Day 27 and 28, The best albergue and two good days

The courtyard of a much better albergue
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Day 27 & 28, June 13^th and June 14^th

Castrojeriz to Boadilla de Camino, To Fromista

445km to Santiago, 507km from start

Distance: 19km, 7km

Our residence and a happy wife (really)
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This was our best day so far on the Camino.

Early in the day, Marie’s ankle hurt and we started with a steep hill but the sun was out, the weather was cool, and the tracks were in very good shape. The landscape was very fine: smaller mesetas among wheat and rye fields. Village churches in all directions.

We got into Boadillo before noon. The village was rundown but the albergue we stayed at was first rate. The entrance didn’t look very promising but inside was a large grassy courtyard, bar, restaurant, and very good clean bunks. The place had room for 60 and filled quickly. Other pilgrims dropped in for lunch or drinks all afternoon.

Procession of St. Anthony of Padua
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Now, lots of younger people have joined the pack. In France, we were generally the youngest folks on the trail. So far in Spain, I’d say only 30% were younger. At the albergue today, it was 50/50 with a very large contingent of college students. With the school year over, they are on the Camino in numbers.

June 13^th was the feast of St. Anthony of Padua and at one pm the church bells began to sound. A procession of villagers with a two piece band (drum and oboe),local officials, a priest, and St. Anthony’s statue marched through town and into the church. On a Wednesday afternoon in a village that seemed nearly deserted, it was an interesting sight.

The shearing
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Enjoyed a great afternoon with the Canadian couple (Fred and Suzanne)and others. About mid-afternoon a fellow from Wyoming came by and struck up a conversation. He said he was guiding a ‘mystical tour’ by van along the Camino for three ladies from the states. I never quite understood what he meant by mystical, but apparently he was checking us out to see if we were suitable pilgrim specimens to meet their clients. We must have passed the test, because a few minutes later the ladies wandered by. They were nice folks and very interested in what we were doing and why. I’m not sure we met their expectations of committed, spiritually immersed pilgrims, but we did our best to be positive, thoughtful, and entertain.

Romanesque church in Fromista
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Lena, the recent college grad from Austin was also with us again. She had very long hair in cornrow braids. Lena had been staying entirely at albergues and was worried that something might crawl in her hair she couldn’t get out . . . a legitimate concern. So Suzanne and her daughter cut off all her braids and she ended with inch long hair. It was interesting event with a big audience. Some of the older Europeans were quite put off by this display by the North Americans. These were the same sort of Europeans we’ve seen prancing around the albergue in extremely short, mesh, ‘Speedo’-type underwear. They engage in that display without giving it a second thought . . . so it’s tough to feel bad about helping a girl cut her hair. Not a good pilgrim thought . . . but there it is.

A selection of gargoyles
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We enjoyed the group dinner that the albergue provided. Then, of course, bed time. It was our best nighttime experience. I’d still have trouble recommending it if you value a sense of privacy, don’t want to carry a flashlight to go to the bathroom, and prefer your smells and taste in nightwear to those of others. We’ve done five albergues now and as we plot out the rest of the trip it looks like we’ll need to stay at five more over the next 20 stages.

Late that night it started raining. Hard. It beat against the roofing tiles and continued into morning. People took their time getting up. We had a very short day ahead of us and were in no hurry. Only 7km to the village of Fromista. It was 7:30 when we headed out and there were still several folks hoping the rain would stop before they left.

The rain continued until we reached Fromista. We stopped at a bar, met up with the Canadians again, and pounded coffee and danish until we thought our hotel might let us in. We found Hotel San Telmo (St. Elmo) after some effort but it was worth it. It’s small, tucked away on a side street, with nice rooms and very helpful people. Another great find for the value conscious traveler . . . me. The town had a good post office so we mailed more things home we could do without . . . we find more with each step.

Fromista has two nice churches one from the 11^th Century that is in excellent condition. They also had a cheese museum and shop! Bought as much as we could carry. It rained much of the day so we chilled out in our room and local taverns.

All in all, two good days!

Villages: Castrojeriz, Itero del la Vega, Boadilla del Camino, Fromista