Seventeenth Day On The Camino Thursday, October 4, 2018

On Wednesday we got a fairly big room at the alburgue with only three bunk beds. I got a lower bunk bed so I was happy. I think there are only five people in our room. At the last minute a young man came in and hopped in the bed above me. He was as quiet as a mouse so that was OK. This alburgue was a pretty sweet deal for $6.

We got up at 6:30 AM and were going to get out the door at 7:15, but realized that an Italian guy who was in the room was having trouble. His name is Marco, a good, strong and manly name. I took an instant liking to him. He is going through a rough patch and decided 10 days ago to do the Camino. He was a Boy Scout when he was 13. He is now 38 and is using his 25 year old Boy Scout pack and hiking boots to do the Camino. He started in Burgos 4 days ago and he is struggling. He has pretty bad blisters and muscle cramps in his legs. I walked him to an alburgue at the edge of town and helped him arrange for someone to transport his backpack to Fromista, about 15 kilometers along the Way.

The trees in the following picture are in the town square in Itero de la Vega. They were full of birds who were chattering at each other and making quite a racket this morning.

This is the sign as you leave Itero de la Vega. I am walking with Marco today to make sure he is able to get to his final destination at the end of the day.

This is the view looking west as we walked out of Itero de la Vega as the sun was coming up in the east.

This is the Spanish version of farm irrigation. It is basically lawn sprinklers on ten foot poles spaced about 20 yards apart. Every once in a while you will walk by one that has not been set correctly and it will will whirl around and give you a good squirt. Not bad in the afternoon, but an unpleasant surprise in the morning when it is so cold you can see your breath. I would expect this kind of treatment from the Frenchies, not the Spaniards.

This is the view of the next town on our walk today, Boadilla del Camino.

This is Boadilla del Camino.

This is a picture of the steeple of the Church of St. Mary in Boadilla. Notice the giant stork nest at the top of the steeple.

This is another view of the church in Boadilla and in the foreground, a medieval cross inviting the villagers to prayer. We stopped here and said a prayer for Anna.

The following picture is my lunch. A Serrano ham and cheese sandwich. I think I finally have the ham versus soap thing figured out and this ham and cheese sandwich was delicious.

There were a couple of Italian guys at the cafe/alburgue where Marco and I were having lunch. When they found out that I had taken Marco under my wing they insisted on buying me lunch. After lunch they escorted me to the front steps of the church, made me kneel, and with their hiking poles lightly touched me on one shoulder and then the other shoulder, told me to rise and loudly proclaimed that I was now an honorary member of the Roman Legion. I was thrilled beyond words. They said this means that I get free beer at any Knights of Columbus hall in the United States. We will see how that works out when I get back home.

My ham and cheese sandwich.

This is a picture of a house in Boadilla. They made holes in the walls of the attic and built perches outside the holes so pigeons can land and go into the attic to roost.

This is another house in Boadilla with the same set up for the pigeons. I knocked on the door of this house and talked to the owner about his pigeons. I explained to him that if he invited pigeons into his attic they would roost there and do what pigeons do. They would crap all over his attic and he would have a heck of a smelly mess to clean up. I told him to board up the openings and get a shotgun to handle the pigeons that won’t find another attic to foul with their droppings. This Spaniard must be very attached to his pigeons. The minute I mentioned the shotgun he threatened to shoot me and ran me off his property. Who knew the Spanish were so attached to their pigeons?

This is a fish trap. We were walking down the Camino when I guy pulled up and took this fish trap out of his car. He had a package of hot dogs in this pocket that he was going to use to bait the fish trap. I tried to tell him that hot dogs are for eating at ball games or in Spain they might eat them at bull fights, but hot dogs are not an effective bait in a fish trap. He insisted on baiting the fish traps with the hot dogs and told me that as an American I know nothing about fishing. I swear, between the pigeons in the attic and the hot dogs in the fish traps, the Spaniards are as strange as the French.

This is the canal where my Spanish fishing friend was going to set his traps.

This is a boat on the canal just outside Fromista.

This is a sign by the boat. Apparently you can boat to Santiago. Why didn’t I think of that?

This is a sign at the outskirts of Fromista Almost halfway to Santiago!

This is a fountain in the town square in Fromista that was donated by the Rotary Club of Fromista. I had no idea they have Rotary Clubs in Spain. We stopped in a church in Fromista and lit a candle and said a prayer for Anna.

This is the path from Fromista to our final stop, Poblacion de Campos. This is a four kilometer straight gravel path that has not one, not two, not three, but four Camino markers in the middle of the path every 100 yards. In my opinion that is overkill. One marker at the beginning and one marker at the end would have been more than sufficient.

This is me and my new BFF Javier, the owner of the Alburgue La Finca where we are staying in Poblacion de Campos. He says that he runs the best little alburgue on the Camino. So far it has been a pleasure to stay here.

This is Marco.

This is the room that I get all to myself at the alburgue. What a treat to have a room all to myself.

I hope everyone is having a good Thursday.

Good evening from Poblacion de Campos.