Interesting new addition to a small rest area in Terradillos de los Templarios the typical scenery for the first few miles of today’s walkour breakfast stop at a popular bar/albergue in San Nicolas del Real del Caminothe bar is filled with memorabilia, photos and interesting collections for the past 100 years+.returning to the path on the way to Sahagún.just couldn’t resist a closeup of these happy plants, adorning the path throughout Camino2023.This marker was on the outskirts of Sahagún, showing that we were leaving the province of Palencia and entering the province of León.This map of the province gives you an idea of what’s ahead of us.
We are at the extreme right side of the above map, in Sahagún. For the next 5 walking days (we will spend 1 rest day in León) we will be leaving the Meseta, with mountains already beginning to appear north of us. We are only about 65 miles south of the Bay of Biscay, part of the Northeast Atlantic Ocean.
The following 3 days we will climb into a mountain range, including the highest point of the Camino Frances, then descend into a valley that weaves among the mountains for another couple of days before climbing back into the mountains as we leave the Province of León for the Province of Galícia.
Walking along the nice hedge that separates us from the 2 lane highway going into Sahagún.entering the city of Sahagún, just before crossing railroad tracks into city center, bullfighting arena on our right.our room in Hostal San JuanMain meal for the day on the side walk in Sahagún: Lental soup, spaghetti and shared mixed salad.
Our taxi arrived at 7:30 just outside our hotel in Villalcázar and took us to the edge of Calzadilla de la Cueza. This enabled us to skip a 12 mile section, which we also skipped in 2022 and 2019. Its not a difficult walk, just much longer than we prefer to walk plus, it has no services such as places to eat or drink or use the bathroom.
getting started at Calzadilla de la Cuezaa nice flat path for the first 2 miles along a well hidden secondary road
Shortly after we began to walk, we heard music. It was difficult to tell where it was coming from, but it was very nice tune that stopped briefly, then began again. It sounded like a reed pipe type woodwind instrument… too low a pitch to be a flute.
We stopped periodically, listened, searched the hills around us, but couldn’t determine the source and kept walking.
Finally, the music got stronger and appeared to be coming from the sunflower field ahead of us. We kept walking and spotted a man, still quite a distance from us, standing next to his car, playing a vertically held instrument and facing a large cross.
We’ve seen the cross before when walking this way and believe the cross is near the ruins of the Santa María de las Tiendas, a former monastery and pilgrims hospital.
The cross is near the site of the ruins of Santa María de las Tiendas, a former monastery and pilgrim hospital. A pipist can be seen standing by his car and facing the cross while playing.as close a shot as we could manage without leaving the path and potentially disturbing the pipistA sample of this morning’s musicThe footing was better, especially for Linda and there were almost no vehicles, except an occasional bike, so we walked on the road instead of the gravel path until just before the village of Ledigos.
We stopped for breakfast at a bar in Ledigos then continued on to our destination for the day.
Our first sighting of Albergue Los Templarios Our home for the afternoon and evening.
We’ve stayed here three times before. It’s a very nice albergue and very popular among pilgrims from all over the world. It’s relatively new, has modern private rooms with ensuite bathrooms as well as dormitories. The food is good and washing clothes is very easy and reasonably priced. Our room is 46€. A three course dinner with wine was 13€. A full load of wash was 4€. We opted to hang out our washed clothes on one of many clotheslines available (clothespins included) and the clothes were bone dry an hour later.
We arrived at 10:30 prior to a noon checkin. But we occupied the time by enjoying the green grass, free wifi and shady or in-the-sun seating… whatever your preference. Jim got a jump-start on today’s blog in the sun, while Linda read in the shade on the front porch.
Jim working on blog while waiting for checkin at Albergue Templarios in the village of Terradillos de los Templarios.looking in from the front gate of Albergue Los Templarios
Today was a relatively easy day in all respects.
