Sections 14B to 16A Catrojeriz to Calzadilla de la Cueza

April 26, 2025 - Castrojeriz to Fromista.  Distance 15.76, weather sunny and mid-60s.  The day started with a long slog uphill to approximately the same height as the castle hike the day before.  The air was very clear, the termperature perfect and the views were lovely. 

Today was a long walk through the meseta which I still think is very beautiful with miles and miles of green fields. After a while I realized what was missing. There were no fences. I think this is one of the few places in the world where you can look to the horizon and not see any sort of fence and very few tracks of any kind. It was very remote and walked for 8 miles before seeing any sort of village or town.

Despite the above, the day dragged on, mostly on gravel paths and mostly through huge fields until the last third when the Castillo Canal Path began. This was a welcome break to the monotony and  I was able to hear cuckoos and frogs.  Just as the path came to the canal there was a boat dock where I would have gladly paid the 5 euro to float the last few miles to the outskirts of Fromista.

Fromista itself is not a lot to write home about.  It does have 2 major churches that reflect a lot of Jewish and moorish influence.  The first was The Church of St. Martin and the second The Church of San Pedro.

This week is the festival of San Telmo who is patron saint of Fromista. It goes on all week the week after Easter. Different groups have uniforms and work on floats for the Easter procession. There was quite a gathering when I arrived, with a live band and a lot of drinking going on. According to others the festivities went on all night, but I went to bed.

April 27, 2025 Fromista to Carrion de los Condes. Distance 12.8.  Weather sunny and cool - high of 60.  This was a boring walking day, always next to  highway P-980 on a gravel track.  Not much to report, other than my left Achilles is giving me jip and my right foot has some tendon pain.  Probably am feeling this more today due to the long day yesterday without a day of rest in between.  There are 3 major churches in Carrión:  Church of Santa Maria that I was able to visit - quite an impressive tableau.  The Church of Santiago is a museum - just closing as I arrived so I couldn’t see it - and the Monastery of San Zoilo which is fused to my hotel.  My hotel by the same name (Monastery of San Zoilo) is very nice, built on the foundations of the 16C monastery.  The monastery itself is still open and is also very impressive.  Carrion de los Condes is a nice town, but it’s Sunday so the shops are shut.  I spent the afternoon resting and preparing for a shorter day tomorrow.

I think I had the slowest dinner ever in my life (when I’ve been by myself). It took 90 minutes to get served and only about 20 minutes to eat.

April 28, 2025 Carrión de los Condes to Calzadilla de la Cueza.  Distance: 10.2 miles, weather: 70 degrees and sunny. Not long out of Carrión met up with Carol and Colleen. Carol did a virtual London Marathon yesterday, running a marathon distance combined with her hike. I walked the day with Carol, so found out a bit about her. Carol is a 67 retired NHS clinical psychologist. This is her second Camino - her first being the Portuguese.

Not much to report- a long straight shot on a gravel path, very flat along what was a Roman road and, historically, the main connection between Bordeaux and Astorga.  I now have “only” 400 km (250miles) left to Santiago.

When we got to Calzadilla, a town of 52 people,  we found out there was a huge power outage across Spain, France, and Portugal. No water, electric, internet, or phone - no connectivity at all. Thankfully I brought a big charger and charged it last night. Strangely, I wasn’t worried about not taking a shower (had a bunch of wet wipes), but I was worried that I had no idea where I was staying tomorrow- thank goodness it was written on my luggage tag.

It seems the power outage was due to atmospheric issues caused by a fire near a power station in France. 5 hours later the electricity and connectivity was restored.  The mood in the hostel changed dramatically as the lights went on and everyone cheered. Dinner was a salad and fruit for desert. Frankly it was amazing we got anything as no one knew how long the power would be out. The water pressure to the shower still wasn’t working by bed time, so no shower today.

I was right under the eaves and the roof kept creaking all night- a bit disconcerting and I couldn’t sleep.

As an afterthought I realized the towns population doubles or triples each night as the peregrinos stop for the night. As a further afterthought, I think I will miss the crunching of the gravel under my feet when this is all over.