the priest facing the altar most of the mass. Some people knelt on the cold, stone floor for the full hour without sitting back on their haunches. He offered communion to us on our tongues while we knelt. I kept thinking, my dad would love to be here. I withstood less than 5 minutes of kneeling and that was enough for me. We started with 8 people and ended with about 20. I’ve included some photos.
Overall, an easy walk today- 19.3 kms.Read more