We renewed our earlier acquaintance with an Australia couple at dinner. He, a veterinarian and she an educator in animal related disciplines . We appear to be “hopscotching” with them, due to their longer walking days and our periodic skipping of sections they are walking (for the first time). So we’ll probably see them again before the end of our respective Caminos.
This morning was another nice one for walking at a cool 50F, with an occasional breeze. The sun was bright and strong by 9:00 but was mostly mitigated by the cool, dry air.
While we are still on the Meseta, we see more structures and clumps of trees, dotting the fields of grain and sunflowers. Small villages/settlements are more frequent but the horizon is still very flat with no mountains to be seen.
crossing a major expressway as we left Frómista this morning the path along the secondary road leading to the first village of Poblacion de Campos, where we have stayed 3 times before but was already booked this time.An initially confusing sign for which way to go unless you read the fine print. We chose left, which is shorter and has potential rest/breakfast stops.
Shortly after we reached today’s half-way point (~4.5 miles) we spotted a sign while walking through Revenga de Campos. It advertised a bar just 50 meters into the village, something that has never happened in our experience. So we took a chance and ended up having a nice breakfast/rest/bathroom break. We also renewed a brief acquaintance we had back in Belorado with a nice South Korean family of 5.
Some 40 minutes later and “Buen Caminos” exchanged, we were once again, on our way.
Moving on to the next village, along the secondary road and on the straight, flat, gravel path.The next village we encountered was Vallarmentero de Campos. We usually stop here, at Albergue Amanecer, for breakfast, but today, it was closed… not opening until 10:00!!! And it was only 9:20, so we took advantage of the open outdoor restrooms and moved on.Albergue Amanecer is an unusual, somewhat primative albergue. Above left: Pilgrims patiently waiting for the bar to open bottom left: overview of the outdoor spaces of the albergue right: interesting artwork and some of the habitacions available for a donative fee, such as teepees, culvert (on or above ground), makeshift shacks, tents, small cottages? etc.Moving on after a brief stop at Villarmentero de Campos
Linda is frequently approached by other pilgrims about her choice to wear sandals rather than traditional hiking/running shoes or boots. She wears them because all other footwear she has tried have generated blisters. And she has over 2000 miles of experience to validate it.
The price Linda pays for walking in sandals is very filthy socks.Almost there…. approaching our destination of Villalcázar de SirgaThe dominating Iglesia de Santa María de Blanca of Villalcázar de SirgaToday’s main meal was our first “typical pilgrim meal” on Camino 2023. (Fries, two fried eggs, chicken, green salad)Villalcázar de Sirga (pop. 215) locals were preparing this mural for the village square for the festival starting tonight and through the weekend.The festival began after dinner in the square outside our hotel. Young and old alike wore costumes of all types.the owner of our hotel had two cute grandchildren who participated.
We watched the festivities from the terrace just outside the hotel bar until 9:00, then called it a day.
a better look, with better lighting this morning, of the Iglesia de las Asunción also better lighting for the “Rollo” this morning as we left Boadilla del Camino.a short distance out of Boadilla we began walking along the Canal Castile.huge water valves line the canal and are used to divert critically need water to feed the above ground aqueduct irrigation system.the Canal Castile supplies water to the aqueduct irrigation system for the varied crops of the regiona delightful walk along the canal this morninga ferry boat ride is available twice daily (most days) to give riders a cruise on the canal and along a 3 mile section of the Camino.The locks of the Canal Castile at Frómista, were used by boats transporting commercial goods mostly during the period of 1850-1870. The Canal took nearly 100 years to build and was replaced in the early 20th century by the railroads.The interior of San Pedro church… across the street from our hotel in Frómista.the exterior of Hostal San Pedroour room in Hostal San Pedrothe deck outside our room
We decided to have a late, 2-3ish lunch for our main meal at a nearby restaurant that was mentioned in a couple of pilgrim forum comments. It is called Los Palmeros and is right across the street from Iglesia de San Pedro. It was pretty busy on a Thursday afternoon with mostly local patrons.
