32.5km

I feel the urge to have a magnificent dump, so I tell Samuel and Ingrid to go ahead first. I depart the house at 8.30am, to a really quiet and empty Itero de la Vega.

The sky is fully covered with clouds. It’s a grey dawn, with a slight purple tinge. In the far distance, there’s just a line of dramatic orange sky peeking out from under the clouds, punctuated by silhouettes of wind turbines.

I walk through farmland plains, with some short hill mounds around them. There’s the slightest drizzle.

This is a day that feels similar to other days, for the first time. But I’m already glad for the variety I’ve experienced everyday for two weeks.

Mist closes in from far away. The land evens out to wide, flat plains. My thoughts wander, just like the first days when I started walking on my own. It’s just me on an open, almost straight road. With a single stick, hood on my head, crossing a muddy path—it feels like I’m cosplaying as St. James (the eponymous Santiago). A town appears in the distance—ah, sweet relief, this must be the town I read about in the codex…Boadilla!

It is quiet in the town, so I find no respite, but there is no disappointment. Perhaps like St. James finding a lack of faith in a pagan town, but for me, just a lack of café con leche. I keep going.

There’s sheep poop pellets everywhere on the ground on the way out of Boadilla del Camino. Some trees join the side of our path, which is always a welcome sight.

The drizzle stops and my path joins the banks of the Canal de Castilla, a tranquil river lined with grass and leafless trees. And with the start of this juncture, the trail of sheep poop finally ends too.

It’s a long peaceful walk along the canal, and after a bit, I cross the canal to the road that enters Fromista, the town where our friends stayed last night. It’s a bigger town but it is also quiet at the moment. I catch up with Ingrid and Samuel who are taking a break at one of the open bars and have a tortilla and café con leche.

We exit by a car road, and reach Población de Campos a few kilometres away. As we pass through the town, I see a church on the hill overlooking the town that looks rather interesting, and we decide to check it out.

It’s the church of Santa María Magdalena, the other Mary, which is peculiar. There are three older men outside the church and we are invited in to take a look. It has pretty pink details on the ceiling. We are told we are one day early to the procession of bringing a figure of “young Jesus” around the town. It’s a tradition that might be lost, because only 8 older men in the town carry it on.

The men explain how the Camino gives life to this town with the pilgrims that pass through. They’re also keen to show us the smaller, simpler, original church built on lower ground before the official church was moved to the current one because of flooding. At that church, they point out that it is an example of the transition between the Roman and Gothic styles with the angle of the ceiling arches. We’re glad that they are proud to share so much with us, and having Ingrid to engage in Spanish is a blessing.

We have kilometres to make, so we bid our goodbyes. It’s a long, straight road leaving town, with electric towers and winter trees for company. We are soon asked to choose a road at a split—either along a river or through Revenga de Campos. We choose the river.

Rio Ucieza is more like a creek, and walking with the company of the sound of gently flowing water is always nice. We stop for a break at a log, where Ingrid and Samuel give their feet some air, and we have some food.

Where the river and path diverge there is a hermitage. The path now goes along a road and the split routes converge at Villacázar de Sirga. It’s exactly 4pm when we enter the town, and the bell tower rings.

It’s now a gravel path next to a road, again through flat plains. There’s cloud cover as far as eye can see, protecting us from the afternoon sun.

After what seems like forever, we see Carrión de los Condes at about 2km away. The line from Bohemian Rhapsody plays in my head—Carrión…carry on…as if nothing really matters. It’s good to see the goal in front of me, all I need now is the willpower to reach it.

While waiting at the entrance of the Albergue Espíritu Santo (translation: Holy Spirit), Ji Sung and Areum come back from grocery shopping. We are happy to be reunited and hug dearly.

When we check in, we each receive a tiny pendant of María (the mother, this time). I think the place is run by nuns.

We have a sweet reunion together over dinner. Starting with olives (olives have been amazing in Spain), some tinto de verano (summer wine i.e. wine with soda), and beer. For my menu plates, I get a noodle soup and braised pork trotter. Just when we are about to leave, we find out Ji Sung has paid for the meal! He needs to make more distance to reach Santiago de Compostela earlier, so we might be parting ways soon, and he wants to give a goodbye treat.