Castrojeriz: What a long walk this was! The maps all make it look like Castrojeriz is just the easiest town to wander around in. Let me clue you in to something that most of us don't discover until it's too late: the guidebooks lie. Of course, it could have been because the town is tearing up all its streets at the same time & I'm sure they'll be lovely once done, but it does make Castrojeriz a bit of a chore to find anything in.
I stayed at the private albergue, Casa Nostra. The owner/hospitalero is doing all the renovations himself & so far, he's done a fantastic job. This albergue is going to be spectacular once he is done. Fortunately for me, he did have room in a small room upstairs that he hasn't converted yet. It did have a bed & 2 mattresses. I assured him that I didn't mind that room at all, even when he told me that he might have to put more people in there. It didn't matter. I ended up with a roomie from Maine, who had written 2 songs about the Camino that were just lovely. More about her in another post. Anyway, since last season, he has added toilets upstairs. He has also put in another shower, but when I was there, he hadn't finished it. However, it should be ready for next season. The restaurant just down the street was excellent & one of the owner's dogs is a famous "perro-grino." He followed us up the hill the next day, stayed to greet the people behind us, & then went home.
Hospital de San Nicolas: I didn't stay here, but I stopped in to get a sello. The albergue doesn't look like it could hold many people, but it was clean. The hospitalero was busy mopping when we arrived. He offered us coffee, cookies, & sellos, in exchange for a donation. What is really cool about San Nicolas is that there is no electricity, so if you really really want a medieval experience, this is your place.
Boadilla del Camino: I stayed at the private albergue "En el Camino," and after walking in the heat, dust, & God knows what kicked up by all the harvesters, I was really looking forward to it. The outside of the place, however, makes it look like a questionable concern, but once through the gate, OMG, I was in heaven. Instead of making me stand in a line, I was guided to the bunk rooms & told to take a shower, rest, then pay. We had dinner that night at the albergue & it was wonderful. The showers & bathrooms were spotless. This place has a swimming pool & although it was a bit too cold to swim, we stuck our feet in it. Yum!
The next day, we all walked to Fromista & made it in 1 hour. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to make it to Leon in the time I had left, so I planned to take the train from there to Sahagun. Mes Amies also had differing plans. Denise & Lucie were going to take the bus or train onward from the town after Fromista, & Josette still had enough time to make Santiago, so she was going to walk. We said good-bye in Fromista, many tears being shed. In typical Irish manner, I didn't watch them leave, because if you do that, you will never see those people again. I found out that I had to go to Palencia to get to Sahagun & ended up spending the night in a hotel there.
Sahagun: I got to Sahagun early in the afternoon. There was some sort of Spanish Hell's Angels convention going on, so I'm glad I stayed in Palencia. I made it to the municipal albergue which is in the turismo office. I liked the beds. The bathrooms, while okay, were in the same room as the beds & that area did not have its own ceiling, so using the restroom at night was, well, "interesting," since you couldn't turn the lights on without disturbing anyone. It was here that I started having problems with congestion & a runny nose. The pharmacy did not have anything with pseudophedrine in it, so I was screwed. I didn't get a good night's rest, either, since I was having to blow my nose every 5 seconds. I'm sure everyone around me loved that. But my walk through the farmland was catching up with me. Since I was leaving that week for the US, I knew I had to get somewhere to get the right medicine to clear my sinuses & Eustachian tubes, or that flight would be a miserable one. I cried once I decided to end my Camino there & take the train instead of soldiering on, but in the end, it probably was the wisest choice. I gave my walking stick to Rachel from Kentucky, since she only had one & you really need two. She didn't want to take it, but I told her that I was going to leave it behind anyway & I'd rather leave it with someone I knew really needed it.
Leon: Once again, I was bunking with nuns. However, this time, they separated the men from the women (although if you were travelling in a group & looked like you were married, you could stay together). After weeks of sharing bathrooms with men, this place was absolute heaven! We actually had toilet paper in the morning! And the toilet area didn't smell like piss, either. (A word to the guys: You should aim for the toilet, not the floors or the walls.) I scored a nice lower bunk & took what had to be one of the longest siestas I've ever had. I found a pharmacy that gave me stuff with pseudophedrine in it & could feel it working immediately. This was a very welcoming albergue & it was all for a donativo!
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