Under the Milky Way 16: From Castrojeriz to Fromista

June, 13, Day 16. From Castrojeriz to Fromista, 25.3 km, another light day on the Way. There were 8 beds in my room, but only 6 were occupied. Lucky us!

Since I didn’t plan to cover much distance today, I would like to stay here a little longer to see more of the town that my first impression led me to the illusion of a fairyland.  Due to the rain storm yesterday afternoon, I didn’t see enough of it. Sunny and crisp in the morning. I bought an admission ticket and walked to a Catholic church –  the Church of Nuestra Señora del Manzano/Iglesia de Santa Maria del Manzano. The building hosts numerous 3D models of various grand churches, sculptures on biblical stories, etc. A feast to the eyes and minds, and there is no limit to learning and to artistic experience!

Came to another church, but it was not open yet. I walked around the building a bit, and began to play with the camera and the light through the wall.

There was the castle on the hill again – the Ruins from the earthquake and the tsunami in 1755.  On a quiet sunny morning when soft light hit its wall and the surrounding, I was reminded of an abandoned village, a lonely old structure that, once upon a time, was a jewel that many had admired.  

Haze surrounding the hills, 
Smoke slowly rising from the neighbor’s chimney.
Yellow flowers and green grass, 
Have the immortals arrived among us?  

One more:

Ancient castle is standing, 
Civilians’ life it’s observing. 
Seeing the haze and smoke far away, 
“A changed time, “ it says.  

Finally I got on the road, path.seeing no end. Meseta, to me, was so vast, open and beautiful！It was also a place so many had feared so little change in topography, and so few places to hide from the elements.

Looking back, all prairies, 
All one could see were crops and poppies. 
Even the blue sky and the white clouds admire, 
Frogs croak, birds chirp, and sleepless me.  

In case hunger and thirst struck you… here came the roadside snack stations – for a fee.

Walk, and walk, until the sky, clouds and land meet.  

I met M here, when I was about to take a wrong turn. He approached me with big stride, saying that I didn’t need to turn there, and that walking straight ahead would save me much time and agony from getting lost! Thanks for the gentle reminder, M! I must have missed an arrow while taking pictures, chasing bees.

M came from France. He was a retired farmer, fluent in 3 languages, and knew some with two other languages. Two years ago, M began his walk from northern France, and covered a distance of 1300 km. This year, he started from his home. By the time when he completed the Way, he would have completed 1700 km!! This kind-hearted genius gentleman had made many friends along the Way, and would waste no time to offer generous help and pray for them when needed. He mentioned that he would always dedicate the first few kilometers of his walk each day to praying – for family, friends, fellow peregrinos and their families. Every time when he entered a church, he would always do the same. Even though he planned to walk many miles each day, when he reached a well-known city, a famous cathedral, he would always take time to visit, to enjoy and to pray there. He also introduced to me quite a few UNESCO sites along the Way that I must see.  In spite of the high mileages he intended to walk daily, he would be willing to spare time for something special. The other day, in order to visit a UNESCO site, he waited in that town for about two hours! Two hours’ waiting early in the day, to a pilgrim, can be so valuable! He was so knowledgeable, had traveled to so many places/countries, and had seen so much of the world, that I couldn’t help but respecting him and admiring him more! I walked with him that day for more than an hour. I was so deeply touched by the life stories he had shared with me. I sped up my pace to keep up breathlessly, while he said that he already slowed down plenty for me – gosh, no wonder he could cover so many miles. The other day, M continued, he didn’t find a bed in the town he intended to stop, and ended up having to walk another 10 plus kilometers to another village, resulting in a total distance of 12 kilometers that day!! The day he met me was his slow-day, a recovery-day! Wow!

12 noon, hot, after more than 10 km of walk, I found myself in Itero de la Vega, attracted by a dozen cranes. What a treat! I set my backpack aside, lay down on the ground, and pointed the phone camera to them – at a perfect angle, and was blessed with a beautiful blue sky, graceful moves of the cranes. Were they putting on a show for me? How lucky I was! Where was everyone anyway? Wouldn’t it be even more amazing if more people got to see these, and hear all these?  At that moment, in that pretty little square, there were the cranes, their elegant choreography, their singing, and me, the sole audience! That moment was the world!

A group of riders dashed by, in such speed, as if left me there crawling forward like a snail. The thick white clouds filtered out some UV light, and the water reflected the beauty of the sky – A true delight!

