leaving Belorado at 630.more wall art on a building on the highway just outside BeloradoThis is typical of our walk today: mostly flat, dirt path, winding through grain fields and lots if blooming sunflowers welcoming the rising sun.approaching the village of Villambistia where we stopped for breakfast, 4 miles from Belorado at Casa de los Deseos.The tiny church in Villambistia has never been open on previous Caminos, so we stopped to take a look.interior of church with no name in Villambistia.According to a local tradition, immersing your head in this fountain, will cure you of tiredness. As on 4 previous walk- bys, we decided not to… especially when noting the sign on the fountain saying the water was not drinkable!back on the path after passing through Espinosa del Camino (pop. 36)We observed this field of grain that had been partially cut. The tops of the plants were gone and the stalks were left piled in a row where the full plant had apparently been cut.we guessed that some kind of harvesting machine had removed and collected the oat-like tops and left the stalks to be baled later. There was no one around to ask, and not having such knowledge ourselves, we pondered on briefly..,.….. and then we observed a machine that looked like it could have done what we guessed had happened. Ah, the mysteries of the Camino!These sunflowers were all looking at us as we passedThese sunflowers, on the opposite side of the path, appeared to have turned their backs on us, but it was nothing personal. We just happened to be in the opposite direction of the bright sunshine. Guess that’s why they call them… sunflowers!the last half mile of the path leading into Villafranca Montes de Oca (the small village is hidden behind the clump of trees just to the right of the path.)walking along the busy intersection of a national highway that passes through Villfranca…. (pop. 164).Our hotel in background, 18th century Iglesia de Santiago on the left.the entrance to San Anton Abad, formerly the Hospital de la Reina that hosted up to 18,000 pilgrims per year during the 17th century.
We arrived early, and could not checkin until 1:00 pm. We decided to have lunch in the hotel bar while we waited for our room.
We met Francois, a young French lawyer from Paris, walking his first Camino, starting from La Puy, France, adding nearly 500 extra miles to his trek to Santiago. He stopped for lunch on his way to Burgos today. We asked him to join us and we shared Camino experiences and photos and chatted until he finished eating and had to get on with his walk.
Jim and Francois
We got into our room at 1:00 and began our afternoon chores, napping and blogging. We signed up for the evening pilgrim’s dinner at 7:00.
We had an enjoyable, chatty dinner with Francisco from Puerto Rico/Orlando, and a nice couple from Australia.
After an enjoyable dinner with 3 other pilgrims, we bid our goodbyes and called it a day.
Jimandi 