Eighteenth Day On The Camino Friday, October 5, 2018

We slept in until 6:30 AM. We then got dressed and packed and tried to get breakfast at the alburgue at 7:30. We were told that the cafe at the alburgue would be open at 7:30 and we would get a great pilgrim breakfast. Seven thirty rolled around and about 10 of us were standing in the cold outside the cafe and there was no sign of Javier or the cook. We gave up and walked into town and had breakfast at a very nice hostal.

Now this is what I call a good old fashioned stick to your ribs American breakfast. Ham and two eggs over easy with toast and orange juice.

After breakfast we took the alternate route to our intermediate destination, Villalcazar De Sirga. The main Camino runs alongside a busy road on a gravel path called a senda. The alternate path runs alongside the River Ucieza for about 8 kilometers. This was a very pleasant shaded path.

After a 90 minute hike we came to the outskirts of Villovieco.

This is a trail marker on the Camino on the west side of Villovieco. Another reminder that the Camino is a spiritual journey.

This is a wayside cross on the Camino. We stopped and bowed our heads and St. Christopher led us in a prayer for Anna.

The alternate route merged with the main Camino at Villalcazar De Stirga. As we were walking along the roadside senda just outside Villalcazar De Stirga I spotted this sign. Is this some sort of Spanish joke. Yield for cows?? You have got to be kidding. After the second day on the Camino I have not seen one single cow, and I have been looking. There isn’t a cow within at least 200 miles of this place and they put up a “Yield to Cows” sign just to remind me that there will be no beef for me during my entire pilgrimage. I would expect that kind of “rub your nose in it sign” from the French, but not the Spanish.

This is the view as we approached Villalcazar De Stirga. This is the Templar Church of Santa Marie.

This is the main altarpiece at the Templar Church. The Church was ancient and very foreboding.

I decided to have lunch in Villalcazar with a fellow pilgrim. He wasn’t much of a talker.

They had hot dogs at the cafe in Villalcazar De Stirga but not one single pilgrim was in any way interested in having a Spanish hotdog for lunch.

This appears to be a gym class that was bused to the Camino at Villalcazar and walked 5 kilometers to our final destination, Carrion De Los Condes. When they got to Carrion De Los Condes they had to run around a track at the local high school. These Spanish PE teachers are real taskmasters!

We arrived at our final destination for the day, Carrion De Los Condes at about 3:00 PM.

We are staying at the Convent Alburgue Espiritu Santu. It is very old and careworn but the nuns are very nice. Not a yardstick in sight. You can bet I will be on my best behavior while I am staying with these nuns.

This is the holy card tacked to the wall above my bed, which is a lower berth in a small room with 8 bunk beds. Such is alburgue life.

This is me wandering around town trying to find someplace that has working WIFI as the convent doesn’t have internet and I am not about to complain to the nuns and run the risk of getting whacked.

This is the altarpiece in the church in Carrion de los Condes where we said a prayer for Anna.

I hope everyone had a great Friday. Good evening from Carrion de Los Condes, Spain.