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Published: October 5th 2016
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Again, the village we are in does not rate in this blog site, so I have listed Fromista as its the last village we were in and was also the destination according to our guide. We just walked a little further to be ahead for tomorrow.
We had the luxury of turning the lights on this morning as there was no one else to disturb and left the Casa Rural at 6.45am. Using my new head torch, we were able to easily navigate our way out of town and I didnt see a soul as we left. I had only walked about 50metres in my new socks when I changed back to the others; John must be very patient, or he just silently hates me. You can't go on if something is not right.
We walked in the dark until we reached Alto Mostelares when I turned off the light and focused on the hill. For the fact driven among you, this has an incline of 12° over 1050 metres. Doesn't sound much but this is the 'Hill of Death ', and far out rates its namesake in Samoa ( that bit is a private note to the Komorska's
Tiny lights of Castrojeriz
After 1hrs walking, we are half what up the mountain . ). I digress.
Upon reaching the peak I decided this was a good resting place for my boots, so I placed them on a stone wall, said a small prayer, and had immediately lightened my pack by more than 10 %.
What goes up must come down, so after about a kilometre of nice flat paths, we reached a very steep decline( 19% over 350metres for the nerds among you), paved in concrete. I zigzagged down in order to break up the steepness.. After 11kms we reached Itero de la Vega, a nondescript village where we had coffee and tortilla before taking on the last, relatively uninterrupted 14.2 kms to Fromista.
Just before Itero, you reach the Alburgue San Nicolas. This is a medieval church converted to accomodation for pilgrims and is meant to have quite a special feel to it. The door was open so I went in for a look around. The alter was still in its original place but a long table and chairs had replaced pews and there were even bunks in the eating area. It's a unique part of the Camino but is in a location difficult to factor in for a
Dawn at the Top
Faint lights to the right are Castrojeriz stay.
This area is part of the Meseta, the flat Spanish plains, and many find it quite boring. I think it's pretty interesting but it would be good to know how far you have left to walk.
We had made good time and when we arrived in Fromista, I suggested we push on to Poblaciòn de Campos, a further 3.5kms up the road. Fromista is a fairly bland town built around agriculture and has little to recommend an overnight stay. It reminds me of one of those tiny towns in the Wimmera in Victoria. You know the type, the Main Street consists of tractor retailers and rural merchants that line the street, only broken up by fibro cottages, built for practical rather than asthetic reasons. The only bright light is the one themed cafe opened by Daz and Shaz, who moved to the area, attracted by the Shire promise of $1 houses. This is Fromista, complete with wheat silos, visible for miles.
Poblaciòn promises nothing and delivers in spades. We are sitting in the beer garden, it's a lovely sunny day with a cool breeze, and all we are waiting for is dinner. I revisited the site
My Boots
Free to good home! of Sue's fall and I must concede it is a rough road. This, combined with her ' ministry of silly walks' blister driven gait, caused her fall I'm sure. It appears the local Province has marked this important site with a memorial cross( see pics).. Well, that's it for today. Tomorrow is a mystery but it could be a short one to San Zoilo, just past Carriòn De Los Condes.
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