Linds’s first course was a plate of freshly sliced large tomatoes garnished with lightly pickled cucumbers and baby peppers. The tomatoes were grown in a garden directly behind the restaurant.Jim had a delicious gazpacho soup with a tomato and cucumber gelato which when stirred, chilled the gazpacho to a perfect temperature and was then drizzled with olive oil,Linda’s main course was veal that melted in your mouth.Jim, similarly had oxtail, that literally melted in your mouth and the brown sauce was so delicious, we asked for extra bread to sop up anything left on the plate.Jim’s dessert was a so-called chocolate tarte but was several layers of dark chocolate with a rich chocolate ganache.Linda’s dessert was a chocolate popsicle like no other popsicle you’ve ever had… 70% frozen pure dark chocolate.Our wine was unknown to us, a young, Tempranilla wine bottled in 2022! It was an unusually tasty and totally satisfying wine from Burgos and is not exported, so only locals get to experience it…. and thankfully, us, too.Nicolas, our waiter and a very nice, comforting and helpful, English speaking food connoisseur himself, guided us though this truly culinary experience in an extraordinarily professional manner.
Our truly unexpected experience today with Nicolas at Los Palmeros in the small town of Frómista on the Meseta in Spain is perhaps the best culinary experience we have ever had. It’s another reason we keep coming back to the Camino Frances, now for the 5th time.
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.
leaving Hornillos del Camino at 6:10, before “first light”
Today was a typical walk on the Meseta. We walked for 2 miles from our albergue in Hornillas back up to the Meseta, continued on the flat gravel path for a mile or so, then descended into San Bol, only to climb back up to the Meseta, walked another 2-3 miles then back down into the village of Hontanas.
walking out of Hornillos up to the Mesetanear the Meseta after a two mile walkfinally back on the Meseta.looking back at a typical sunrise on the Mesetaa huge field of sunflowers on the Meseta at sunrisedescending into San Bol, a primative albergue.zoom photo of San Bol alberguethis bird chirped at us as we were nearing the Meseta on the way out of San Bol, as if she wanted her photo taken, so we complied.back on the Mesetafirst sighting of Hontanas“main street” of Hontanas our breakfast stop
We called a taxi then had breakfast, chatting with other pilgrims, including several we had seen in days prior. As a result, the 90 minute wait for the taxi passed quickly. The 10 minute taxi ride, saved us an additional two hour walk, in the sun, along the same road. We were dropped off at Albergue Orion, our home for this afternoon and evening, in Castrojeriz.
Linda waiting for out taxi
As expected, the albergue didn’t open until noon, so we walked about a hundred yards to the Iglesia de Santa María Manzano to view the beautiful interior. We then walked across the path to a familiar bar/albergue where we stayed in 2014 and had drinks to fill the remaining wait time until checkin.
Iglesia de Santa María del Manzanodramatic Gothic structure of Santa María del ManzanoSantiago statue to the right of the altarhaving a break at the bar/albergue across from the Iglesia. Under new ownership since the pandemic… we stayed here in 2014.the bar has been redone by the new owners
The door to Orion was open when we returned at noon. We were the first pilgrims to checkin. We got into our room and went into chores routine then got a light lunch in the dining room then spent the remaining afternoon napping and blogging and reading.
Entrance to Albergue Orionnice garden area of Orion.view of Castile which defended the Roman gold convoys returning from Galícian mines. Occupied subsequently by Visigoths, Moors and Christians.the view from our room at Albergue Orion
Dinner was at 7:00 and consisted of Korean cuisine prepared by our Korean cook. It was very tasty.
Our dinner mates were two guys from the Loire Valley in France and a couple from northern Holland. The Holland couple were doing the Camino on bikes and camping frequently. They had earlier done a trip across the U.S. on bicycles. Conversation was interesting and Jim got to practice some French.
Jimandi 