In Boadilla del Camino now. 5.7 more km for today. 424 km to go. I completed over 300 km. Yeah!
 

At 3pm, I arrived at the gate of the Canal de Castilla. So close to the destination…

The canal was built between the 18th and19th-centuries, 207 km long, now mainly used for irrigation. 

It was hot, and his bag looked so big and heavy. This German young man carried a solar panel to charge his devices, two large bottles of water. By the time he completed the remaining distance, he would have walked over 1200 kilometers!

3:21pm, I have arrived, at last!! 

A little over 19 miles today, 31 km. I settled on a bed in a room for 6 people, but it was adjacent to another room, without a door (like a dining room and a living room connected with no doors in between), and there were 6 more people in that room. A wishful thinking: May tonight’s snoring softened and light!  

Wow, two different types of passion fruit flowers. Wonder how different they bear their fruits.  

I settled in, cleaned up myself and my clothes, then out for food-hunting.
Several of us were so starving that we could eat a horse!! We put all our snacks together and divulged them, but were still hungry! – Did I sound like “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”? 
Most restaurants and cafes wouldn’t open until about 7:30pm, 5pm for grocery stores. We had been in Spain for more than 2 weeks, but still hadn’t gotten used to the business hours, and it hit us in unexpected moments. After we hit a wall in front of several places nearby, exhausted, hot and hungry, we learned to calm down, sat on a bench and began to play with a cat. Our young friends kept looking on their phones for dining places that might open earlier (than 7:30pm). Out stomachs were growling, I felt as if a hand reached out from my throat, begging for food (a translation from my mom’s common saying describing me and my siblings at our growing ages.) Time seemed to crawl at snail speed when hunger and weariness were what occupied the mind. From where we sat, we could see the door of a grocery store. We stared at it, defying the science of the digital clock displays on our phones, and hoping that it would open momentarily. We were like little kids refusing to fall asleep on Christmas Eve, so as not to miss Santa’s visit from the chimney. 
The door finally opened!! We all got up from the bench, dashed to the grocery store across the street. And bought some random things, returned to our albergue and started to party! Our sense of bumper harvest, the feeling of triumph and contentment, and our genuine happiness were beyond words. Perhaps such feelings could only be experienced after laboring all day under the hot sun, hungry, longing for something but couldn’t get it right away, but eventually did. Each sip of beer, every slice of watermelon, every bit of junk food entering our mouths, being pushed to our stomachs – the feeling of all these, and to replay the exaggerated moves, idiocracy and happiness!! We ate and chat, chat and ate without good manners, grinned with delight like young children. We gobbled down the food like hungry wolves starved for generations, and we continued to eat, and eat, as if there was no next meal. And happily eat!
Healthy food? Nutrition? Forget about them all for now! We had happy tummies!!
In came a few new friend we just met. Please join the party… The more, the merrier. S. ran to the store again to get a beer!!! (lol)

We ate, and ate too much. It was almost time for dinner. Two young Korean pilgrims found a restaurant nearby that would open at 6:30pm. We were so excited that we walked to the place a few minutes ahead of time, waiting for some normal yummy food. What a cute little space of the town! 
Fromista, 46.6 square km, population in 2023: 816人 (Information from Google).
https://www.aznations.com/population/es/cities/fromista
https://www.citypopulation.de/en/spain/castillayleon/palencia/34074__fr%C3%B3mista/

Here came the big meal and red wine: among the four of us, we ordered four combos, the entrees – ribs, chicken breast and blood sausages. My favorite time of the day!

Still remember the motto, and a tradition from my roots: Walk at least 100 steps after a meal. So we went out for a stroll. The cathedral (upper right) was a registered UNESCO building, M informed me. Too bad that it was closed when we got there.

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A word or two about the purple stamp I received today – It was designed by the albergue host, L, an artist. L used to be a high school art teacher before he opened this albergue. One year, after he completed his Camino pilgrimage, he felt a strong desire, a calling, to open an albergue along Camino Frances to serve the pilgrims. While we sat down and talked, I learned from him about Hemingway's mentor, Ezra Pound, about their political standings and the influence of the political views on Hemingway’s literary works. Many paintings were hung in L’s office – the  original work from his passion in arts, one of which was a sketch of Ezra, Hemingway’s teacher.  It was from L. that I heard for the first time that Camino was where European art was brought together. L has certainly done more than running an albergue. He was an enthusiastic spokesperson for art and for love and appreciation of art. How wise!