Camino Day 19: Carrión de los Condes – Ledigos (28/03/17)

We left Santa Clara at 8.50 and made our way to a nearby café which was just to the left of the ruined town gate, where we enjoyed a good breakfast. We nearly left without paying, but luckily when we got outside and were sorting through our bags, David remembered and quickly ran back in to settle the bill!

David and Heather had done a good job the night before of stocking up on snacks and supplies for lunch, because we knew that we were heading out onto the Calzada Romana – the Via Aquitana – the Roman road which originally ran from Bordeaux to Astorga and which for us would mean a 17.1km stretch of the Camino across the remote Meseta, with no shops or cafes between Carrión and Calzadilla de la Cueza.

We followed the attractive small bronze scallop shell plaques that were set into the pavement, through Carrión town centre and then walked across the fine sloping stone bridge over the rio Carrión, out of town.

Bridge over rio Carrion

On the far side of the river we passed the former monastery of San Zoilo. Dating from the 11^th – 16^th centuries, it has fine Plateresque cloisters and is the burial place of the Leónese Beni- Gómez family who were Counts of Carrión and ruled most of the tierra de campos. I was keen to see the cloisters and the Counts’ tombs and I knew that San Zoilo was no longer a monastery, but now a luxury hotel. I called in at the hotel reception, presuming I could visit the cloisters, only to find to my dismay, that the part of the monastery with the church, tombs and cloisters had been turned into a museum and was open from 10.00 – 16.00. I had miscalculated – I should have visited San Zoilo the previous afternoon; paying my respects to the Counts would have to wait to another time! I made do with photographing the fine Renaissance main entrance to the monastery and we passed on; crossing the N-120  and walking out along an increasingly quiet country road, until we came to an intersection with another equally quiet road at which point a modern stone marker announced the start of the surviving stretch of the Via Aquitana.

San Zoilo

The gravel covered road stretched to the horizon across a wide empty landscape of large fields, with only the occasional farm building interrupting the flatness. There were hardly any trees or even wild flowers. Only drainage ditches and irrigation channels divided the fields. My friend Matt, who walked the same stretch of the Camino a couple of months after us, described it as “nothingness, just empty fields”. Heather would have agreed with Matt and was not enjoying the monotony of the landscape. She said that she had grown up in a family culture where mountains and the sea were to be preferred and where “flat” was considered boring and to be avoided. I would have some sympathy with that view myself, but somehow though, I enjoyed the “nothingness”; the scrunch of gravel underfoot, the whisper of the wind in the grass and contemplating the convergence of the straight road and sky at that distant vanishing point.

Me at the Via Aquitana marker stone

And the colossal engineering achievement that the Romans had achieved by running this road across this remote landscape, also provided me with much to think about and this kept me from being bored. It is amazing to think that the road is 2,000 years old and yet is still intact and capable of carrying modern vehicles. It is built up above the surrounding landscape and goes through and area that was originally bogland. There is no natural stone locally and it is calculated that the Romans had to bring in 100,000 tons of rock from elsewhere, just to build the causeway, never mind the materials needed for the road surface itself!

Matthew & Heather on the Via Aquitana

As a by-product of the road construction, trade and urban settlements developed in northern Iberia and of course in Medieval times, pilgrims travelling to Santiago used it as we were doing, but we shouldn’t deceive ourselves – the Romans didn’t build this road to stimulate trade; no, it was built so they could move their legions quickly and efficiently from one area to another and quell any uprisings amongst the Iberian tribes. This colossal engineering achievement spoke of the ruthless imperial might of Rome, a military might that would expend seemingly limitless resources to maintain its iron rule.

It was another very cold day, with an extremely chilly wind blowing across the flat fields, so we were all well wrapped up with hats and several layers of clothing. When we stopped for a break and a snack, we didn’t tend to stay too long, because even in the sunshine it was cold when we were not moving.

Just after the Via Aquitana stone marker we said morning prayer together and read the bible readings for the day from the Church of Ireland Lectionary; passing around my Kindle to enable us do so.

A little while after Fuenta del Hospitalejo we found a concrete picnic table and had a chilly, but enjoyable lunch, warmed by a nice bottle of Rioja, that David had the foresight to purchase the previous evening!

Time for a chilly lunch!

A few kilometres further on, we encountered a rest shelter for pilgrims erected by the local Junta. We became quite familiar with these structures as we walked this final section of the Meseta. The architecture was always the same – a brick or earthen wall from which beams stretched, at an angle, from the top of the wall to the ground. The top of the beams were slated and the bottom half were open and under this lean-to a bench stretched the length of the wall. To my mind, the architecture had a slightly 1970’s feel or maybe it is just because there was a 1970’s housing estate of posh houses near where I grew up, which had fancy roof features of beams that were partially slated and partially open plan like the shelters? The shelters tended to be situated in lovely little grassy clearings with a few trees and there were often interesting information boards telling you about the local wildlife. A word of warning though – the backs of the walls tended to be used as toilets!

We took a few minutes to rest in the shelter, and as we were at least partially shielded from the wind, we enjoyed the sunshine and took communion together.

