“Walking: the most ancient exercise and still the best modern exercise.” – Carrie Latet
Day 17 – Castrojeriz to Fromista – 15.5 Miles
June 3
E: Feeling a bit silly again today. For those of you who are “real” poets, the below obviously doesn’t follow any rules. Just fun rhymes instead of always doing a narrative type journal. Enjoy!
They’re once was a woman from Phoenix.
She wanted to go somewhere scenic.
On the Camino she took pictures of flowers and a crop.
All while finding a walking rhythm to adopt.
An umbrella attached to her backpack to evade the sun.
Enjoying the swallows, the hawks and kittens on the run.
“Look over here, mi esposo!, a blue moth!”
To which he replied “I’m just looking forward to cervesa with froth!”
She observes the sparrows, the slugs and a snail.
Her body feeling sore… “Is there a taxi I can hail?”
Four Aussies she’s been walking with, police officers is what they are.
“Ga-day mate”, “Good on you”, They’ve been such a kick so far!
An Anglican priest, anesthesiologist and math major.
Pilgrims in all stages of life we wager.
After her arrival in town she dons flip flops then takes a shower.
Next she does laundry and a nap for an hour.
The best thing at the end of the day is getting off her feet!
The plans for tomorrow? Awaken to repeat!!
An entire lot designed like a shell. E in rt arch 
E walking out of Castrojeriz 
Sunrise, poppies, ahhhh 
Now that’s a Thistle!! 
E walking an ancient road/Camino path with up, up, up in upper left corner! 
Sunrise 
Looking back at Castrojeriz after a 12% grade incline! 
What comes up…18% down! New USA roads can not be more than 6% grade in the mountains! This down was 3X that! 
It’s MUCH steeper than it looks! E side steps, tacks like a sailboat and walks backwards down steep hills. 
Camino path is the white line left of poppies
A rest stop 
E’s shadow under her umbrella – silly girl! 
Bea-u-ti-ful butterfly! called a “European Common Blue” 
A common sight on The Way. Supermecado (market), cafe tables in the street, backpacks lined up, flower pots. E standing 
More cool art 
6 stork nets, 7 storks and swallows 
Pilgrims waiting in line to get a bed in an Albergue (hostel)
Day 18 – Fromista to Carrion de Los Condes – 12.5 Miles
June 4
G: Today was a nice “short” day with 12.5 miles of walking. We started with about a mile along a road, then we took the alternate (a bit longer) route that was along a dirt road for almost 4 miles. In that 4 miles, 2 bikes past us, that was it. We could see other Pilgrims in front and behind, but never very close. After we crossed a bridge there was a café, a social gathering spot. There people already there when we arrived and shortly after a couple of our French friends showed up, then the Aussie cops, then a young man from the Netherlands we walked out of St Jean Pied de Port with. He went to Madrid for two days so now he is catching all his friends again. At the rest stop was a ping pong table. Elizabeth played a bit with one of the Frenchman.
While walking along the trees we continue to hear lots of Cuckoo birds, much more than past Caminos. I figure sales must be down for new cuckoo clocks and these are all the unemployed cuckoo birds singing in the forest. Our gain. Either that or these are the fired ones as they don’t keep the time as they keep on going cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo.
And you wonder why we don’t loose weight weight walking the Camino 
All we saw were cars, and they aren’t even on the sign 
Morning walk out of Fromista 
The pilgrim on the left is from the heavy gage metal cut out on the right. 
E on the dirt road/alternate route to Carrion 
More poppies : ) 
This cat must have gotten up on the wrong side of wherever he sleeps. 
A little ping pong between the Frenchman
Now we had about 4 miles along a river with a beautiful shaded dirt track. We talked about why anyone would walk in the full sun along the road. We think they just don’t understand the options. This path also takes us by the Ermita de la Virgen del Rio church. It is a much newer church (we think it was built in 1923) than the others we have been in.
In the village of Villalcázar de Sirga, just past the church, was a café. Sure enough many of the same people congregated for another break. We like to break our days up in to shorter hikes. Today ended up being a 5 mile hike to the first café, 4 miles to the second and then 3.5 to finish the day – perfecto! The only problem was the entire 3.5 miles was along a road. It is a dirt path and off the road, so safe, we just prefer being away from the roads.
Once we arrived into Carion de Los Condes, we checked in, did our laundry by hand, showered and off to lunch before the restaurants close at 3:30. They reopen at 7:00 but we prefer to eat before that. Rodney from Sydney came in shortly after us and joined us for a great lunch. As we were walking back up the street we went into the sporting goods store. They had reopened at 4:00 and would close again at 8:00. It was quite the social gathering in the small store. I ended up buying a new pair of Salomon sneakers. They have a wider toe box. I was trying a pair of Asics but am not really happy with them. I guess I will carry an extra pair of shoes for several days and then decide which ones I like better. Someone will get a great pair of sneakers soon as I don’t have room in my pack and don’t want to carry the extra weight. My shoulder is doing very well now, but it prevented me from doing any real training for this hike. I knew it was a gamble to try new shoes. The Asics were great on the short flat hikes without a pack I could do at home before leaving. Oh well. The Camino is tougher on the feet than the AT. There is a lot of repetitive walking and a lot of hard surfaces. The AT has much more up and down and obstacles, so you don’t really get much of a rhythm while walking. It is tougher on the body, but much easier on the feet.
Alex, one of the Aussie cops and Elizabeth. His buddies make fun of him but we stick together! 
An awesome spoof – Alex and E 
Alex’s buddies continue to tease him. Brolly is Aussie for Umbrella. 
It took us about 10 minutes to turn a perfectly nice hotel room into shambles! 
Iglesia de Santa Maria del Camino in Carrion de Los Condes
E: I attended a prayer service this evening where the nuns chant/sing the prayers/vespers. I have not done that before. It’s difficult still, to capture it all not understanding what they are saying (Spanish) but the spiritual, relaxed feeling I get in these ancient churches make the 30 minutes of my silence a true blessing.
The same nuns then moved to the Albergue next door where they conduct a sing-a-long. This was my fourth time attending. There were at least thirty pilgrims comfortably “crammed” into a small place. The songs are written out in many languages handed to each person. In addition to the guitars two of the nuns had, there was a pilgrim with a ukulele, another with bongo drums and many who shared their voices. Every person shared their name, where they were from and why they walk the Camino. I am guessing there were at least 8 different countries represented. Mexico, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Canada, USA, Thailand and more. A fabulous way to end yet another day of adventure. Buen Camino!
Life is about experiences & adventure, time is life’s currency, be sure you spend it well! AT Hiker
Not all those who wander are lost.
J. R. R. TOLKIEN
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