I awoke to a cold sunny morning. I had an apple and an orange for breakfast
before setting off around 8.00 a.m., one of the last pilgrims to leave town, I
suspect. It was a delightful walk beside
the Canal de Castilla, built around 1750 in the heyday of canals. It had many informative noticeboards about
the birdlife, flora and history. Just
outside Fromista was a staircase of 4 locks, apparently now disused.
I chatted again to American Emily, a young
and feisty girl travelling on her own, whom I had first met in Hontanas
albergue. She had been working for an
NGO in Rwanda, as an administrator trying to improve health clinics, under the
auspices of the Clinton Foundation. Her
task had been to set up a training model so that Rwandans would be able to duplicate
it throughout the country.
In Fromista I had a lovely breakfast in a
warm café and managed to get the Internet terminal working with Emily’s
help. All these coin operated terminals
are different, and not well used because people en route are using their own
wi-fi equipment and mobile phones. Emily
herself was looking for a place to stay
for a few days in Leon. She had a severe
chest infection and wanted to seek medical advice at a special clinic for
pilgrims.
I had a quick look at the “jewel of
Fromista”: Iglesia de San Martin, an 11th century
church and one of the finest examples of pure Romanesque in Spain, now
deconsecrated.
The day was getting hotter and it seemed a
long trek beside the road (“senda”). I
stopped for a late lunch at Villamentero de Campos, where a strange albergue
had attracted a large crowd of pilgrims.
There was a big garden with hammocks and a tepee, which are available for
the night at €3 in summer (a bit too
cold at present!)
I pressed on to Villalcazar de Sirga and
found a room at Las Cantigas, unfortunately directly above the bar; but all this quitened down in time for me to
get a really good night’s rest. I didn’t
wake up till 7.00 a.m. when I saw the first light of sun promising another nice
day for the Camino. I was able to get a café
con leche and a croissant downstairs when the bar opened at c. 8.00 a.m.
 |
| Walking beside the canal |
 |
| Staircase of locks |
 |
| Informative notice board |
 |
| Iglesia San Martin, Fromista |
 |
| Romanesque detail |
 |
| Romanesque detail |
No comments:
Post a Comment