Matthew providing a weary Heather with husky power!

After several hours, the road finally descended a small hill into the village of Calzadilla de la Cueza, where we found an excellent café in the Camino Real albergue. Once refreshed, we walked the final 5.4km into the village of Ledigos, arriving at the El Palomar albergue at 16.28.

Descending to Calzadill de la Cueza

The albergue turned out to be ok, although rather basic; the owner switched on the heating for us, but the rooms and corridor were very cold and this wasn’t helped by a stable-type door, the top section of which was left open all the time, thus causing any residual heat in the corridor to drain outside!

After a very chilly shower I found an untidy grassy garden at the back of the albergue with some chairs and sat in the sun for a little while. It was decidely warmer outside the albergue than indoors! Clearly cold albergues were becoming a leitmotif on this trip!

Ledigos

Matthew and I then had a walk around the village and found another albergue nearby that looked much more modern (and warm!) and also had a nice looking café. We had thought El Palomar was the only albergue in the village as there was no mention of any others in our guidebook. However, I determined to be content in whatever situation I found myself!

The village itself was picturesque with lots of traditional cottages and farm buildings with adobe or packed earth walls to compensate for the lack of local stone. We climbed up to the Church of Santiago overlooking the village, but it was closed, so we seated ourselves in a spot of sunshine out of the wind to pray together, before returning to the albergue where we had a good pilgrim menu in the bar. It featured a warming soup in the first course, which I greatly appreciated!

I need hardly add that there was another shivering dash to the loo and back during the night, but at least the stars were impressive through the open stable door!

Camino Day 18: Frómista – Carrión de Los Condes (27/03/17)

The following morning the other pilgrims in the dormitory were very slow to get up – I suppose unlike us, they had been walking for approximately a fortnight already. Even so, having been awake since 6.30 am and since there was no sign of anyone switching the lights on, I felt that by 7.30 I was justified in doing so myself. 

San Miguel

Personally, I like the albergues where the Hospitalero comes around at 7.00 and switches the lights and roars good morning on as this takes the responsibility off other pilgrims who want to get up but don’t feel they can do so out of politeness. I also don’t like leaving albergues in the dark as I am afraid of leaving stuff behind, and as other people still try and do so, loudly rustling bags and “lamping” those still in bed with their head torches (like our Korean friend back in Belorado), the lights may as well be switched on anyway!

Lancet window, San Miguel

The previous night I had enjoyed talking to Erkan – a pleasant young man from Turkey who now lives in Germany and works in the VW Spare Parts factory. He was being joined on the Camino in León by his brother. Erkan told me that his parents and Uncle thought he was quite mad to be using his holiday to go walking across Spain instead of relaxing by a pool! He was obviously a deep thinker as he was reading a large and weighty tome by Dostoyevsky. The following morning, Erkan was still in bed as we prepared to leave at 8.10, but our gregarious Australian friends (Jim, a Pentecostal pastor, Reuben and Dan) were already loudly up and about.

Heather, Matthew & David leaving Poblacion de Campos

We made our way down the street, past San Martín, to the same bar for breakfast where we had waited for the taxi in October 2015 and then we set off out of town following behind two Italian pilgrims who had a were clearly smoking joints as there was a pungent smell of weed! The day’s walking was dominated by a chilly wind blowing from the South, gravel tracks and wide-open fields, punctuated only very occasionally, by a flowering tree with which I was unacquainted.

Virgen del Rio

We quickly crossed the A67 dual carriageway, which runs west of Frómista, on a flyover bridge and encountered a modern pilgrim sculpture consisting of a flat sheet of rusty steel, out of which a pilgrim seemed to striding. It seemed like the pilgrim was breaking out of the two dimensionality of their flat existence into a new sphere of reality and I thought it a very suitable metaphor of the new horizons and avenues in life that walking the Camino can open up!

David resting at Virgen del Camino

Nearby, was the lovely little hermitage of San Miguel set back from the road amidst some trees with it’s weathered, honey-coloured stone and a bricked up gothic arch that suggested to me that the hermitage was perhaps originally planned as the chancel of a much larger church that was never completed?

Knights Templar Church at Villalcazar de Sirga

When we reached the river at Población de Campos, we took the quieter optional route away from the Senda and main road and passing another interesting medieval chapel, sunk down below the modern street level, struck out along a farm track and then along a gravel path lined by a poplar plantation beside the rather diminutive rio Ucieza.

Portal of Knights Templar Church

Our guidebook had a café symbol at Villovieco, but this was closed and there wasn’t even a shop in the village and as we were now desperate for second breakfast and Heather was feeling tired, we cut across to Revenga de Campos, only to find that the café there too was closed. By now the sun had come out and the temperature had warmed up a little, so we shed a few layers and resigned ourselves to a cereal bar and some fruit, before returning to Villovieco and walking on alongside the river.

Sitting with a pilgrim friend at Villalcazar de Sirga!

Many storks were foraging in the expansive fields or else taking to the air to clatter their beaks in courtship displays. We also saw some type of wild canid running across the fields in the distance; it was probably a fox, but by the time we accessed our binoculars, it had crested the hill and was gone.

