20.3km

Fromista is the usual next step, but last night we called the albergues there and they do not have much vacancies left, so we settle to go to the town before, Itero de la Vega.

The rest go early, and I settle some things on the phone so I end up leaving at 9am with Ingrid. It’s already bright. The route starts in a small road lined with trees, then go around fields. We talk about languages and other things.

We catch up with others at edge of Castrojeriz, and take a break at the bar there. I get a small bacon pizza and a café con leche. Areum and Ji Sung get beers! Then suddenly, in walks a gregarious guy speaking English with what sounds like an American accent. Turns out he’s from Holland, his name is Armando, and he has lived in Castrojeriz for a month. Another person who’s done the Camino that has somehow found a life here.

The rest move on while Ingrid and I continue chatting with Armando. We leave after a bit and walk past a church wall with a skull and crossbones symbol which piques our curiosity. We go to the nearby entrance and the cost of entry is €1, which is alright. But when we enter, there are no bones to see. It turns out the interior of the church has been converted to an experiential exhibition of sorts. A guide who’s conversant in both Spanish and English explains about the church, how Santo Domingo is the town’s patron saint, and shows evidence of an earthquake through some of the peculiar interior architecture. There’s a roof projection show, and later we are given time to explore six rooms that talk about different dimensions of the Camino de Santiago.

It’s quite a well-presented and curated experience, which I’m surprised to find in one of the small towns. Ingrid and I are glad the shorter distance today affords us the time to do this. We skip the castle on the hill overlooking the town, as it is getting late in the day.

We take a dirt path between plains out of the town, towards a hill. The path then leads up the hill. The skies are grey now. As we go up, the plains open up behind us, and there’s cloud cover as far as the eye can see. As I change some of my layers, Samuel suddenly catches up with me from behind. Turns out he went to see the castle while we were at the exhibition. There’s a small shelter near the top and we have some snacks together there.

When we crest the hill, the flat landscape and our path between them opens up before us, and we continue down and across the plains. One thing I didn’t expect on the Camino was how much farmland I’ll walk through. Which makes sense, when we discuss it. The Camino is a countryside walk, sure, but it’s not a nature hike. For a pilgrim of the past, they would rather go through cultivated land than forest, which might mean wild animals or bandits. It should also be the easiest route for someone wanting to cross Spain—as flat and direct as possible.

There are some crops we keep seeing on the farms, and Samuel wonders what it is. A photo and Google search tells us it is vicia sativa, or common vetch, used as a rotation crop. I am learning so many different things on this Camino.

We reach Itero del Castillo, and walk past another old hospital before a bridge, Puente Fitero. It’s another closed old hospital building we see—modern pilgrims don’t need them anymore.

As we cross the bridge, we are leaving the province of Burgos and entering Palencia, although all still part of the Castilla y León region. We will be spending a lot of time in this large region it seems.

Crossing the bridge brings us to Itero de la Vega, which we reach at 4.10pm. Ji Sung and Areum texted that they decided to push to Fromista instead, so it’s just the three of us tonight.

Fromista turns out to have limited vacancies and be very full, with some pilgrims finding alternatives like taking a taxi to the next town. Our friends however, get offered a room by the restaurant owner they had their dinner, experiencing what Ingrid calls, “Camino magic!”

For us here at Itero de la Vega, it’s a comfortable house, with a supermarket downstairs owned by the owner of the house too. We’re not allowed to cook, and decide we’d rather eat out than to get the additional meal offered and just be in the house for the rest of the night. There is only one bar to eat at tonight in the entire town. The town is so empty that Samuel jokes we can shoot a horror movie here.

At the bar they are only selling hamburgers, fries and fried calamari, which we have, together with Estrella beer from the bottle. The meal is not Spanish, but it’s a familiar taste.