Our prearranged taxi met us at Albergue Orion at 7:30 and took us to Ermita de San Nicolas where we began today’s walk.
Ermita de San Nicolas (not St Nicolas de Bari- Santa Claus)
St Nicolas is a restored 13th century chapel that is also a primative (no electricity) albergue run by an Italian Confraternity.
Just a few steps from the Ermita is the Puente Fitero, one of the longest bridges on the Camino. It was commissioned in the 11th century by Alfonso VI to unify the territories of Castile and Leon. It also crosses the Pisuega Canal which serves as the border between Burgos and Palencia provinces.
Puente FiteroWalking along the path extending from the Puente Fitero bridge, along the canal into Itero de la Vega. The now closed Puenta de Fitero Albergue as we entered Itero de la Vega. We stayed in the conveniently located albergue three times and were disappointed when the owner passed away during the pandemic and it apparently does not plan to reopen.leaving Itero de la Vega, a sadly becoming ghost town with scant services and places to stay.just after rejoining the path out of Itero de la Vega we passed a field with a crop we don’t usually see. It looks like collards.We are still on the Meseta, but in a much shallower “bowl” than yesterday… a depth of roughly 100 ft vs 300 feet of the bowls we walked into and out of yesterday. Note the flattop of the Meseta in photo in the background.We were passed by a baler that then entered the grain field and began baling the cuttings that had dried over recent days. These huge bales are 5ft x 5ft x 10 feet and today we saw some stacked 8 bales high.
Normally a clear sky and bright August sun would normally make our walk difficult, but, today that was not the case. To mitigate these conditions, Mother Nature cranked up a prevailing headwind of 15-20 mph with gusts up to 50 mph. The winds kept us cool all during the walk but extra effort was required to keep moving forward.
gradually climbing out of the shallow bowl to the Meseta top…. into a strong wind.Arriving at the top and immediately beginning the long descent into the village of Boadilla del Camino.more sunflowers… Iglesia in the village seen in upper left corner of photo, some 3 miles to go.sunflower closeup showing the variable maturity of different plants seemingly planted at same time in the same section of the field. it seemed like we would never reach Boadilla del Camino.Boadilla del Camino, finally.
This is our second time to stay in the Hotel Rural Boadilla En El Camino shown above in the village square. Also note the adjacent Rollo de la Justicia. The Gothic Rollo symbolizes the independence granted to Boadilla in the 15th century, as they were then permitted to publicly torture and hang their own criminals. Criminals were chained to the Rollo awaiting their punishment.
As we walked by the Iglesia de Santa María de la Asunción, we noticed several stork nests on the church steeple, but they were too far up to capture on film.Later in the day, Jim got a closer glimpse and photo of another stork in a previously empty nest .
We had breakfast and a main meal in our hotel. We chatted with a pilgrim from California, one from Texas, another from Lille, France and a group of friends doing their annual week-long walk on the Camino. They were from Hospital, a small village in the south of Ireland.
Jimandi 