David and I walked on ahead and reached the large Baroque hermitage of the Virgen del Rio, which being set on a small hill, allowed us to rest and survey the view from a small bench. By the time Heather and Matthew joined us a few minutes later, Heather was struggling a little due to sore feet, tiredness and a headache and was a little tearful.

Villalcazar de Sirga

After checking that Heather was ok, David and I felt it would be good to give Matthew and Heather a few minutes of privacy to rest and recuperate and so we walked on to Villalcázar de Sirga. I was really looking forward to seeing the Knights Templar church; the transitional Romanesque 13^th century church of Santa María la Blanca. It is famous for the seated statue of the Virgen Blanca to which the poet-king Alfonso X “the wise” attributed 12 miracles, the polychrome reliefs on the high altar and the gothic tombs of Don Pedro, fifth son of Fernando III “the holy” and his wife. However, all these treasures were denied to me as the owner of the local bar informed us that the church is only open on Sundays! One day too late!! I consoled myself by examining the enormously tall porch which frames a richly carved portal and by enjoying watching a resident Kestrel which was wheeling around the church and plaza.

We entered the bar and had two very large bocadillos and a glass of Rioja followed by a slice of flan and a café con leche. Matthew and Heather soon joined us and after lunch I used a rather fun statue-cum-seat installation of a medieval pilgrim to get out my podiatry supplies and do some first aid on Heather’s feet.

Doorway Villalcazar de Sirga

Heather was by now feeling much better and fortified by food and fellowship we marched on Carrión de los Condes, checking into the albergue at the convent of Santa Clara on the outskirts of the town. We had walked 20.5km in 6 hours and 35 minutes.

Matthew & Heather approaching Carrion de los Condes

St. Francis of Assisi supposedly stayed in Santa Clara on his pilgrimage to Santiago and it had a lovely courtyard that I liked with a stone cross in the middle, a loggia and a small well. The hospitalero was a friendly but an extremely lugubrious character, who gave the impression of having the weight of the world upon his shoulders. He provided us with two twin rooms which were quite comfortable, except for the fact that they were extremely cold. Luckily, I had my three seasons sleeping bag and there were plenty of blankets. Matthew and Heather complained that the shower upstairs was also freezing, but this may have been because I enjoyed a delightfully warm shower downstairs and perhaps this diverted all the warm water!

Convent of Santa Clara

After showering we went to investigate the town centre. The remains of a ruined gateway topped by a Spanish flag mark the entrance to the town centre. Heather and David went off to find a supermarket to buy some supplies and Matthew and I spent a few minutes sitting in the 12^th century church of Santa María del Camino. The south door has a porch which frames a very worn portal which is hard to interpret and is supposed to represent a miracle in which Carrión was freed from a tribute of 100 virgins which Christian Spain had to provide to the Muslims during the period of the Muslim conquests of the Iberian peninsula.

Courtyard of Santa Clara

The main enjoyment for me however, was just to sit quietly with Matthew, meditate and just watch the comings and goings of people entering the church for prayer and worship. Sister Mary Coombes from the Leb Shomea (a listening heart) Community in Texas has said that ‘Silence is not “me and God” but a way of being present to each other in God’ and that is certainly how I feel when I spend time praying and meditating with Matthew. I don’t have many friends like that and it is something for which I am very grateful and value immensely.

Remains of town walls, Carrion de los Condes

After about half an hour we met Heather and David outside the church and walked around town. I admired the 12^th century west façade of the Church of Santiago. The church itself was sacked and burned at the beginning of the 19^th century by Napoleonic troops, but the façade survives and has a finely carved frieze well worth examination. Christ sublimely sits in majesty in the centre of the composition, flanked by the symbols of the Evangelists and the figures of the disciples. In the archivolts of the portal 24 figures represent “trades, skills, games and battle scenes” according to Lozano.

Portal of Santa Maria del Camino

In the Plaza Generalisimo we bumped into the Australians once more and then walked down to the rio Carrión, observing how the old town is well situated on a rocky bluff above the river – a very defendable site well chosen by the Counts of Carrión, the rulers of the area in the Medieval period.

Christ in Majesty, Church of Santiago

We really enjoyed our walk and liked the town and rounded off the evening with an excellent pilgrim menu in a local restaurant near Plaza Santillana. Matthew complained that I was taking too long to decide which restaurant to go into, but I do start to dither when I am hungry (whereas he becomes fractious 😉)and we did make the right choice in the end. We also enjoyed talking to another pilgrim – Denis from Cork, who it turned out, recognised David’s face from his years in the Fire Service and was walking approximately 50km a day!

Pillar on portal of Chruch of Santiago

After dinner we returned to Santa Clara, where we prayed before bed and then were glad to retreat to the insulation of our sleeping bags due to the freezing tempertures. In the early hours of the morning I got up to use the toilet and within a couple of minutes I was literally shaking with the bone numbing cold and was glad to run down the corridor and dive back into my sleeping bag as quickly as possible! 

Matthew & Heather enjoying dinner