The late pilgrim sees the church

Today’s lesson: the early bird might get the worm (and perhaps the last private room in the pilgrim’s hostel), but the late (or at least slow) pilgrim gets to see the inside of the 12th century Templar church.

Yesterday was the first day where we felt unabashedly great — no blister or Achilles issues — so I tried walking a little faster than I’d been walking. It felt good and we were happy to finish up and get out of the heat that much quicker.

BUT — the faster pace set off Chris’ blister and one of the things we’ve learned on the Camino is that when you change your gait because your blisters are hurting, you end straining muscles and tendons.

The only answer is to pick a sauntering pace where you can achieve a comfortable gait, so that’s what we did today. I have to admit that it was strange to be the one who had to slow their pace to match their partner but it also felt good to be able to support Chris after weeks of getting his support when my feet were bugging me.

We lucked out this morning: we found an open cafe after only an hour of walking. This was probably the first time we’ve had a good cup of coffee before 7 AM since we left home. After that, it was another almost three hours of walking on a tree- and wildflower-lined riverside path before we came to another town, Villalcázar de Sirga.

The weather is not quite so hot today (high was 86 instead of 90) and we were pretty ready for a leisurely cafe stop, so we settled in, had an early lunch and chatted for a good long while with friends as they passed through town.

What we thought we wouldn’t do, though, was visit the town church, La Iglesia de Santa María la Blanca since it wasn’t going to open for almost two hours after we arrived in town.

Well, lunch took over an hour. Friends, getting ready to walk takes me a long time: I have to put on new socks (changing socks mid-hike is supposed to help prevent blisters), reapply sunscreen, change into my mid-day shirt, stretch, and adjust my daypack before I’m well and truly “Champagne ready.)

While I was only “sparkling ready” our friend Amanda went to check out the church and let us know that it wouldn’t open for half an hour and then she walked onto the town where we’re all staying tonight.

Chris decided to take pictures of the church’s exterior while he was waiting for me to be Champagne Ready. A moment later, a volunteer showed up and opened the church almost half an hour early. …If I was more efficient in my pre-walk preparations, we’d have totally missed out on this really special church!

The rest of our walk into Carrion de las Condes was uneventful, if hot and dry. We had just enough time to do our shopping and visit two of the town’s three churches before our check in time.Read more