Advertisement
Published: July 12th 2012
Edit Blog Post
DSC05720
SO difficult when you have to choose between reading and sun-glasses.... so why not both? We left behind the sloping room, in the UNLISTED Albergue in Itero de La Vega with the memory of bed bugs ( though thankfully not in OUR beds) ... and the faint blocked drain smell lingering in the nostrils....This was soon blown away by the wind as we walked along an area where there were many canals which had been developed in the late 18th century and opened up the whole area to farming.....it was cold and also VERY windy- so much so that the hood of my jacket which was pulled tightly around my head puffed out in a manner MOST amusing to Diane who felt compelled to take a few pics of me looking like ....I dont know... a boofhead or something ....
We stopped at Fromista for a coffee and a break - I really was not walking too well that day, my feet hurt, my hips hurt, was still coughing a lot and not getting any restful restorative sleep at nights ... I wanted to get something for my cold/cough from a Farmacia..... but it was closed as was much of the whole area - due to a 'Fiesta' - some Patron Saint of the area
DSC05721
Do YOU recognise this woman? was having a birthday...
Ended up doing just under 20km that day.... stopped in a Casa Rural at Poblacion de Campos....we did knock on the door of an Albergue, the guy who opened it was a fellow pilgrim and said we needed to go 'down the end on the left' to pay before we could settle for the day ....In the end we stayed at the place where we were directed to pay but paid 45 Euro between us - instead of 10 Euro each - and had a private room with our own toilet and BATH!!!! I was knackered and after washing/changing and popping Ibuprofen- I crawled into bed during the afternoon FOR THE FIRST TIME of the walk..... ahhh bliss it was -really.... I slept for a while and Diane went to the dining/lounge area, wrote in her journal and was fed tasty titbits and wine by the lovely hospitalero who spoke not a word of English.....I went down also when I awoke and we had a game of cards using an unusually suited Spanish pack - the 4 suits were a pictures of a cucumber , a trophy, a sword and a nescafe sachet ....we played
switch with Diane's rules .... so that she won.......and continued to share a bottle of wine while devising 'artful' pics of the glasses and this weird mini castle thing built in the garden... Diane insisting hers were MUCH better than mine..... have I mentioned she is quite competitive :-) ? I'm sure that little castle had an interesting background/story but language limits kept us from discovering it...
We had the pilgrim menu again that night..a shared meal with others who were staying and some from the Albergue we had knocked on the door of.....I really enjoyed the long table/shared meals that happened every now and again along the way... a chance to sit and chat/use sign language with people, all united for just a brief moment in time by the shared journey, shared meal, shared aches and pains and challenges ...I used my translate app to ask a few questions of a Spanish woman called Neves , and we finished up the meal with a shot glass of .. something ... alcoholic, yellow and warming .... dont know if it was the shot glass contents or the lovely soft fresh bed but we both slept very well that night
DSC05757
What?? what???? why are you laughing Diane? and slept in until 7-30 am!
We left wine in the room as a thank you ( Diane had been toting it since we DIDNT drink it in Burgos) and headed off again into the wind and cold and canal country....the landscape was certainly very different now to the hills and forest we'd prev walked through....( though there was more of that to come)... Despite the good night's sleep I wasnt really 100% - my feet still hurting - I didnt have any blisters , had put preventative dressings/tapes in place - but they were just sore - from being walked on - Every time I started walking after sitting - the sore feet and stiff legs/hips combo meant I literally hobbled.... though I certainly wasnt alone - its known as the Pilgrim Shuffle.... and yet after a few minutes you can just 'walk it out' - the human body is amazing - I appreciate mine so much more than ever before... The distances in the guidebook seemed under exaggerated - we ended up doing only 17km that day - and stayed in Carrion de Los Condes.... in the Monasterio De Santa Clara.... this was a place run by
Nuns... i think it was a school also ... when we signed in ( paid 10 euro and had credencial stamped) I had my reading glasses out ..... and that was the last I saw of them..... I dont WANT to cast nasturtiums ( as Kath and Kim would say) but I think some Nun somewhere is walking around with a funky pair of purple reading glasses...Anyway we were shown to a dormitory, men were separated from the women... it FELT like we were in boarding school.... and a mean nasty one at that! We saw Matthias there later in the afternoon and the place filled up quite a bit.... we walked around the town after showering and washing clothing and hanging it to dry.... it was the only thing to do as the atmosphere within the place was so.. unwelcoming and cold.... though we did manage to get online there for a while...we also sat in the courtyard enjoying a little sunshine out of the wind, watched a few kids playing basketball and a priest who came along and doled out a few crucifixes to them ...
We ate at a local restaurant - pilgrim menu - Diane
had spaghetti - and we shared the meal with Ole who we'd first met in the VERY first Albergue we ever stayed in at Valcarlos ... It was a really pleasant meal and get together because he felt as though he had been softened by the walk, he seemed warmer and more welcoming and receptive. It was a great meal and we bid goodbye VERY close to the 'curfew' we had been warned about ... when we arrived back at the 'Nunnery' ( as I call it - unaffectionately) all lights were out in our dormitory and we prepared/climbed into bed in the dark..... I had had too much to eat/drink and couldn't lay down - so was propped sitting up - this gave Diane the giggles and though we couldnt care less about disturbing stern Nuns, we didnt want to disturb the fellow pilgrims around us so Diane turned over and laughed herself to sleep... i drifted off too - eventually- it was noisy and haunted sounding in that there Nunnery ! ..... ....Hours (?) later we were all woken up by a horrible thump and a cry........ a torch came on and there was a woman sitting on
DSC03353
Windy....... ( the weather- not Diane) the floor at the end of a bed opposite us - Diane and I were worried she'd had a heart attack, or stroke..... suddenly she had a huge vomit all over the floor!! We threw ourselves out of bed... in the one torchlight the woman looked shocked and spaced out - after it was clear there were no broken bones , between 3 or 4 of us we lifted her back up onto her bed... She was French speaking and she/friends had no English - but she seemed to be responding appropriately to them and had no drooped face/lifeless limbs ...... One of her friends went and found a DRY MOP (!) to attack the vomit with.... Diane took the mop from her, found a bucket/water and I went and found some bits of cardboard from a bin - to scoop up the vomit with - we're Nurses - we can cope with stranger's vomit ....... This is all in the dark by torchlight remember - i have this vivid memory of both Diane and I- vivid striped long johns ( de rigueur bedwear for our journey) flashing from side to side scurrying around cleaning up...The Frenchwoman ended up being
escorted to the toilet by her friend, we put stuff away , then tried to settle back down for the night.... which was DIFFICULT ... it was a disturbed and disturbing night with bangs and thumps and blowing wind ...I didnt sleep until about 5am... we arose and left about 7 - headed out with no breakfast or drink we just wanted to be OUT of there..... No more Nunneries for us !
Advertisement
Tot: 0.067s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 11; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0239s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Leandra
non-member comment
i look forward to my Friday mornings and reading your blogs.
You are going to have to go on another journey, or write a book or something, your writings are soo interesting, i just won't know what to do with my first 30 mins of my day on Fridays when they stop. Hope you are really well.... lots of love