Fromista to Terradillos de los Templarios

Day 20 Fromista to Carrion de los Condes (21 kms)



River track

 Again today we start walking at 8.00am sharp, having passed on breakfast due to severe overcrowding in the only bar open, and walk 3.8kms to Poblacion de Campos where we have brekky and a brew in a sunny spot at the end of a bridge.  The trail divides here – one option is along a senda (purpose-built pathway for peregrinos alongside the highway), the other is a little longer but more scenic and quieter along a laneway through farmland along the river.  It seems more people choose the road option because it is a bit shorter.  We opt for the quieter of the two along the Rio Ucieza, and meet Jan and Amanda, and Michelle, at regular intervals along the track.

The only interruptions along the tranquil, poplar-lined track are a farmer ploughing his field producing the smell of freshly-turned damp earth, and the bells of a large flock of sheep wandering along a nearby road.  The poplar leaves are just starting to change colour.



Senda

 We lunch under a stone bridge close to the Ermita de la Virgen del Rio, a seemingly abandoned monastery, then follow the road into Villalcazar de Sirga, one of the few documented Templar villages. 

We are back onto the senda for the gentle climb to Carrion de los Condes where we say goodbye to Jan and Amanda, as they will probably walk on tomorrow when we have a rest day.  Again our accommodation is on the Camino and our host is charming.  He takes us through to the kitchen and explains the self-service breakfast system…it seems we are the only ones doing B & B.

It’s time to stock up on lunch items, so it;s off to the supermarket where we decide to buy a small tortilla for lunch tomorrow…we can keep it in the Hostal frig…and we buy John a new hat!

Day 21 Rest Day Carrion de los Condes



Iglesia Santa Maria

 As has become our wont on rest days, we sleep in, and today we have a late self-service breakfast with lots of tea and coffee. Neither of us is feeling great this morning – possibly from something we had to eat or drink last night.  John has a squirmy tummy and Elaine seems to be getting a head cold.  Both have weak legs and fuzzy heads.  Just as well it’s a rest day because we can do just that.  We spend most of the morning catching up with our diary and blog posts, and are delighted to find that our computer has decided to accept blog posting, but is still a little hazy on the photo front.

On our walk around town, we find that most of the churches are closed today – one for a funeral – but the others for no particular reason.

We have our DIY lunch in the park and are entertained by the local ladies and gents.  Four ladies walking arm in arm stop when we come close, put their heads into the middle of the circle and whisper….who are we going to tell, even if we can understand them?  They progress very slowly through the park, stopping and circling whenever anyone has anything to say.  On the other hand, a group of four men are meeting in the same area…they are much more effusive and go their own ways with cheery waves and shouts of goodbye.  Then there are two quite elderly gents with sticks who, for the entire time we are having our lunch, walk slowly back and forwards down the same row of trees…probably at least half a dozen times.

We have coffee at a bar in town before heading back to the hostal for a rest again, John takes a ‘squirmy tummy pill’ and we decide to go to the Farmacia for something for the head cold…when we they open at 5, of course!

We make ourselves a cup of tea by boiling the jug in the kitchen – we know how to get in there…and watch a Spanish sporting channel, The Road to London. When we get to the Farmacia for the cold drugs, we are amazed to fine they have scales for weighing babies…something we haven’t seen for probably 50 years!  At the library, where we go to use the free internet, there is an after school program underway…lots of children, a few adults and lots of noise!!  And much Ssshhhh-ing!

Due to this being a rest day, we decide on a light meal for dinner – one course each with bread and a drink – which proves to be comparatively expensive but convenient – €21.60, when you can get a Menu Peregrinos which includes 3 courses, bread,  and wine or water, for around €10 pp.

Day 22 Carrion Los Condes to Terradillos de los Templarios (27kms)

The meseta

We hit the pavement at 7.28am after another self-serve breakfast, and bravely wander off into the dark along what we know to be the Camino route through town.  Signs and yellow arrows are prominent except for one intersection and we sus that out before leaving the street lights and heading out along a sealed country road.

It’s light now, and we can see peregrinos ahead of us on the dead straight road which takes us the first 5kms before a small kink precedes another 10kms of dead straight gravel road.  The sun is peeping through and we stop to take our jumpers off.  The highlights of the morning are a couple of opportunities to rest – which are few and far between – and farmers ploughing, fertilising and sowing.  We are starting to see corn crops in this area, and suddenly the peregrinos ahead disappear over the edge and we find ourselves in Calzadilla de la Cueza after 17.5kms of high excitement!!

The picnic place

It seems that there are more peregrinos on the track today, but possibly we have come to that conclusion because there is nowhere to hide…people disappear into the bushes, reappear, rejoin the procession, and off we go!

All the seats at the entry to the village are taken, so we continue to follow the arrows…which turn out to be a detour to a Bar.   This happens in a lot of villages…the bar owner gets out his pot of yellow paint and creates a detour from the Camino route that just happens to wander past his bar. We see one local lady peeping out her door, the aforementioned bar and another old man before we find a picnic spot at a disused fountain where we boil the billy for soup today, for a change. 

In our map books, and our Lonely Planet guide, there are alternative routes from here.  We find the “sign” that is supposed to explain all this but John follows one of the options and comes up with a blank as far as way markers go.   We decide to err on the side of conservatism and go via the senda…not a bad way to go as it happens…well off the road and there’s not much traffic.

We arrive at Ledigos and see Terradillos de los Templarios on top of the next hill...not far to go now.  But no!  There is no direct route except across fields…so around the hill we go on a senda until we come to Terradillos de los Templarios, sitting just where we know it is.  Our albergue for tonight is right at the entry to the village, so we gratefully walk right in, see our bags waiting patiently and are welcomed by the owner’s son who gets his mum and we are in.

I have a nap – starting to feel like another flu pill – and John goes on a voyage of discovery to the village proper and comes back empty handed.  Apart from another albergue, there is nothing apart from private houses.