Boadilla del Camino to Carrion de Los Condes

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Geo: 42.3865, -5.07879

The six of us in the room were relatively quiet last night. We had decided that we would turn on the lights at 6:00, but there was one French woman who was packed up and out before the lights came on.

We went down to the dining room and although we only ordered two cafe con leche, we automatically got an orange juice, a coffee and a plate of toast with butter and jam. White bread is not what we needed, but being frugal pilgrims, we ate most of it! At 2.70 euro, this was not a bargain!

We had not left the Albergue the night before (and we should have) so we had not seen any of this cute little village. In the dark, we tried to take pictures of the Rollo de la Justicia (a monument symbolizing independence granted to Boadilla) and where they publicly tortured criminals.

Out on the Camino before dawn, we strolled along the Canal de Castilla to Fromista. Just before Fromista, we met a very nice couple from Australia who offered for us to use their phone if we ever needed to make reservations. We crossed the canal complete with locks and went into town for our second cup of coffee. There were several sidewalk cafes on the edge of town and we liked ours very much.

Walking down the road, we had another cup of coffee, a wonderful chocolate pastry and bought a couple of bananas -- all to be able to use their bathroom! This is the first place on the Camino that they charged for the use of their bathroom if you didn't purchase anything -- and they were serious! As we exited this town, you could take the main route or an alternate route along the canal. We took the more scenic canal route until we saw some tepees (last thing we thought we would see in Spain). We cut across a hayfield and ended up at an Albergue in Villarmentero. Besides the tepees, they had manikins dressed in hiking attire that were standing at tables, sitting at tables, etc. -- may have been a fun place! And, there were baby chicks running around the grounds. Now that we had been drawn to the tepees, we were back on the main, highway route.

After a few kms we were in Villalcazar with a beautiful church that charged pilgrims to enter. Not liking that idea, we declined and sat across from the church and had our bananas and some water.

We arrived in Carrion and, although we had a reservation at a large Albergue, we stopped at the Information Office and she presented a list of albergues and how many beds they had per room. We decided the Albergue Santa Clara (which we had already passed) was our best bet. We went back and they offered either a room with 3 beds for 7 Euro each or the big dorm room for 5 Euro each. We chose the 3 bed room. It was great because it was quite spacious for a shared room, had no bunk beds and, the chances for a snorer was much less! The Albergue was a previous monastery and was quite impressive. Our room already had the third person, a woman from Scotland who had been traveling with a Scotsman we met at our first night in Orisson. The Camino is quite a close family!

We showered and washed clothes. Unfortunately, the clothes dryer was a money-eating machine and after 5 euro, Dave hung the clothes on the clothesline! While waiting for the clothes, we met Stephanie from California who was suffering from shin splints. She had been down for a few days, but had lots of time to get to Santiago, we do believe she will make it one way or the other. She had lots of friends ahead who were telling her about good places (or bad) in her future so relayed some good information.

We did not have wifi in our Albergue and we had not properly had lunch, so we hit the streets and ended up at a hostel that served a pilgrim meal. It was a bit early for dinner, but pilgrim meals are hard to turn down, so Sue ordered meatballs (not good) and Dave had chicken AGAIN! We did have watermelon for dessert!

We went back to check on our laundry and then headed to Albergue Santa Maria to hear the Singing Nuns! This was a fun Camino event hosted in the Albergue. Many pilgrims attended and shared their reasons for doing the Camino and then shared their musical talents and typical folk songs from their countries. There was some amazing talent from Japan, Korea, Poland, Spain and the US. When individuals did not sing, songs in different languages were led by the Nuns. As the event was ending, the Nuns invited everyone back to church at 8:30 for a special pilgrim blessing.

We hit the Dia (big supermarket) and returned to church for the blessing. It was very special and the priest asked who was there from every country in the world -- quite a geography lesson. The Nuns had special stars (lights) that they made for each of us, the priest blessed everyone individually and then were asked to say a prayer to Santa Maria at a side altar. It was a very good experience.

After the pilgrim blessing we went to Bar Espana which was close to our Albergue and, more importantly, they had wifi. As has become custom, Sue worked on future reservations and Dave attempted to write the blog. Not long after we sat down, the Deacon from Wisconsin presiding at the Blessing appeared at the bar. Dave introduced himself and a few minutes later, he came back with his son. They asked if they could join us and they shared stories of their first Camino four years ago. This time they were obviously more casual about it since they were in Logrono at a wine festival and bull fight the day before and had taken a bus to Carrion! The time passed quickly and we all realized out curfews were approaching so we paid our tabs and left.

We arrived at the doors of the monastery about 10:30 without a flashlight and stumbled around to key the door. Luckily, our Scottish roommate left the lights on and we hit the bed.

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