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Published: October 17th 2015
12 September 2015, Saturday, Stage 18, Carrion de los Condes to Calzadila de las Cueza.
GPS: 10.65 miles, Leave at 0920 arrive at 1420 after only 5 hours from Monasterio San Zoilo to Hostal Camino Real. 3 hours 31 minutes actually moving.
Fitbit: miles 10.25, steps 23,466, stairs 7.
The shortest stage and the road with the least bends, 12 kilometers straight across the Meseta. We eat breakfast at San Zoilo and head west. We bid farewell to Ariana and Heather as they plan to walk and then take a taxi back to Carrion and see other items of interest in the area. This is the day of the l-o-n-g, straight walk on an old Roman road, built more than 2,000 years ago with more than 100,000 tons of stone carried here from quarries to elevate the road above marsh lands during floods. This old, paved road was known as the Via Aquitana that connected with Astorga to the west.
The landscape is featureless with little or no shade. There is no place to eat and be sure to have water with you. About the only variation is passing the ruins of an old 12th Century Franciscan
Abbey, Abadia de Benevivere, known for its good living.
This is the kind of day that many pilgrims dread--ah, to be alone with your thoughts! We are spared that disaster as we have the conversation of our Iowa sidekicks to enjoy and each day passes rapidly.
Nick Gindorff, as Harlan mentioned, spent some time studying in a seminary. He rather "fell" into teaching and eventually retired as a combined 5th/6th grade teacher. He had small classes and over the years the administration let him run his own show. Innovative and positively creative, he is the kind of teacher you pray your kids and grandkids will have. Appreciative of the "outside the box" student, I am sure most kids remember him with respect and affection. We could tick off the miles while discussing young adult fiction, functional exercise for kids and what kids eat!
Margy was a music major and did not have future plans as college graduation loomed. A friend had received some information on the Montessori schooling philosophy and when she glanced at it thought it might be interesting. After much training and experience she eventually opened her own school in her home. She keeps the
The camino passes by this side wall.
This area of the Monasterio has not been restored.numbers very low and her parents know they must be flexible. She told them school would start late this fall as she was going for a long walk! They have grandchildren about the age of Madeline and Emily so we could talk endlessly about them! She provides some wise insights into child development that are so interesting. They live in a house in the woods surrounded by a very large garden. What fun it must be to go to this grandma and grandpa! And it is on Monastery Road as there are several monasteries near their home.
They, like us, have been married forty plus years and stories that emanate from that fact also are shared. Margy lost both parents early in her life and put herself through a boarding school and college. Having lost my father at an early age also, it is interesting to hear someone else's ideas on how that shapes one's personality.
Margy has long legs and another important factor is that she is younger than we are by a number of years and this all adds up. I really have to push myself to keep her pace, which I am sure she has
adjusted a little to accommodate. Nick is about our age but very active and they both do long bike rides across Iowa.
Calzadilla de la Cueza is a very small village. The gentleman that runs the albergue also runs the hostel. He is a veteran pilgrim and knows the needs of his guests. We are happy to see Roberto, our Argentinian-Danish friend. He is doing well with his leg problems. He does have news that is very sad. They have found a body and think it is that of the young Asian lady from Phoenix, who was traveling alone and disappeared in the Astorga area on April 1. Interestingly, very few people along the Camino have been talking excessively about it. I think, for many, after you have been walking for some days you more or less enter an altered state and do not know what the latest news is and really could care less. You walk, eat, sleep and perhaps interact with other pilgrims, as well as yourself.
We have an excellent meal and a good night's rest out in the middle of the meseta.
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